Vancouver Restaurant Offers Free Meals to 50 Needy Residents

by Nomad

Matthew Robinson, reporter for the Vancouver Sun, tells us how the owner of one waterfront restaurant has decided to open his doors to the most needy in the community.

Now he is encouraging other restaurants to do the same.

Last Wednesday, Derek Oelmann and his staff at Vancouver's False Creek restaurant, Ten Ten Tapas,  hosted 50 low income and homeless people who live in the neighborhood. It was not the first time. Oelmann opened his doors twice since last December. 

In an interview, Oelmann said:

“What I’d like to see is this replicated by other restaurants...We did this relatively easily and inexpensively and could you (restaurateurs), once a month, open up your doors to the community?”

The idea is the flip side to new laws in the US against private citizens feeding the homeless.  Oelmann admits that there were some residents who were not exactly pleased. Homeless shelters have also had some of the locals upset apparently. However, other restaurant owners and private citizens have offered to help.

When Capitalism meets Cruelty

by Nomad

I don't think this photo needs too much explanation or comment. 

Seattle Shooting: Compassion and a Homeless Man

by Nomad

On Wednesday of this week, Seattle was the scene of another inexplicable random act of violence. A mentally-disturbed man armed   with two .45-caliber handguns,   walked into a corner coffee house and started shooting the patrons, leaving five people dead.

After stealing the hat from one of the victims, the attacker marched away and killed another person, and stole her car. Later turning the gun on himself, the man, Ian Stawicki, ended the murderous drama in the usual way. 

(This particular incident was somewhat marginalized by the horrific cannibalistic attack on a homeless man in Florida.)

It seems like these incidents have become so common these days, the coverage hardly makes any lasting impression on the public conscience. It's amazing how quickly society moves on.

Anyway, I found a story  related to this shooting that caught my attention. I thought I would share it. 

Police credit homeless felon for helping at tragic shooting

I agree that the article is a moving story, but I am not sure the reason why. Could it be because so many people think that homeless people have no feelings? 

Isn't it ironic that people could think that the homeless would lack a sense of empathy and compassion for a stranger in need?

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Related articles

• Compassion (thehomelessguy.blogspot.com)
• How government makes homelessness worse (wnd.com)
• Seattle gunman kills five people in shooting spree (theprovince.com)