I was standing outside the Golden Nugget Hotel in downtown Las Vegas waiting for the bus to take us back to the airport for the return trek home. Leaving Las Vegas is always a melancholy time. But what happened while I was waiting jarred me quickly back to reality.
A man who appeared to be my age was walking toward the hotel pushing a shopping cart that has a couple of taped plastic bags in it. He wasn't shabbily dressed but he wasn't wearing a tux either.
Suddenly, he stopped and peered into a garbage can. He reached in, grabbed a Coke cup and appeared to drink its remnants. Then he walked along past us to the end of the block, snooping into garbage cans. His "luck" ran out at the end of the street because he encountered a hotel security person, who quietly and efficiently sent him around the corner.
We've all seen the people on the edge of freeways with their signs "Will work for food" and the like. But we can breeze past them in our cars and manage to forget them quickly.
But it is a different story when you watch a guy slowly walk past you pushing a cart with what is probably his entire worldly belongings in it. The guy didn't say anything to us as he walked by and he wasn't bothering anybody.
But I don't think I will forget the scene for some time to come. The next time I hear a politician or a pundit tell me we are not a country with problems, I am sure I will see the picture of this fellow in my mind. I only wish they could see him too.
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