麥克西的世界

高爾夫球，攝影，旅遊，講笑話，寫寫心得，這就是我工作、家庭以外的小世界。

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感恩節話感恩

(2010-11-25 14:02:27) 下一個

作者：麥克西
中文博客：www.MichaelCBlog.com
國內博客：www.Maikexi.net

2010年11月25日。今天是美國一年中第二重要的傳統節日，感恩節。以前孩子小，過感恩節除了電視上看看遊行、球賽，吃一頓火雞，或外出度假，倒沒有什麽特殊的地方。現在孩子大了，時常想到如何教育他們怎樣去理解“感恩”的意義。昨天突發奇想，建議兒子和他的朋友一起在感恩節的早晨去休斯頓尋找、采訪無家可歸者，他們欣然答應。平時邀孩子單獨和我一起外出攝影比較困難，這次他有伴而行、互相促進，應該是他們這樣爽快答應的最大理由。

感恩節早上，電視上開始播出紐約Macy's遊行，休斯頓城中心也有HEB遊行。我們約好9點出發，但他們倆起床較晚，11點半才出門。我們從糖城出發，沿著59號公路朝休斯頓開去。我走的是輔助路，可以看到每個交叉路口的大橋下有沒有無家可歸者。一路上發現無家可歸者很少。我想，今天很多地方有專門給無家者提供的免費感恩大餐，也許大部分流浪漢都去吃大餐了。有一些無家者也許並不是真正無家，隻是把在街頭行討當作一種“職業。”假如這些人在感恩節也流落街頭應該是真正的無家可歸者了。

過了3-4個路口，在Bellaire路口上才看到第一個無家可歸者正在行討，我們開始有點興奮起來。我們在路旁的小商場停下車，走到橋下，發現原來還有一位坐在地上在吃午飯。我們和他們聊起來。原來準備給他們送食物，但後來覺得太麻煩，食物體積大不容易帶，也容易冷，最後還是決定給他們每人送十元美金，並以此征求他們的同意給他們攝影、用他們的照片、問他們問題。他們每個人都欣然答應。就在我們與這兩位聊天的時候，路口的其他兩個方向也陸續來了兩個行討者。也許他們此時才“起床”、“上班”。

我們在Bellaire路口上訪問了四個無家者。後來車開到下一個路口Hilcroft，又看到一位。總共五位，其中居然有三位來自德州東部的路易安娜州，兩位的名字叫Michael，兩位的名字叫Ricky。白人、黑人、西班牙人似乎都有。他們好像都是長期靠馬路乞討為生，冬天太冷才去城中心的Salvation Army過夜。

兩位小朋友一開始對這樣的活動有點緊張。我們把錢包都留在了車上，以防萬一。和第一位聊開以後，他們漸漸放開下來，挺認真地問問題、做筆記，結束的時候還和他們握手。我給他們一人配了一部小相機，他們和我一起給這幾位無家者拍了很多照片。其中兩位還特意告訴小朋友，他們後悔沒有讀完書，鼓勵他們一定要完成學業，否則結果就可能像他們一樣流落街頭。從橋下走回來的時候，我們在地上揀到一顆子彈頭。這裏的確是些很糟糕的地方。

離開Hilcroft路口我們開往城中心。在那裏沒有看到什麽無家可歸者，倒是在市政府附近有很多人排隊，不知道是感恩節免費大餐還是在開派對。我帶著兩個小朋友朝休斯頓城中心東北方向開去。按照新聞慣例，那是一個窮人區，很Rough，我們不敢下車。我們在那附近轉了一轉，我開著車，小朋友在車上忙著照街景。

然後我們開車回到休斯頓西南部的新中國城吃中餐。在美國全年隻有兩天幾乎所有商店都關門，一是聖誕節，二就是感恩節。整個休斯頓冷冷清清，Mall，餐館，Grocery Stores統統打烊，隻有加油站還運業。可是，中國城特別熱鬧，各種商店都照常服務，生意很好，是朋友們一起逛店子、買東西、吃吃喝喝的好時候，也給我們的活動提供了非常好的對比。

我們就這樣度過了今年的感恩節。我想不用我說，小孩子已經從今天的活動中懂得了更多的感恩的意義。流浪漢的幾句話勝過我一籮筐的話。

Homeless But Not Faceless

Nov. 25, 2010, Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving is the second most important holiday in the US. When my kids were younger, it meant eating turkey, joining parties, watching parades, or having a family vacation elsewhere. As my children grew older, I started thinking more about how to teach them to be thankful. When my son's friend, Leo, came to our house a few days ago, I suggested my them to go interviewing and photographing homeless people in Houston with me on Thanksgiving Day. Both agreed to do that.

We left Sugar Land at about 11am and drove on the feeder road along Highway 59 toward Houston. My recollection told me that it should be easy to find homeless people under the overpass bridges. But we didn't find any in the first several overpasses that we drove by. We thought maybe they were not on the street on Thanksgiving Day since there were so many places offering free Thanksgiving meals around the city. We finally saw one begging at the intersection of Bellaire. We parked at a nearby shopping strip, walked toward them, and started the interviewing and photographing session...

Photos by MichaelC

Armed with my Canon 5D Mark II camera and 50mm/1.2F lense, I chose to shoot close-ups on this trip. I want to show the faces of homeless people without showing much of their surroundings. If judged only by their faces, it's hard to believe these are all homeless. That is why it's important to ask them questions, listen to their answers, and find out their stories.

(1) "Michael" came from Lousiana a long time ago. He is a quiet person answering questions only when we asked. He used to be an AC service technician but has been living on the street for many years now. He has relatives in both Houston and Lousiana. He was there on this Thanksgiving day to accompany Ricky. When we arrived, he was sitting on the ground eating lunch from a to-go carry-out box.

(2) "Ricky" was much more talkative. He was disabled with a broken arm from a motorcycle accident. He came from Lousiana 15 years ago and have lived on the street for 10 years. He said he sleeps at night behind an AT&T store and sometimes in the bushes. He seems to know many people on the street. A police car drove by, he waved to the policemanand telling us that was a good cop who often protected them. He saw a couple of other homeless people and shouted them to cover over to meet with us. He dropped out of school at 11th grade and wishes he didn't. He now lives on whatever people are giving to him. During our interview, we heard his cell phone ringing in his pocket.

(3) "Gino" is 58 years old from Florida and has lived on the street for 28 years. He has three sons, three daughters, and six grand children. The last time he saw or spoke with his sons was 17 years ago. His sons knew he lived on the street but did not help. He was run over by a car one month ago leaving him a broken leg.

(4) "Rick" is from New Orleans and has been living on the street of New Orleans and Houston for 13 years, long before Hurricane Katrina. From the background you can see the overpass from Highway 59. I counted and gave him ten dollar bills. Later when we were getting into our car, he walked back toward us. The kids locked up the car. He complained to me that I gave every one else $10 but him only $8. There was no good way for me to argue with him. I simply gave him two extra dollar bills. He happily left.

(5) "Mike" lives under the overpass at Hilcroft. He grew up in Houston but now lives on the street. He lost one hand when he fell from a scaffold on a construction site. He said he killed his family or something like that. He goes to church every other week. When we approached him he was on his way to his bible study. He was concerned and kept asking us if the photos would show up on local newspaper. We assured him that would not happen.