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There is a war going on at the Circle K in Middlebury.
It started a few days ago when a friend of mine was thrown out of Circle K because they accused him of shooting up in their bathroom during an earlier visit.
They then banned me and all my friends from the store because we were associated with him.
And then they took a picture of Ryan Scanlon and his son standing at my truck. They accused him of buying cigarettes for someone who didn’t have an ID and wanted to capture that transaction on camera. I can tell you without a doubt that transaction did not occur. We were just raging about the bigotry we all had just experienced.
We had all been lumped together as disgusting homeless people. It was blatantly clear we were experiencing collective hate.
The picture here was taken and edited by Ryan Scanlon. He’s pissed. Our homeless friends are pissed. And so am I.
I’ve encountered a great deal of homeless hate over the years. It usually has to do with trash and needles.
I mean, for real, why do homeless people have to be so trashy? It reinforces the stereotype. Trash is a symbol of disease, pestilence, rats, and cockroaches. It’s like they are living into the stereotype. And if they are living that reality, isn’t there a valid thread of truth to it all?
I have watched a homeless person throw a cup on the ground while they were standing RIGHT NEXT to a trash can.
If I had to guess, the woman in this picture has probably either experienced addiction and/or homelessness, or certainly has close friends and family members who have.
And come on, aren’t some of you well off people judging her? Her missing tooth. Her loud, public display of Jerry Springer rage. I mean isn’t she living into another stereotype of low income trash? Why do poor people have to be so loud and gross?
I don’t know where I want to take this story next.
Is this a story about man’s inhumanity to man? Is it a story of understanding how hurt people hurt people? Is it a story as old as time and is destroying Ukraine and Palestine right this minute? People often times are terrible and do deserve our wrath.
I can’t see how we ever move out of this orbit of tribal hate we perpetually spin in. What evidence during all of human history have we seen where forgiveness and understanding are more than a few anecdotal drops in a sea of hate and vengeance?
Is there any hope for humanity? I really can’t see how you can honestly think there is.