Magnanimous Beauty: You Need To Leave, Ma'am

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

You Need To Leave, Ma'am

One Sunday, I stopped into a fast food restaurant for a cup of coffee. Immediately, a woman called out to me from one of the tables, "Hey! Buy me a fish sandwich??" She was filthy and a strong, eye-watering odour emanated from her body. I handed her a small gift certificate for the restaurant and said, "enjoy." She got her sandwich, ate it quickly, then sat back down.

A family came in and, offended by her body odor, complained to the management. A police officer was called to handle the situation and the woman was ordered to leave. She quietly got up, slowly put on her tattered overcoat and walked out the door. Something about the scene just broke my heart. This woman didn't ask to be homeless. If she'd been wearing the "right" clothing and didn't have bad body odor, she wouldn't have been ordered to leave. I just couldn't believe it.

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Magnanimous Beauty Defined:

What exactly is magnanimous beauty and why did I choose that particular name for this blog? This intro is a bit on the long side. Bear with me - it's worth the read!

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Magnanimous beauty is beauty that comes from within - noble, illuminating, inner beauty. Our society is so incredibly hyper-focused on that which is easily seen... the perfect body, the latest fashions, having the coolest gadgetry. Even if we have none of these things, there are certain societal norms that we are expected to conform to and those who don't are considered undesirable, lesser people.

Did you see a panhandler on the street while you were out doing your holiday shopping? He's probably a con-artist looking to get his share of the pie, going home to a nice apartment at the end of an underhanded day. Did you see a homeless person with missing teeth, bad body odor, smelling of urine? Gross, right? Why don't these people get "real" jobs and quit bothering the rest of us? Let's be honest. Most of us have had one or more of these thoughts run through our minds. These street people aren't "normal." They're a nuisance and probably crazy - if we're not careful, they might mug us! They make us feel uncomfortable. We recoil in disgust, make jokes, or, at the very least, step out of the potential offender's path, hoping they won't single us out and make us feel even more uncomfortable.

The truth is, the majority of people living on the streets are not going home to some fancy high rise in the Gold Coast at the end of the day. If they do have a home at all, it's much more likely to be located in a filthy, seedy part of town.

Body odor? Have you offered to give a homeless person a small care package that includes deodorant or toothpaste? Did you know that there virtually is no place for these people to go to the bathroom during the day? They're run out of restaurants, convenience stores, hotel lobbies, the train station... where exactly are they supposed to go? They try to hold it as long as they can until they can find a bathroom. They don't always make it. The end result is dehumanizing. They're devastated but to cry in front of you, in front of me... in front of anyone is the ultimate humiliation. Instead they shuffle along through the night, hoping they won't be harassed by drunk partiers out for the weekend, hoping to stay warm in sub-zero temperatures, trying desperately to stay sane in their present situation that, let's face it, is truly crazy-making.

I want to introduce you to some friends of mine. They're some of the street people of Chicago, Illinois. You need to know them. They're people. They matter to someone. They most certainly matter to me. And I hope, once you've met them, they'll matter to you, too.