Hi Lianne,

thanks for your comment and you won’t get flamed! It’s a good point and I agree. Buying cigs and beer when you need food is stupid. But people do stupid things, all people! The post man, soccer moms, lawyers and your neighbor all make dumb choices. I know I do every day!

Thank you for bringing this up.  I would bet nearly everyone who watches the video thought the same thing yet until someone starts open and honest dialog there can be no real understanding!

When you are dealing with mental illness normal rules don’t apply. I have never met anyone sane and we all have a little bit of mental illness. Now go and live homeless for even a short period of time. It’s insane and it makes you more insane.  Steve has his reasons or justifications. It’s his money and his choice. To be candid cigarettes and beer may be the only satisfaction he has. He goes to the bathroom outside and sleeps in an ally. Too me, he can use a beer!

What I saw in Steve was a hurt man trying to be tough. He has no place to shower and people treat him less than human. His response may have been a macho reaction to protect his true reality. Not everything people say is the truth.
One of the main reasons I do not edit these stories is so people will see the both the good and bad.  People in constant crisis don’t think right. The stress of never having security and the day to day survival of a person living on the streets is almost unbearable.

Thank you again for having the courage to be honest and I hope my response helps give a different perspective.

Hi Mark,

Thanks for your friendly response.

I certainly don't know what it feels like to be homeless, and I can only imagine it would change a lot about how I view the world. I guess it's just that I'm a very practical person, so, while I certainly make my fair share of mistakes, I know that I wouldn't do something that would make my situation worse, like spending my small amount of money on non-essentials.

Although, I suppose there's one thing I can think of that makes me a bit more understanding about this. I'm not sure what I would do without my massive book collection, and if I were homeless I would probably find myself buying a book now and then to keep me sane. So I suppose people could say that that would be a waste of money, too. However, that isn't something I'd buy every day, and it also isn't something that would harming my health at the same time, and in a country without universal health care, no less! Not to mention the outrageous price of cigarettes... one could probably pay for food easily upon giving up such a costly habit.

Thanks for being so open to differing opinions!