I just recently had a conversation with this man, for the sake of privacy let’s call him Jack. In terms of the physical description, Jack was a tall, white 21 year old man with very raggedy clothes. His hands were completely black with what looked to be dirt. I gave Jack some food from the cafeteria at my school and chatted with him about his life story. Now, Jack is living on the streets ever since his grandmother died about three months ago. He originally lived in Florida with his family, but moved here to take care of his grandmother while she was sick. Jack’s parents were both drug addicts and didn’t really care about Jack or what he did in his life. Being around drugs so often as a kid, he began to try some in high school. He started out smoking marijuana but progressively started to use dope and became addicted to the stuff right after his grandmother had passed. Now, Jack’s daily routine consists of walking the streets of Camden and asking people for any money that they can spare. He would use the money on food, drink, as well as the drugs that would give him his “fix” for the day.
Seeing this man in Jack’s condition really made me appreciate how good my life really is. My life could be a lot worse, so thinking of ending my life a couple months ago would have been the single greatest mistake. I hope for the best for Jack and the rest of his ventures in life. I hope that he gets back on his feet. The important lesson here is: always appreciate your good fortunes in life because you never know if they will turn bad. Another lesson here is to never to drugs. Just say no, it saves your life.