By Ben Eller
I recently spent a cloudy Tuesday afternoon on the streets of downtown Tulsa. My mission was to meet some people who roamed the streets every day.
It was past 5 p.m., so most of the 9-to-5 business people had left their offices. The sidewalks were pretty empty, but I managed to meet some interesting characters as well.
The most interesting person I met was an elderly man who seemed to be mentally unstable or on drugs. He approached me when he saw my camera, and began to ramble on about doing jail time and a stabbing he had seen. I was never able to ask any questions or get his name. He then began accusing me of crimes and mumbling profanity.
I decided to keep moving and see who else was on the streets.
I talked to four other homeless men downtown. Some said they stayed in different parts for the night or at the Day Center or the downtown YMCA when the weather was bad. None of the men would say much about what led them to lives on the street.
One man, riding a pink bicycle that looked like it belonged to a little girl, told me that it was just too difficult to find work in the city, but he still had hope that he would.
I wanted to help all of the people came across downtown, but I didn't know how I could. I feel that giving them the attention I did made them feel a little more important and a little less neglected.
Ben Eller is a Tulsa native and a huge sports fan. Besides TU, his favorite teams are the St. Louis Cardinals and the Oklahoma Thunder.
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