Community Impact Manager at City Harvest London | Award Winning Photographer | Lived Experience Homelessness Advocate | Trying to understand and do something about poverty.
We are trained to look at things from eye level. When I worked in retail, I was in charge of carrying out “planograms” for the aisles - basically a design for where each individual item will go on a section in each aisle. If you’ve ever wondered why Coke is always at eye level - this is it. They pay for that space, just as many companies pay for the end of the aisle to advertise their products. Rarely do we buy things from the bottom aisle unless we are forced to or we really can’t find what we are looking for. Which is why it is so unsurprising that no one sees this homeless man. Why would you? He’s not at your eye level. But, just like those lonely, unwanted products in the aisles, he still very much exists and would love for you to show him some attention. Now, more than ever, as we run up to a cold winter, it’s important that we take time to stop and look down. It’s not about passing judgement - it’s about acknowledgment. Just because we are trained to look at eye level, that’s not necessarily where the good stuff is. Often the own branded stuff is on the bottom but quite a bit of it tastes just as good but because it’s their brand it is relegated to the floor. We don’t know why so many homeless people end up in situations where they are forced to beg or sleep on the streets. But the time for us to simply ignore that bottom shelf because it doesn’t have anything on it we want is up. We need to start taking responsibility for those unfortunate enough to be on the streets. It doesn’t look like the giver is going to, so we need to step up. And it starts just by looking down. Then saying hello. And trying to get a conversation. And see where it leads. You may find a valued friend. You may find someone who needs a little bit of help. You might find someone a bit afraid, as we are, of knowing what the right thing is. The right thing is just to talk to them and see how they are. And go from there. Start with a conversation. That’s what you’d want, if you felt invisible and unseen. #homelessness
