I had a solid cry today. :/
I live in a mid size (about 100k) city. We're one of the most income disparate cities in America for our size. I live in the "nice" part of town, but there are impoverished areas very close to my house. Lots of homeless people in parks, and there's been a couple of deaths from the cold in the homeless population.
Today, after work I was walking from a trendy expensive cafe when a young-ish looking girl approached me, asking for money. She looked healthy, like a normal 16 year old so I was immediately suspicious. She says she hasn't eaten in a couple of days, and if I could spare $5 so she could go to Subway since she just lost her job. We start talking, exchange names and we walk together and I ask her about herself. Her name is Desiree, she's 17, and has been emancipated since she was 16 due to an abusive mother. She's never met her father. She recently lost her job at McDonald's because she couldn't get to work because of unreliable buses. She's looking for a job and is currently bouncing between living with different friends (I have no idea how she knows people who have their own apartments, and I don't ask). I drive her to Taco Bell, Wal-Mart, Chic-fil-a, Wendy's, and Steak 'n' Shake and she drops off applications and she talks to some managers. She was SO determined and she told me she's working on her GED (she dropped out of high school @ 16 to work after she got emancipated and her mom kicked her out), and is planning on starting community college as soon as she can. We get some Subway together, and I awkwardly give her some money afterwards. I drive her to the sketchiest apartment complex I have ever seen, and we part ways. I gave her my phone number as she leaves, and I tell her to call me if she ever needs a ride somewhere because our city's buses are terrible and it costs $2.50 per ride.
I often think about how lucky I am, but I rarely am so acutely reminded of it.