Just Say 'Hello'  IMAGINE if you didn't exist. What would you
feel like if all humanity refused to see you or acknowledge your
existence.  One afternoon last summer, I was standing at a pay
phone in Harvard Square. A few feet in front of me, a disheveled
man asked passers-by for spare change. While I was on the phone,
I was able to observe a few minutes of this man's life, and what
I saw disturbed me.  During the entire 15 minutes, not a single
person even looked the man in the face. Instead, people averted
their eyes and hurried past, thinly masking their pity, disgust
and scorn. Each person who passed without acknowledging the
man's presence heaped insult upon his injury.  But because of
his desperation, the man could not give up and leave. He was
forced to stand there and stoically take each slap in the face.
Whether to give money to homeless people is not the issue here.
The issue is the incredible insensitivity with which many of us
treat the homeless. What upset me about this man's situation was
not hi