Ignorance is Innocence
Being a kid
Living the dream, right?
No bills, no responsibilities
School and play and sleep, school and play and sleep
Maybe for the priveleged few
In this world, not everyone is so lucky.
It's June 2017, Miami, Florida,
The burning sun scorches shoulders the instant they leave the cool of the airport
Complaints and complaints from a group of youth here for "community service"
But really looking for a vacation from nagging parents
Wynwood District Shelter for the Homeless.
Passing through metal detectors and emptying out pockets
More groaning
More complaints.
Into the kitchen where an endless line of poor souls stand patiently for their next meal
What seems like hours go by, mindlessly scooping an undetermined substance onto plates.
A caught eye.
In all the comotion, a little girl, 10 or so, stands with her plate held close to her chest
As if she's scared it could be taken away.
In that moment, the complaints of the group seem baseless.
We can later return home to our bedrooms, our phones, our stocked refrigerators and our loving families
But right now, all she has is a plate.
Some are forced to grow up too fast
They have a piece of their lives taken from them
And as the group boards the plane home
We feel heavier
Heavier with knowlege and heavy with a new sense of understanding
That as that little girl had her childhood taken from her,
We too had lost a bit of our innocence
As they say, "ignorance is bliss"
But we wouldn't have it any other way.