I was walking down Calle Montera (commonly known or described as "The street with all the hookers on it near the McDonalds on Gran Via") on my way to Puerta del Sol to meet my friends that are visiting. I was in a good mood. We were going to some restaurant and then heading out for some drinks.

Then, I walked past a homeless person and realized I suddenly got pissed off and angry. I thought about why? I was actually mad at him for making me see him and then feel guilty as a result of not doing anything to help him. Usually I try to give my change away to homeless people and one or two times I have even given a guy a 5€ note because I was in a particularly good mood, but for some reason I didn´t then.

But, all this started me thinking...what the hell kind of society have we created where we don´t even really talk about helping homeless people. I mean, outside of some charities and non-profits and people that volunteer at soup kitchens and shelters, no one does anything about it. And those things are stop-gags at mininum. It is almost like the majority of us have collectively agreed to forget about it and try not to ever bring it up in conversation or make anytone think about it. I´m just as guilty as everyone else. Hell, even all those "liberals" you hear so much about on Fox News don´t really talk about this as an issue. If you watch the damn news today (CNN International, Sky, or Fox) all you hear is some monkey (and not one of those smart chimps, I´m talking "outbreak" monkeys) dressed in a president´s suit talking about "Safe Havens" and pundits talking about War and Terrorism. You´d think that these are the last two problems in the world and we are close to living in a Utopia.

I bet that when most people (myself included) see a homeless person on the street you do one of four things:

1) Give them some change

2) Start moving to the opposite side of the sidewalk as soon as you see them up ahead and before you pass them in order to have a little buffer between you and lessen the guilt

3) Avoid eye contact at all costs and maybe even pretend you are looking at something in the other direction

4) Think to yourself "Get it together grouch, get a job" or "he´ll just waste it on drugs and alcohol"

Personally, I would waste it on drugs and alcohol too. If I had nothing and lived on the street and dug through garbage cans for food I can tell you a few things for certain. One, I would definitely abuse those substances at every opportunity to escape my reality. Two, I would most certainly resort to crime.

I love the people that say "Get a job." Yeah, cause it´s that easy. How do you get a job with no clothes and residence? How about a resume? And furthermore, how many places are dying to hire some 50 year old man with deteriorating skills and no relevant experience (unless it´s a salvage business)?

Nowadays we have international space stations, satellites that can take photos of the edge of our galaxy, laser-guided smart bombs to better demolish cities, mobile phones that are basically god damn personal computers and we have even proved that you can elect and re-elect vermin to the Presidency of the United States, but we let a significant portion of society live on the streets like animals. Now, I can´t say all these people are working to get out of their situation. Of course they´re not all perfect. But, it´s safe to say that these people have been dealt a bad hand in life or, at minimum, have had some bad luck or made a few bad choices. WHO HASN´T?

Hell, I coasted through school, luckily got a first real job with bad grades, then quit in 6 months to fly across country and take part in a casino scam. Then, I fell ass-backwards into another job simply because terrorists bombed the world trade center. Things could have easily gone differently for me. Now, if they had, I wouldn´t be out on the street because I have a family that would help me out...some of these people probably didn´t. Just think about that the next time you walk past someone in disgust.