Well-spoken!

I lived in New York City for thirty years. At this point I have three friends there who are homeless to some degree or other. One of them has some fairly serious mental health issues and has been completely homeless for years now. He’s been involuntarily committed more times than I can count, and has received a series of different diagnoses, but no consistent treatment. This is amplified by draconian and ridiculous rules in the shelter system where he has no safe place to store his medication so he has to carry it on his person at all times. The last time I saw him, he looked almost as old as I do. I’m 25 years older than he is…

Now I live in the Netherlands. It’s not perfect here of course, but it’s an order of magnitude better. I am beginning to get used to not seeing hordes of pathetic, mostly crazy homeless people on the street every day, and it has changed my perspective (though I always had homeless friends through my whole stay in NYC).