The home page of James R Salazar

I spend a lot of time going back and forth between three different cultures: American, French and Mexican. I have found it interesting to see how the homeless are treated in these different settings. Mind you, the people I am talking about are not the panhandlers that make a career out of asking for money – people who, at the end of their ‘work day’, climb into their cars and go home. I am talking about people who live on the streets.

Mexico
I am not used to seeing people sleeping on the streets unless they are passed out Americans on Spring Break. That’s not to say we do don’t have homeless people – they just make their homes somewhere out of the way from the average citizen. Chances are that if they tried to claim a corner as their home they would be either run off or arrested.

You also don’t see as many young people (20s – 30s) asking for money in Mexico. In Mexico you are expected and encouraged to work. No one is going to ask if you have a permit to sell or perform so you tend to see some very talented performers and salesman and it is tolerated. It’s common for people to board a public bus (at no charge) and either sell their goods (gum, candy, tamales or just about anything else you can think of) or to perform a song for whatever change you can spare. At stoplights you will also encounter performers working for change or street vendors.

Houston
Houston can be a harder place to be homeless and we do have quite a few homeless people. In my neighborhood we have our neighborhood homeless people – they have been there for years but they tend to spend their nights hidden away under bridges or in parks.

There is little tolerance by your average citizen for the homeless. Homeless people are kept moving and hidden away: communities create laws to make it an offense to sleep on the sidewalk or even in parks.

Paris
Paris is an interesting place and such a contrast to Mexico and the USA. The homeless are tolerated in most neighborhoods. It seems that each neighborhood has its share of homeless residents.

My neighborhood in Paris is the 8th arrondissement. It includes such French landmarks as the Arc de Triomphe, la Madeleine, the Champs Elysées, Place de la Concorde and Palais de l’Élysée (the residence of the French President). Also in this district is the well guarded US Embassy. A five-minute walk from my home and you’re at the corner of Boulevard Haussmann and Boulevard Malesherbes. This corner is home to our neighborhood homeless man. But, he is homeless in that he does not have a ‘home’ as we think of it because this is his home: all of his possessions are here (mattress, reading materials, food, water, etc). This is also where his friends come to visit and it is not uncommon to see a small group here enjoying conversation, food and drinks.

Speaking of food, the locals (all ages) on a regular basis drop off food (baguettes are common) but I never see money being asked for or being handed out. This is contrary to Houston where the homeless are more likely to reject food and ask for money instead.

The local residents are not the only ones that are tolerant to the homeless: Outside of Gare de Lyon lives another homeless man. Like the one in my neighborhood, he has a spot that he calls home. He seems to be quite popular since he always has visitors. A short walk from his home is a police station. I am sure the police know of their homeless neighbor but they don’t seem to mind.