The ever-growing issue of homelessness leaves no city unaffected. From the lack of resources to support those currently experiencing homelessness to lack of accessible employment for those under the threat of homelessness, it’s a scary situation for anyone to be in.
Some stranger saw it fit to remind others to not mess with homeless peoples’ things, namely the tents used as shelter, and the poster they made caught quite a bit of attention online.
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A PSA in the form of a poster sparked quite the discussion on Twitter recently.
A photo uploaded by user @DiumilaAlmonte shows a poster explaining what to do if you see a tent in the city.
Directions include leaving it alone, examining the economic conditions that would require a person experiencing homelessness to sleep in a tent, and allowing them into your business to use the bathroom.
The photo now has over 113k likes and 27k retweets.
It was uploaded with the simple caption of, “See a tent? Leave it alone!!!”
The uploader replied to their own tweet with some elaboration. “Being a homeless person is more expensive than if I had a place to live so when you see people out there begging for change don’t say oh I just gave you some say how much more can I help you with instead.”
There were those confused by the uploader’s sentiment, so one user broke it down.
“[…] if you’re living in a tent like that you probably don’t have consistent food storage and would have to eat out/buy things more frequently, living outdoors means getting sick/hurt more than living in a house which means you have to either miss more work opportunities or […] buy more medication than a not homeless person. The everyday cost of living goes up when you lack basic amenities, who’d have thought,” they wrote , clearing up how the cost of homelessness can quickly stack up.
These sentiments riled up a rather large corner of the internet, leading to hundreds of replies.
There were critics, of course. Some were quick to insult the homeless population and make broad judgments of their behavior and character, to which many people replied to remind them that these people are often a victim of circumstance, or have other issues preventing them from being able to work or find a home.
Some were unable to get past the aggressive tone of the poster.
One replier with a penchant for snark wrote, “I too find that talking to people like you despise them is a great tactic for generating meaningful change.”
So, others returned with an equal amount of sass. “Do you NOT despise people who intentionally damage or destroy somebody’s only means of shelter because they personally find it annoying or inconveniencing?” wrote @TinseltownMayor .
Then there were those who were shocked this happens at all.
“No way do people mess with tents?” user @erenpiIIed responded, “If [I] see that I’m handing you your ass and spleen.”
“The only thing you should do to mess with a tent is give them food, water, and quality supplies. They need our help,” wrote @kitsune257.
There was some cruelty in the replies, but it was outweighed by positivity and empathy.
As one user put it, repeating the sentiment in the poster, “If you go out of your way to make the life of a homeless person harder, ask yourself why.”
This complements @bravetinsoldier’s reply well: “There’s a lot of suffering in the world. Stop making it worse.”
