My first job out of college, I worked in a homeless shelter for kids. It was an eye-opening experience, but I never met a staff member who didn’t bring compassion and decency to the job. Not saying that those people don’t exist, and with the payscale for the job being what it is, you don’t attract the best people with money. I can only imagine it’s worse in the adult shelters, but you don’t last long in that job if you don’t have a passion for helping people.

I will say that the worst part about it were the parents. Some of these kids never had a chance, never had love, never had people looking out for them, and most of the parents I met should not have had kids at all. And then we had the parents who would bring their kids in like we were a daycare, or a punishment. They would get dropped off with a suitcase, in the middle of a bluff being called on one side or the other.

We would just start the paperwork, get the kids a snack and any toiletries they left behind, while their parents would scream at them (and at us) “You see what its like? You see what happens when you don’t listen?”

Ok, any allergies? “She’s going to learn respect!”

Sure, hopefully someday from someone she hasn’t met yet, but for today I just need to know if she’s taking medications. “I’m not kidding, you don’t like it at home, you can stay here all weekend!”

Ma’am, I need you to keep it down, we have a movie on in the common room and you’re upsetting the actually homeless children who are trying to forget that their existence is so depressing, you’re trying to use it to abuse your kids.