Rebuttal to my First Lady at the homeless shelter picture post

So, a few weeks back I post a link to a picture of a homeless person getting a free meal served by the First Lady. The point of the post was to show the presence of a cell phone that the homeless (?) person was using to take a photo of this historic moment in their life.

So, I get an anonymous (figures) response:

Anonymous said...
"I'm not sure what you find "priceless" about homelessness. What exactly do you find objectional about this photo? Is it that a person in line for a meal has a cell phone? Do you think that the homeless should not be allowed to have cell phones? Can you imagine trying to find a job without having a phone on which to receive call-backs for interviews? In this economy, how do you know this person wasn't recently homeless with a family to feed? How do you know this person was homeless at all and not a staff member at this shelter or simply someone who wanted a photo of the first lady? And by the way, this is not a governmental funded shelter. The first lady was volunteering at a privately funded organization called Miriam's Kitchen. It never ceases to amaze me that so-called Christians are always the first to find humor in the plight of others."


So, if I may, a rebuttal.

1) Cell phones are NOT life necessities, unless you have no home phone. If I'm homeless and jobless, who exactly is paying the phone bill? Friend or family member? Fine. But let's be real, there are MANY people with very screwed-up priorities. And there are things called Trac-Fones. You know...pay as you go, pay when you can. This shows exactly how many people think they "deserve" that which you are to work for. When I LOST MY JOB 20 months ago, the cell phone that came with it was gone, too. Thus, for awhile, UNTIL I COULD AFFORD ONE, I (gasp!) DID NOT have a cell phone.

2) There was nothing in the photo that even discussed whether the food was coming from the government or not, so you've brought into the conversation a point that's irrelevant to the post.

3) I apologize if I referenced finding "humor" in the picture. What I was trying to reference was an example of WHAT IS IMPORTANT IN LIFE AND WHAT IS NOT.

I could feed my family, if my cell phone was, say, 50 bucks a month, for several days without needing a handout. What's wrong with giving out a neighbor or family member's phone number to a prospective job contact? Or do we "deserve" to all have our own 21st Century technology?

When I was a kid, I had no cell phone, no answering machine, no microwave, no FM radio in the car, no cable, no computer, no Internet, no email. I got my first job. Then my second (using my Dad's car), then my third (borrowing a friend's car at college, I might add), and so on.

And we wonder why millions of people honestly believe they should be given everything. And don't tell me that's not a true statement. It's very, very real.

To me, after pondering this, I now think a new perspective should be placed on the picture.

What about the woman behind the man? What if she represents the truly needy people in this world who have their priorities straight and really need that hand up as well as temporary hand out?

Why don't we focus on her, and those she represents. In the meantime, I suggest Anonymous go find the guy with the cell phone and find out if he truly can live without it.