This is mostly off topic, but with all the discussion regarding homelessness on this thread I wanted to mention a situation I came upon.
Yesterday I parked in a lot at 3:30 pm. This parking lot serves several restaurants. Very few cars in the parking lot because it was between lunch and dinner and two of the restaurants were closed until dinner.
I grabbed a spot right in front of the restaurant I was headed for. As soon as I parked I noticed that the car I had parked beside was a very battered old Chevy with plastic duct taped over the missing glass in the two windows on my side. The car was running.
I could see that the back seat was full of blankets and clothing. I had parked to the right of the Chevy so before I got out of my car I noticed the woman in the passenger seat. The door was halfway open and she was using the side mirror to look into while cutting her hair with a pair of scissors. She was very thin and pale.
As I got out of my car and walked past I observed two young boys, maybe 4 and 5 years old, standing in front of her open door. They were very thin and pale also, and dressed in short sleeve shirts and pants. No jacket or sweater, and it is very cold in Indianapolis.
I was shocked and I stopped for a second, wanting to say something to the woman but then a man I hadnt noticed before in the drivers seat looked at me with a mean, almost menacing look that said in no uncertain terms mind your own business. So I kept walking.
When I came out of the restaurant the car was still there and this time the boys were standing on the mans side of the car, and his door was open. The car was still running and the boys were standing as close to the car as possible, obviously cold. He watched me as I got in my car and drove away.
Now in Indy we are used to the Homeless: will work for food sign scams as they have been well reported on in local newspapers and on the news. But this was a very obvious case of a family living in a car. I would have loved to bring them all food out of one of the restaurants, or spoken to them about a homeless shelter for families, but the man scared me away. 😞 😞 😞