WHY? Life on the Streets for Many

Today, by the time a child is a senior in high school, 70% have already tried alcohol. 50% will have tried some type of an illegal drug. 40% have smoked tobacco or used a nicotine product. 20% of children will have used a prescription drug for a nonprescription use. Despite these numbers, we look at the broken who live on the street with discourse in thinking, "They choose their addiction which landed them on the street." The relation to childhood drug or alcohol use to adult addiction is overwhelming.

The environment around a teen greatly impacts teenagers choosing to experiment with drugs or alcohol. Violence, physical abuse, sex abuse, emotional abuse all play a role in the temptation of alcohol and drug use. Personality traits such as ADD and ADHD also increase the likelihood of a child trying something that will have a negative impact on them.

If a child experiences trauma at a young age and / or becomes addicted to drugs or alcohol, it will change the growth pattern of the prefrontal cortex. That said, the impact will last a life time. Addiction can soon set in and life is forever changed.
The other side of addiction:

On top of the above information, addiction equals a lack of human “meaningful” interaction. In other words, the addicted may interact with other users, but at a very surface level while clean or sober.

Furthermore, the addicted man or woman who lives on the street usually has zero healthy relationships nor knows how to form one while addicted.

So, could adult addiction be a combination of child trauma, lack of relationship? My thought would be yes.

Why? The damaged prefrontal cortex, that was damaged in childhood, is the planning region of the brain. It is where personality and expression originate from. Most importantly for continued use of negative behaviors, the prefrontal area is where decision making takes place along with moderating social behavior.

Knowing how sections of the brain function further verifies that addiction and lack of social interaction and healthy relationships go hand in hand. Especially when you dive into damage to the brain caused by childhood trauma followed by alcohol or drug use.

Many on the street do not know how to have positive connections with other human life. More so, their brain does not know how to cope with life without medicated help. The addicted brain related to childhood trauma does not know how to navigate behavior and life.

Of course, it is much deeper than my above words once you mix in mental illness and depression. That is an entire book on information.

Too Tired

She sat alone inside a small city bus shelter too timid to use the bench. It was as if she had been told one thousand times before to not sit on the bench, it was for "riders."

As she tried to talk she could not stay awake. In between words she would fall asleep, never completing a sentence.

The Bible remained open as she lacked the strength to turn the pages.

“Tired, tired with nothing, tired with everything, tired with the world’s weight he had never chosen to bear.”

— F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Beautiful and Damned"

Acid poured on my legs

I had to lean in close to hear her as she was very soft spoken, but friendly. “Why do you have a walker,” I asked with curiosity? She said, “A homeless woman poured acid on my left leg, I spent 32-days in the hospital and my muscle was fully exposed.” She told me that she too was homeless at the time, but is now staying at a shelter in Washington, DC.

Airline service workers want 5-cent fee added to tickets to cover insurance costs

Commercial aviation helps to create some 11-million jobs in America. If that is not enough to get your attention, I don’t know what will?

While in Washington D.C., I stumbled upon a major protest on Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House. The wind was blistering cold and I struggled to take photos without my gloves on, but I wanted to make sure I captured the emotion that was stirred up by the workers who were asking for help to cover the cost of their personal medical insurance.

The group of airline industry service workers were asking for the airline companies they work for to add a nickel to the cost of every ticket sold in hopes of acquiring better health insurance for their families. The group suggested that an additional 5-cents added to every ticket would cover the cost of their family medical insurance plan, which right now is unaffordable for many. Their website stated, “We will be forced to pay the Obama Care Income Tax Fine for declining to purchase this un-affordable insurance.” That 5-cents per ticket, according to the protestors, would cover their expense.  

I walked in close for these shots as I was using my small 23mm fixed lens Fuji X100s. Those who were protesting seemed to be too busy shouting what they felt was needed for their family to even notice my encroachment into their personal space. Several police officers asked me to step back as they began making arrests while the crowd deliberately blocked the flow of traffic in the area of Pennsylvania Avenue.

After 15 or more protestors were arrested, the chants continued. The big question that lingers, will that additional 5-cents be added to the cost of an airline ticket and if so, will it be noticed by the traveling public? Only time will tell.