My apartment is near Half Way Tree Transport centre, which is one of the busiest places in Kingston. It is a hub of commercial activity and tens of thousands of people pass through it every day. Not surprisingly, as a result it also attracts a lot of nefarious activities like prostitution and some illegal exchanges. And homeless people. There are a few who live on my street. There are also a number of them living along the main corporate district. I pass them when I run early on the weekday mornings. The sight never fails to affect me, either intellectually (how did they get there? what resources are available for them? are they okay?) or emotionally. There are also young boys trying to sell chocolate. They are persuasive and hard to resist and I am still struggling with how to respond. Other young boys stand at major intersections and squeegee car windows. All this to say that poverty is widespread and blatant in Kingston. As I said, I am still struggling with how to respond, what to think and feel about it all. The other day, however, something hit me harder than it has in the five months I have been here. A new homeless man has set up camp down the road, first under a tree, where he has since left after somebody cut the grass around it. He now lives among some tall grass and garbage just down the street. He talks to himself and he wears a green t-shirt and blue shorts and sometimes he is asleep. He is thin and dirty. One day I was returning home with some groceries. As I passed by, he stuck his hand out and said “biscuits.” Something about the look in his eye got to me and I can’t recover. At that time, I gave him some food and have given him more when the opportunity is there. He seems to have moved on now, however. But I just keep wondering, does anyone care about him? Do they miss him? Does he have a doctor? A family? Somewhere to sleep? Somewhere with privacy and safety? Is he mentally ill? How did his life start out? What is his name? I suppose there are thousands of situations like this here in Kingston and around the world. How do you harden your heart enough to get by yet still remain a caring person? How do you help people in this situation? Whose responsibility is it to help them? Or is it solely their own responsibility to avail themselves of social services? As far as I can tell, homeless shelters are not commonplace here. I obviously don’t have any answers to these questions and I don’t know how to forget about this man. For some reason lately, the poverty is getting to me a lot more than it ever has in the past.