More from: A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby. When JJ's ex-girlfriend mentioned Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the homeless guy asked if they ever read what Pauline Kael wrote about the movie. Then he adds: "Oh, I know who Pauline Kael is...I wasn't born homeless, you know."
I would say "nobody is born homeless", but homeless women do have babies, while street living, so not exactly true. Basically, though, homeless people do have lives before winding up on the streets ~ lives that included being homed.
A couple of the characters were on a "little roof terrace that looked like it never got the sun at any time of the day or year, but there was a picnic table and a grill out there anyway. Those grills are everywhere in England, right? To me they've come to represent the triumph of hope over circumstances..."
For every homeless person who feels hopeless, there are those who have triumphed, still hopeful despite circumstances. It may seem a long way down when standing atop a roof contemplating jumping, but I think it is a long way up to the roof, standing on the sidewalk contemplating the climb out of homelessness and back to a normal life. Jumping and ending it all will go by a lot faster than climbing those stairs.
A lot more time to contemplate and gain some hope, triumphing over circumstances.
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