If I haven’t mentioned it before, I’m somewhat OCD, and my morning routine is no exception. Once the girls are off to school, Chris is headed to work, and I’m finished feeding the animals (man, that sounds like I live on a farm), and checking email and Facebook, I put on CNN, grab my cup of coffee, and see what all has went on in the world while most of us slept. I’m not sure if you guys follow CNN or anything, but a story this morning caught my interest, so I thought I’d share. They were covering some of the new "gadgets" introduced at the South By Southwest Conference, and while the app to meet the people on your plane before you get there is cool, I'm not sure how I feel about the company that's using homeless people as wireless hotspots. Basically, this company handed out wifi devices to homeless people in Austin, Texas. You pay the homeless person $2 per 15 minutes, or whatever you'd like over that, for the use of the wifi. The company says it helps the person get their stories out, while at the same time, providing them with some income. Seems simple enough, however, it sparked a plethora of questions for me, and I’m not quite sure how I feel about it, so bear with me for a minute…
On one hand, it’s a really great socially responsible concept. The people they’ve picked get to clean up, and that goes a long way in reestablishing a spike in self-esteem that might have been lost due to their situation. All of that enables them to speak with people that wouldn’t ordinarily give them the time of day. If they’re able to share their stories, hypothetically, couldn’t that lead to permanent employment for some? If it does, it’s really a win win situation. The company gets their name out, their services used, and people get a second chance. That’s fine by me! In meeting the few people in that situation I have, most of them just want the opportunity to work, to get back to “normal”. If this gives them that chance, this could be the best marketing plan ever. I could get behind that.
Maybe it’s the Mom coming out, maybe it's be being a skeptic, but I can’t help but wonder what happens to the people afterwards? If it doesn’t work out, do they just toss the people they’ve pulled off the street back onto it? That doesn’t seem quite fair. Also, did they do background checks on the people they've "hired"? Do they know that they're going to use the money to better themselves? I'm all for helping people, don't get me wrong, but I want to make sure that the people I'm helping use it for good, and not for slipping back into the same negative situation. Believe me, living in Macon for school I came into contact with a few homeless people, and I can honestly say that I've helped those people who weren't just mean about it. My husband hates this story, but I love it...One night while I was out getting coffee with a friend, one of the nicest men I've ever met asked me if I had anything to spare. He talked with us for a while, and when we went inside, I bought him dinner in the coffee shop we were going to. I didn't have any cash on me, so I thought it was the least I could do. He took the food and was very appreciative. The next time I went to the same place, the man was there again, but this time, he had a bouquet of carnations for me. I kidded with Chris that the homeless guy I bought dinner for could give me flowers, but the fiancé couldn't...It was our running joke for years! And just because I know everyone loves a happy ending, last I heard, the guy was given a job washing dishes for the guy that owned the coffee shop and got on his feet.
So, back to the wifi hotspots. What do you think? Do you think it's exploiting the people, or do you think it would be a positive for them?
