Criminalization of Homelessness

As I stopped outside of my grocery store to take this picture, a cop cars pulled up. Two officers got out and approached a seemingly homeless person, which I had already encountered on my way in to the store. They questioned her: what are you doing here, are you waiting for a ride, who is coming to pick you up, do you have any ID on you?

I put away my camera, and paused for a moment. I was standing parallel to this sick looking, thin lady who was sitting on the floor, with her knees to her chin, and her back against the wall. In between us there was a telephone stand, so I could only see her toes which were dirty and long, but yet proportional to her frame. I thought to myself: I am standing here with my back against the wall just like her. My wallet is full of many things but no picture ID, yet they only approached her and not me. Did I look more “civilized/normal” to them? I don’t know if the city I live in has any ordinances against the homeless, but I know that the US in general is characterized by a trend towards the criminalization of homelessness. And I wonder, why????, when the government itself doesn’t offer many alternatives for this group of people. But that is not even the point here. Let’s say that one morning I wake up and decide to become homeless by choice, do they have a right to determine my lifestyle? Perhaps the lady wasn’t even homeless after all. Maybe she just liked to dress in rags, maybe she was really waiting for a ride, maybe she was just resting, maybe she just liked the shade that the grocery store provided for her, maybe she was simply standing there for no reason at all………