In the West Coast area, much like New York on the East, thousands of homeless live in the underground tunnels of the city they call home. The tunnels were made to transport flood waters away from the population to prevent death and destruction. However, the same tunnels used to prevent death can also cause death.
Read MoreWithout legs in Las Vegas
So… there I was in downtown LasVegas and there he was, propped up against a trash can unable to stand. I bent down to speak with him and he said, “You know why I don’t shave anymore (slight laugh), because I can’t stand tall enough to see the mirror.”
His wife was in his wheelchair about 10 feet away. She was not asking for money, just a loan cigarette. She was in the chair to rest as she is usually on foot all day as the two are homeless.
Both of his legs were amputated due to extensive cardiovascular disease. In some cases doctors are able to move veins from one location to another in order to allow for better blood flow. In other cases, that is not possible.
Sometimes it is not possible due to costs so amputation is done as a last resort on a visit to the emergency room. Other times, grants are available for those without insurance to have such surgeries completed - if it is caught in time. I do not know what occurred in this case, nor did I ask as it was in the past.
Author Shannon L. Alder once said, “Before you call yourself a Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu or any other theology, learn to be human first.” Interesting statement. While those beliefs named are nowhere similar to one another all have one item in common. Humans follow those religions.
If we could only see through titles and learn to talk to others suffering. Listen to others going through struggles - then perhaps harmony would be easier. Life may even be easier for this man without legs because more would stop with ideas on ways to help. Maybe those with different religions would then work to put ideas into action.
Looking at what most refuse to see
Everyone passed her by, most refusing to make eye contact. “Sir, have you got a cigarette,” she asked one man as he shook his head and continued. “Ma’am, do you have a smoke,” she asked a woman who refused to even acknowledge someone spoke to her. Never asking for money, she only wanted to continue her love affair with nicotine.
“We lived in Las Vegas back in 1978 and left… but we came back in the mid 90’s,” she told me while sitting in her husband’s wheelchair. “This is his,” she explained while pointing to a man sitting upright against a trash can. The woman then stated, “He has no legs – lost them both due to cardiovascular disease.”
I asked her what the dried blood on her forehead was from. “I tripped and fell, busted my head wide open. No one helped me, but the paramedics,” as she went into detail she talked about the ten stitches under her cap and how she spent 15 hours in the hospital.
Why do so many turn away from unpleasant, sad or dirty? Why do some refuse to take it all in as an effort to learn what others go through? Why does a mother or father not stop and talk when being spoken to as a way to teach a child courtesy should be offered to everyone until proven wrong. Then, perhaps courtesy should be offered again and even again.
“To change ourselves effectively, we first had to change our perceptions.” ― Stephen R. Covey (1932-2012). Dr. Covey died 5.5 hours away from where this woman sat quietly on the streets of Las Vegas. It was a bicycle accident that took the life of Dr. Covey at the age of 80 in Provo, Utah.