My column this week was going to be about socks. You know, how they just seem to disappear somewhere between the foot and the washing machine and the clothes line?
It was bothering me.
Until I drove to work yesterday and saw a man pushing a shopping trolley containing his worldly possessions along the road.
It was freezing.
And he was wrapped in an old blanket.
It really hit me; we have to be able to do better than this.
If a community’s strength is measured by how it treats its most vulnerable then surely it’s not good enough to have people shivering in doorways with not enough to eat.
Looking at this man, who has appeared in the Mail for a story we did about homelessness, my socks conundrum suddenly seemed so trivial.
I sit at home in my heated lounge room and moan about missing socks while there are people in my own city without a roof over their heads.
I know there are services available for people in crisis.
I know local charities work tirelessly providing help to those in need.
And yet there is obviously still a big enough gap between the haves and the have-nots to leave some spending every evening shivering through the night.
I’m all ears.
I want to hear from people in the community about this issue.
Enough is enough.
When people can’t access a basic human need in our society it’s got to be time to stop with the pity and start with the action.
Let’s put our heads together and see what we can do.
Like I said, we have to be able to do better than this.