There was one winter I drove for Lyft. There was one ride I had where it was a homeless man who someone else paid for their Lyft so then they could have some time in a car to warm up.

I was with the man maybe a half hour or so. It was eye-opening for him to tell me how he lived on the streets. His candor on how he breaks into an abandoned building and lives there. He spoke about picking up smoking to help fight hunger.

He said the difficult not only came from being homeless but from the dehumanization of him. People walk by and forcefully don’t make eye contact. People don’t smile to see him. He’s treated like a 3rd class citizen.

It opened my eye to the dominos of everything that lined up perfectly in every which way for him to be homeless. It wasn’t completely his fault.