Lemieux Analysis

We have all dreamed about being rich, what we would buy, how we would spend every penny. In these day dreams we never think about others much, especially not some homeless person begging on the corner for their dinner. Even if you weren’t a millionaire, but had a few thousand in the savings account, would you give a few dollars to someone in need? Most people would say yes, but those people don’t have thousands in their banks either. Being wealthy comes with a different mind-set than someone who is poor. In Lemieux article he expresses how the upper-class treated him as if he were less than a human his first time begging for money, whereas Eighner expresses in his article how the upper-class tend to be very beneficial for dumpster divers and …show more content…
Lemieux describes his first time begging and how it was far more difficult than any job he’s had (202). Perhaps this was because of the shame and humility that comes with the view of beggar’s these days. As Lemieux started to ask money to form the people at the upper-class grocery store, he was immediately discouraged by the upsetting comments he was getting from the people he shopped next to for 20 years. Lemieux recalls asking a man he’d just seen getting out of an exquisite Porsche for some spare change and the man interrupted telling him to “Get a Goddamned job, you bum” (203). This would be very discouraging and embarrassing for anyone who has spent their whole lives working and having to resort to begging as a last desperate effort. This wasn’t the end of the discrimination, the store manager, whom recognizes Lemieux, comes out to tell him he must leave the property, offering nothing to help the poor man. After this. Lemieux decides, as a last-ditch effort, to go across the street to the Albertsons were the lower-class shops. When he first arrives, he hides from a familiar face exiting their vehicle, a sign of shame, his first attempt Lemieux is backlashed with another unapologetic rude commentary, and while feeling the full wrath and defeat of life, he feels a tap on his shoulder (204). This turns out to be a lady in red who graciously wants to …show more content…
This does not make it right for us to assume anything about the other, treat each other differently, or less than. As humans we are supposed to come together to help each other out, I believe this is deviated by our society and how we are brought up to think about one another and ourselves. I believe we need to rebuild how our society views class and treats each other accordingly. If we became a community and not so despising of the lower-class there would be less need for begging and dumpster diving and in return we would end up with a society that is less judging of those who are down in life. Begging or dumpster diving does not make you any less of a human being or mean you deserve to be treated