I walk every evening when the weather is suitable and I don't have obligations. I'm a bit obsessed as I take the same route 90% of the time. It's a pleasant walk of 3 to 4 km through a heavily forested area. There are many other walkers so from time to time you meet someone who likes to visit. So I've got to know some people quite well.
As with any forested urban area, there can be undesirables in the area. This area is quite well known for homeless camps. It's right across from a large shopping mall. It's usually you leave me alone and I'll leave you alone.
Occasionally you will meet a homeless person who makes sense. Last night I met one of those people who made sense so I had a good visit. There were actually two people and the other guy wasn't homeless.
We talked in general about homeless needing support. The one guy was 57 and the other guy around 40. Somehow we got onto schools, and teachers. They knew many of my buddies so we had a good laugh about that. They seemed to have had a positive time in school.
The one guy had much hearing loss so he was showing me the hi tech hearing aides he had. My biggest problem with hearing aides is that I sometimes hear more noise than voice.
So it was difficult to continue my walk as we kept finding interesting things to talk about.
These two guys were approachable and interesting to talk too. Some of them you just know that you're better to stay away.
So having a positive interaction with a homeless person makes me think that some things could be done to help homeless people.
