Leave the Bums be?

As I was walking past the laundromat on the way home from class today I noticed something strange. It was a man sprawled out on the floor wedged between a laundry machine and the benches that line the laundromat. At first I didn't really know what to do, I mean I have never been in a rescue/chance to be a hero situation before so my first thought was to check to see if this guy was alive. So I walk in and start yelling normal rescue things like "Hey man you ok?", no response. So I take it a step further and start banging on the laundry machine and start making a racket, still nothing. Then I kicked him, and finally he moves his head, but still no real response. It should be noted at this point that this guy is obviously a transient of some sort, but I didn't know if he was just passed out or had a stroke or something. I mean he was on the floor in a very unnatural position, and if he was just passed out he would have just been sitting on the bench right? So then I decided to call Verg and he tells me to call 911.

I call and get some woman who doesn't seem at all interested in what I have to say. I love how these 911 attendants act as if you yourself are a trained medical professional too. Like "Is he injured or just passed out?"..."Is he unconscious?"..."How's his blood pressure?" First of all lady I don't want to touch this man who knows what sort of jig-jaggedy objects hes got on him. All I want is for you to send some people here to help him or get him out of here or something! So she tells me to wait and she is sending someone over.

So now that I am emotionally invested in this bum's well being I wait like a good, upright citizen would (real Stack like). And I wait...........and wait.............and a full 30 min later 2 police officers come strolling up slow as Millz. Now what if this had been a real emergency!?! 30 Minutes is absurd to wait for any sort of emergency response time. So the police get there and start doing the exact same thing I did. They yell and make noise and eventually kick him and he wakes up. Thank God. He's alive. Turns out he was just a wasted bum. Then as the bum was being kicked out of the laundromat he yells "Fuck the cops anyway man!!"

Now at first my reaction to this was "Fuck you Bum. I was just trying to make sure you weren't dead." But then I realized that he IS A BUM. He doesn't want to be woken up. None of them do. Sleep is their only escape they have aside from death. Booze, crack, sleep, death they're all great when you're a bum. That's all a bum has. So I say leave the bums be, let them sleep, die whatever as long as they are not bothering you. Albeit he was in my building's laundromat, which I suppose warrants my calling the police but other than that, I say let them be.

Although one has to wonder about the disturbing number of homeless in Champaign (and I would argue it is growing). However that is a whole other social issue involving development and the displacement of the poor. From a planning perspective it's great to have an upscale walkable neighborhood (ie Green Street, Downtown, and the Burnham Development) and cater to that "creative class" but not when you have 22% of your population below the poverty line. Seems like a pretty big elephant to sweep under the rug.