A WOMAN NAMED 'SUE'

In the center of the above snap you will see a homeless woman, a regular sight to behold in Waikiki.

So ubiquitous has she become to the landscape of Waikiki Beach, that you will note that the chap on the bicycle hardly pays her any mind.

Truth be told, countless numbers of folks pass this woman daily, and one wonders how many take note of her.

Every day, the old geezer goes for his walk.  Every day the homeless woman is seen, and every day the question come to mind, "how can this be"...

Being the sort who can not look away, there have been multiple times, the walk was postponed a bit, to stop and chap with the homeless lady.  Today was no exception.

The homeless woman has a name.  Her name is Sue.  I know that because I took the time to find out.  I know a great deal more about the homeless woman than her name.

Sue is very bright.  Very aware.  Sue follows events in the newspapers.  Sue told MOI that she thought it odd that they were thinking of preventing smoking on the beach.  Sue was also aware of the Homeless Awareness Conference, that was held at the Pacific Beach Hotel.

Sue told the old geezer that she kept looking for some of the attendees to come out of the hotel and see what homelessness might be right outside of the door of the hotel.  Sue says that she saw one person with a name tag on, but that person never stopped to chat with her.

Sue asked if the old geezer had gone to the conference.  Wanted to know what was said and what solutions were found.  I had to tell true that not much new was found out and that the lovely folks from the non-profits still did not have a clue.

Sue is an interesting study.  No doubt that the rags adorning her body are filthy, and she could use a bath and some grooming of her nails.  No doubt, there is some sort of mental condition going on.

Today, I asked Sue what I could do to help her.  She asked if I had a place she could go to and take a bath.  I had to tell her that I could not do that.  I offered to ring someone up and get her some help.  Sue is afraid of social services and equally afraid of homeless shelters.

I asked Sue if she would like someone to help her get a room somewhere.  Was gobsmacked when Sue told MOI that a room somewhere with no money would be like a prison.  Like I said, Sue is not stupid.

Sue needs help.  Sue also has the right to refuse help.

As a society, should we not try to reach her?  No matter how difficult it might be to win her trust?

I made myself a promise today that each and every day I go out for a walk I am going to try and acknowledge her as a person of worth.  Sue is a human being and as such deserves to be reached out to.

One wonders why the non-profits are not trying harder to reach Sue.  Might well be that Sue is a hard case, and the non-profits do not want to take the time.