Kevin LongIt's a sad commentary on the state of our judicial system, but it's hardly surprising to hear that a just-released sex offender has already been locked up again, accused of attacking a teen girl on a bus in California. But perhaps even sadder is the surprise surrounding the girl's protectors. All five men who jumped in to do battle against Kevin Long happen to be homeless.
You know ... homeless ... like the guy you step over when you walk down the street. Be honest. We've all done it ... or something like it.
Try as we might to remember that the homeless are actually people just like us, it's almost instinctual to treat them as anything but. We cross the street to avoid them. We pull our kids close as if the man with the ragged pants and the paper bag is going to make a grab for them.
It's unfair.
And as I look at this story of five Good Samaritans coming to the aid of a helpless child and literally pulling a disgusting pervert off of her, I can't help feeling ashamed of myself. Kevin Long allegedly started off with some lewd comments directed at this poor kid, and a homeless man named Curtis Mitchell told CBS that he immediately took notice.
See? He cared about this kid. He wasn't thinking about his next drink or how to steal someone's wallet or any of the stereotypical things people assume are on the minds of a homeless person.
Anyway, when Long allegedly jumped up and grabbed this poor girl's crotch, Mitchell and four of his friends swung into immediate action. One grabbed his neck, others got his body and legs, and these guys actually held Long down until the bus driver could get pulled over and allow police onto the bus.
Long -- who had just gotten out of prison on a sex conviction the day before the bus incident -- allegedly acted pretty much the way we'd expect a sex offender to act. But these homeless guys ... well, not so much.
Are there homeless people who have problems? Sure. There are many who are on the streets specifically because of their problems. Some are seriously bad people.
But some are druggies. Some are drinkers. Some are mentally ill. And while these issues are all problems for themselves, they don't necessarily present a hazard for the rest of us. In fact, as we were shown in Modesto, California this week, sometimes they're just down-on-their-luck guys who will step in when a young girl needs a hero.
Does this make you look at the homeless in a different way?
Image via Modesto Police
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Comments 22
I actually do not look at homeless people like that.....except the ones that show obvious signs of meth addiction and I still try to be nice to them. I have been made uncomfortable by what seemed to be a girl my own age that was backpacking across the states that started yelling at me because I didn't have any money to give her. It was quite obvious she was on drugs as she was yelling at every car before they even had a chance to give her money. Most homeless people I have come across(I live in downtown Richmond, VA so I come across many) are nice and if you don't have money they say thank you any ways.
I don't look down on the homeless. In fact if I would pass one on the street when I lived in Colorado I would go to the nearest atm and pull money out for them. As long as they weren't harassing people for money and didn't have a bottle of booze in their hand. Alot of them are just people who need help.
I am so happy to see all the other posts. I didn't want to be the only person who thinks that homeless people are just like us but without a house. I live in Hawaii where there are plenty of people who live on the beaches and in parks. I also know people with homes who are thieves, mentally ill and/or drug/alcohol addicts. The author kind of pissed me off.
Wow, Jeanne, way to admit that you're an asshole! Like the posters before me, I have never viewed the homeless as trash. Maybe because I was homeless for a very short time in my younger years, maybe because I just have a compassionate heart. Sure, some of them have problems with drugs and/or alcohol, but many of them suffer from mental illness and are unable to get help. I think it's awesome that ANYBODY helped this kid, plenty of people (who AREN'T homeless) would have just ignored the situation. Why don't we focus on that, the fact that there are still people willing to help someone else in trouble.
Just because people are homeless doesn't mean that they are bad people. I live in the town where this took place and there is a huge homeless population here. Yes, there are the ones that you should stay away from but a lot of the people who live on the streets in this town are incredibly decent people and would probably give you all they had if you needed it. It's sad to me that the part of this story that's so surprising is that homeless people came to this girl's aid. Now I'm not one to bash the author's of these stories but I definitely think that the author's sights should be adjusted a little on this one.