Posted on 03/10/2007 3:02:50 PM PST by LurkedLongEnough
PHILADELPHIA, Pa (1010 WINS) -- Steve Wood spent last week living on the streets of Philadelphia. But he's not homeless or even close to it.
The Temple University student from Washington Township, N.J. was gathering material for a series of articles he hoped would ``put a face to the homeless.''
Wood, 21, a senior and features editor of the university's school newspaper, Temple News, started his adventure last Saturday. He had stopped shaving days before to help him blend in and talked to a homeless man who is often seen around his school for tips.
The university student rode a bus into Philadelphia with only a few phone numbers, two pairs of socks, a tooth brush, a tape recorder, a blanket, a can of pepper spray _ a gift from his father, _ $10 and a copy of the Russian novel ``Crime and Punishment.''
Five days into his project, Wood told the Philadelphia Inquirer things were going differently then he planned.
``I had plans of sleeping under the stars,'' he said in comments reported in the paper's Saturday editions. ``I thought I'd be buddy-buddy with people who'd give me the scoop. And I'd checked the weather. Everything said there was a 10 percent chance of precipitation and no temperatures below 40 degrees.''
But it was too cold too sleep in LOVE Park, a park in downtown Philadelphia opposite City Hall, his first night.
``I woke up with chills like I'd never had before. At that point, I was almost 'All is lost,''' he said.
But he kept going, and spent his days on the street interviewing people, stopping by shelters and once accepting a gift of 75 cents from a drug dealer. He called his parents, who had tried to talk him out of his idea, every night.
As of Thursday, Wood only had 16 cents and a peanut-butter cracker to his name, but said, ``I know that I'm only one shower removed from being back to normal.''
As for his experience living on the street, Wood said he was resentful when he saw people who had coffee, but that he lost patience when he heard some homeless talking about what the city owes them.
``I don't want to be a junior-varsity social worker, but to some extent they make their own bed,'' he said. ``I feel bad for them, but a lot of them have a sense of entitlement.
Wood's last day on the streets was expected to be Saturday, and the first article about his experience is scheduled to be published Tuesday.
==The Temple University student from Washington Township, N.J. was gathering material for a series of articles he hoped would ``put a face to the homeless.''
How original.
This guy though that sleeping outside in early March in the Northeast would be confortable? And he goes to college? Has he ever been camping???
Oops!
though = thought
confortable = comfortable
The publisher will probably pull it because it doesn't convey the correct leftist message.
What I resent is the media barrage of homeless sob-stories every Thanksgiving and Christmas. Apparently I'm a real ass for enjoying my family and the life that I've put together from scratch. Oh no, I'm supposed to sit around cultivating a self-loathing fetish and feel awful because somebody in the world has it tough.
Unfortunately, for a growing segment of the population, that's the American way.
Smacked in the face by reality. Whattdya know.
It's true though, most homeless would rather be homeless than remove their piercings, cover their tattoos and wear normal clothes in order to hold a job and have responsibilities.
The homeless community is just that - a community, and the community will hold him or her back.
The best way to escape homelessness is to break away from the peers who hold you back and make your own way.
And we can thank the government for closing down so many mental institutions. As for substance abuse, that's self-inflicted.
Agreed. In fact I'm surprised the story got this far.
He's obviously not a journalism major or he would have just invented a few characters and fabricated a heart warming and completely politically correct story.
"This guy though that sleeping outside in early March in the Northeast would be confortable? And he goes to college? Has he ever been camping???"
He should talk so someone in special forces serving in the mountains in Afghanistan.
Isn't this called "slumming"?
Oh yes, they've rediscovered "the homeless." No doubt, we'll be sssing articles about dumpster diving as well, whinings about someone's home in an abandoned car being dragged off to the junkyard, etc. Wasn't there some group of college students who did this before, out in front of their university? They complained to the police that the (real) homeless were trying to take their food and blankets, and the police either drove them away or arrested them for the night.
ha!
I read the whole article, looking for the part where the homeless were FORCED to make their own beds.
Don’t judge too soon, this article is about him.
Better wait and read his articles before you make that kind of judgment.
Quote:
As of Thursday, Wood only had 16 cents and a peanut-butter cracker to his name, but said, ``I know that I'm only one shower removed from being back to normal.''
He is also one crushing blow to his head from being in a hospital.
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