A montage from Arizona (part 3)

Scene 3: Is there no other way?

Later that day I was in the parking lot of the hostel when I witnessed something that disturbed me. Adjacent to the hostel are apartments where local residents live and across from one of these units in the corner of the parking lot was a Native American man who was seriously inebriated and urinating on the property. The resident shoved the drunken man hard and he fell to the ground landing with a thud.

“What are you doing man?!” I yelled out across the lot. The tenant shot me a look and told me that this guy is pissing on the property. I was dumbfounded. “Well, you can’t just straight arm tackle this guy!” His anger shot in my direction. He then told me this was not the first time that this guy had been on this property defacing the property. He then said, “What am I supposed to do – call the cops and have this guy hauled off?”

I later shared my concern with the hostel staff and he did not see a problem with the tenant’s reaction. He related how they have homeless folks who break into the hostel and fall asleep on the floor.

The scene I witnessed has given me a great deal of reason for introspection. How would I treat this man if I were the tenant? Do I see certain sectors or groups of people as a nuisance or a problem to deal with?

I know that when I saw that altercation in the parking lot there could be a different way to interact with our neighbors, a new way of living. It is within each of us to be the healing we wish to see in the world.