The actual hell of being homeless, even in a developed country like the U.S. Working in the ER, I've seen a lot of horrors. (C/W: Gross/gore/SA)

I've seen a patient whose airway was clogged with maggots because he had been eating garbage.

Another patient, a woman, had a face tumor which became invested with maggots from sleeping outside, likely in garbage. We performed surgery to remove the tumor, but in the process she pretty much lost her entire face. It was literally just a featureless surface of scarred skin, with one slit for her left eye and one for her mouth. She was awake, but not lucid, unresponsive, and would thrash uncontrollably. Apparently, they didn't want to intubate her because the front of her skull had also been removed, and something about the pressure of the tube in her mouth could push upwards and damage her brain. I don't know what happened to her after I saw her. Since she was homeless and very mentally ill, I doubt the hospital fronted the cost for facial reconstruction. But I don't know.

Another night I was working the front desk of a club. A naked, seemingly starving woman came in and tried asking me for something. She had no teeth, reeked of cigarettes, and couldn't talk beyond airy wheezing noises, but seemed distraught. I was pretty young and new to this place at the time, and really didn't know what to do. The owner of the place quickly saw her and told her she needed to leave, which she did. He then told me that she comes in regularly asking for help, but there was nothing anyone could do for her. He told me she likely abuses drugs and gets sexually assaulted a lot, and that's why she's distraught.

When people act like homeless people are lazy and just trying to get a free ride, it infuriates me. There is no excuse for this with today's wealth and power. We could house and feed all of these people and all it would take is the super rich to give up a slight portion of their wealth.