Saint Damien's Day
October 12th, 2009 by Stephen DownesSunday morning, 6:15 a.m., Kalakaua Avenue, Waikiki: It was drizzling and the street and sidewalks were shiny wet from the night's rainstorm. On the way to 6:30 Mass at St. Augustine's, to celebrate the canonization of St. Damien of Molokai — which had taken place at Vatican City less than eight hours earlier — it was hard not to notice that his work wasn't done.
On a park bench was a light blue tarp covering a huge mound of someone's belongings. On closer inspection, it was clear there was a person under there: two legs were sticking out, and a body leaned against the belongings, sleeping in the rain.
Further along, a couple next to a low stone wall on Kuhio Beach, sleeping on the sand, three big colorful beach umbrellas providing privacy and protection for them and their stuff. Nearby at the picnic tables, some early risers, distinguished by their shabby clothes and their piles of belongings, contemplated the morning quiet.
On the mauka side of Kalakaua, a shirtless man wearing a huge garish fake lei, his stuff piled on a shopping cart and baby carriage and decorated with brightly colored flags and old beach towels, moved along cheerfully in front of the International Market Place. Somehow, he seemed to fit right in.
During the day, with Waikiki's casual, wear-what's-comfortable atmosphere, the homeless poor can practically blend in with the tourists, beach bums and surfers. You have to pay attention. At night, of course, poverty weeds them out, leaving them on the street while the rest of us return to our homes or hotel rooms. Those are the people the City Council has considered driving off the street, with a ban on sleeping, sitting or otherwise squatting on public sidewalks.
Where they would go is a question left for another day.
If only there were a place to send them, kept away from regular people, where they can't be a danger to society or our sense of well being. It was an interesting question to consider on St. Damien's big day.
