Apr 30
Last week I exclaimed how great the Boston Public Library is. There is one big problem though, that I didn’t experience the first time I went (probably because the weather was good): The homeless people take all the good seats! The Boston Public Library has an old section and a new section. The old section is a beautiful old building, with fantastic architecture and art. The new section is a 1970s monstrosity. I like to sit in a part of the old section where they have comfortable leather chairs.
Last week, I went one morning at around 9:30 am to do some reading. I first sat in the courtyard, but decided it was too cold to read outside. I went inside to the nice area with the leather chairs, but there was no spot without someone immediately adjacent. There are about 14 chairs in the library and 7 or so were occupied. On the left side, three people were reading. In the middle, there was one guy awake listening to music (homeless), then another guy with the chair turned around sleeping (homeless), then another guy sleeping (homeless), then another guy sleeping (homeless). There were two chairs between the last two guys. One guy looked dirtier than the other so I sat next to the least dirty looking homeless man. I started to read, but couldn’t ignore the foul stench surrounding me. Confused and frustrated, I decided to try to hold out for a few minutes. A security guard walked through and didn’t ask the homeless to move along. Since they outnumbered me 4:1, I decided to move on myself to a less comfortable area with desks.
What bothers me the most was not the smell, nor was it the fact that homeless people are in the library. It’s the fact that they are sleeping!?!? If you’re homeless and in a library… READ A BOOK! You’ve obviously got nothing better to do with your time, so why not get a little education? Are most homeless people homeless because they are lazy? To them is the public library a place to be lazy in comfort? If I were in their shoes (which I almost am), I would spend my time learning the skills to get myself out of them. Instead, they are busy wasting tax payer dollars sleeping. The library should initiate a $0.25 fine for people sleeping in the library. Then at least the homeless will have to get a little more creative about how they sleep!
For more of my thoughts on homeless, read my thoughts on the differences between being an entrepreneur and being homeless!
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