The Homeless Man Ordeal

A homeless man with a golden voice was discovered by a news agency. His video was mounted on the Internet that sparked a “media frenzy.”

By now most have heard of the homeless man with the golden voice. Mr. Ted Williams was once a family man with a promising career that found hard times because of his addiction to drugs and alcohol. Eventually he found himself on skid row because of this. His recent emergence is a testament to many things that are worth taking heed.

Imagine one day you are on the street corner begging for spare change to fulfill your next fix and in the next few days you are a media sensation. The human mind doesn’t normally make such rapid transformations. The regimens and habits this man established over a period of years became etched into his being. In order for him to become a “new person” he would need to establish new habits and regimens. This doesn’t usually happen overnight.

Unfortunately Mr. Williams is just another profitable news sensation in the hands of the media useful to boost their ratings. It is not just the morning news but the late night shows as well. In addition there were several advertising agencies that booked him as a voice-over artist to sell certain commercial products. This sounds like a classic rags-to-riches story.

What lessons are we to take from this dazzling event? There are several positive ones and some that are not as flattering. Greed and selfish ambitions may also come into view but let’s first start with the positive points.

To take a person off the street and make them a media sensation could be a positive benefit. However, if the concern is for the individual rather than what the individual offers it is like giving them a chance to become successful, a chance they might not have otherwise had.

Looking at the brighter side, if this individual could be made whole and cured of his past demons this would be a great testimony for countless people that are now on skid row. Since we are only days into this happening it is too early to tell if anything has been done to cure the man as they continue to thrust him out into the public arena.

One would hope that someone or some entity is genuinely looking out for this person above what he is currently providing as a media sensation. If not, then once the bright lights fade, then so shall the man.

In a sense this is like having a boxing bear. People are fascinated by how a bear could mimic the human-like talent of boxing in the ring with a person, but when the bear is not on stage performing he is locked back in a cage as the non-human bear he really is.

In other words the bear is merely a showpiece to his owners. If the bear suddenly got sick or was unable to perform his tricks he would return to being just another bear in a cage. The concern for Williams is about what will happen when his star fades.

Take the fact that you have a person that was poor and homeless and turned their fortune into one with money and the ability to purchase a home. That is definitely a positive causation, but again, if the person is not altered in their internal and/or mental operations it is like giving costly pearls to swine. Unless you are willing to fix the person first, adding material things to them does not change what they are.

As we look deeper we find this person to have children, an ex-wife, and a mother still living. From out of the gutters this man has been reconnected to the life and people he left behind years back. Most of his family members were aware of why he disappeared in the first place. Obviously they may be a bit leery of his return. The mother asked that he not let her down once again. I’m sure she has heard it all before from her addict-son.

His children and ex-wife were less trusting because he let them down once before. The verdict is still out as to what he will do this time. Once a trust has been broken it is hard to recapture the same feeling again. Any past friends or business associates would be equally pessimistic. The onus is on Mr. Williams to prove that he is trustworthy. What will he do with this new opportunity?

Now let’s look at the other side of this story. Who is it that truly benefits here? All the media entities that covered his story have already benefited. Having him on their shows boosted their ratings and attracted audiences that may not have watched their show otherwise. Viewer attraction naturally means money and an opportunity to sell products and ads for businesses. In essence this man made money for a lot of people. Since most of the recipients were the studios and corporations, you be the judge as to the true benefactor.

Taking all this into consideration what is the final figure? Is there more good than bad? Are there more winners than losers? Haven’t we showed that we can all be touched when one of us is given a second chance? Even though the usual suspects are thoroughly in this story there is also a side of our humanity showing its underbelly. We care about each other and would like to see each do well.

What if you were the one on the street and someone gave you a second chance? Perhaps that cold uncompassionate side of us, the human race, thawed out just a fraction? Perhaps we are more internally connected than we would like to believe? Think about it!