“We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty.” — Mother Theresa

Captain Australia’s Crime Fighting Journal, Entry #42

Captain Australia Theme Song

I have been reading and researching about homelessness.  In Australia, it’s the indigenous folk who are disadvantaged, alongside those with drugs, alcohol or mental health issues.  I’m learning that just below the surface there is a large pool of itinerant homeless living in our major cities, and until now they’ve been invisible to me.  Now that I’ve seen them, how can I turn away ?

“I mean, I don’t think I’m alone when I look at the homeless person or the bum or the psychotic or the drunk or the drug addict or the criminal and see their baby pictures in my mind’s eye. You don’t think they were cute like every other baby?” — Dustin Hoffman

That’s a great quote.

Today I went out amongst the homeless of Brisbane.  Many of them drunk, addled, aggressive, unbalanced – it’s very easy to turn your gaze away from them.  But I’d urge you to follow Dustin Hoffman’s lead: imagine them as they were when they were innocent children.  Try to understand what path in life led them from who they were to who they are now.  Empathise.

I tried to do that today, but additionally I decided that I’d try and give some practical help as well, so I purchased food and drinks to give out to the homeless people that I would meet.  I’m glad that I took this step, because everyone that I met gratefully accepted the food (although the first reaction could be commonly quoted as “What ?!  Fucking health bars ?!  Give me a hamburger, mate!”)

Immediately after purchasing supplies, I came across a group of two homeless men & two homeless women loudly arguing, one of the men asserting that one of the women had stolen five dollars from him.  Both parties were vocal, and it was coming to blows.  I intervened and negotiated a resolution, agreeing to compensate the man for his lost money on the proviso that they leave the store and behave with dignity.  This is outlined in the video sequence below.

My first encounter during active patrol (outlined in the video sequence below) was with a homeless woman sniffing paint in a nearby park.  She was disoriented, confused, and couldnt lucidly explain her situation.  She gratefully accepted the food & drink, but during the conversation reached out and attempted to grab my penis, at which point I restrained her and said goodbye before moving on.

Later, we met the lovely Janet, who had been hit by a car a few days prior.  She was very sweet in nature, and a good example of how an otherwise lovely but disadvantaged person can find themselves living on the street.  The encounter speaks for itself and is outlined in the video sequence below.

After that we met another group of homeless, who were very hostile and refused to be filmed.  While taking secret footage from a distance, my videographer spotted a strange white guy nearby, discreetly feeling up a drunken homeless aboriginal woman.  You’ll see his footage and commentary below.  Just to be safe, I went and sat amongst them for a while, and winded up having a cryptic conspiracy theory discussion with the fellow about how the British Monarchy is the ultimate force for Evil.

Finally, after one last attempt to re-engage the hostile group of homeless, we declared the patrol at an end.