Traveling, Broke, and Hungry? No Kidding

(Bonus Editorial!  Was Meant to Air August 27, 2010 - but did not.)

I think I'm starting to turn into a crotchety old man.  I promised myself just a few short years ago it seems never to lose sympathy, but it's starting to happen anyway.

Driving through Sahali, you're quite likely to come across the two young people I saw at the corner of Summit and Columbia today.  The man and woman were on either side of the intersection, each with a dog at their side, each holding a sign bearing the words "traveling, broke, and hungry."

"Broke and hungry" I have plenty of sympathy for.  Sometimes the world conspires against a person, you find yourself caught up in addiction or bad financial investments, maybe you have a mental health issue, all of the sudden you're out on the street.  Sometimes it truly is "down on your luck."

But "traveling" is the part that chaps my hide.  That's where I lose my empathetic side.  I'd love to be traveling.  The best times of my life happened while I was traveling.  I work for the vast majority of my life so that I can see a bit of the world during the little time off I get.  When you tell me that you are traveling, you tell me exactly why you are broke and hungry.

I suppose it's very straight-laced of me to tell these people to settle down and get a job.  The 20-year-old version of myself would be steamed at this.  But really.  Get a job.