What's a bum??

Two kids who have bums but are clearly not bums

No this is not going to be a naughty post, but just a story I've been wanting to journal for a while.

To preface, I have to say that so far, my kids were basically raised outside of the US. We moved to Germany when David was 5 & Savannah was 3, so until last year Savannah & Bella had spent more time out of the US than in the US. And before that we lived in the South. In the south & in Europe there aren't really any transients, beggers or homeless people around. I guess I don't really know what the political correct term would be nowdays but when we were growing up we called them bums. Dave & I noticed this after living in the south for a year...there also aren't very many hippies. We think it is because it is too hot there to beg on the side of the road all day long. In Europe the one exception would be Paris, where young girls beg at the Eiffel Tower and a few beggers are in the subway, but they don't look at you they just prostrate themselves on the ground with a cup for coins. Anyway...that is a really long preface to this story but here in the Northwest there are many homeless people begging at the side of the road or on freeway off ramps for money.

So a few weeks after we rolled into town we took the kids to Portland for the day to buy something, I don't really remember what. And as we were driving, getting closer to the freeway there was a homeless man with a sign that read something like this:

Homeless, No food, anything will help.

We carry a few protein bars in the car so Dave hands them to me and I roll down the window and give them to the man. The kids, who are very concerned about us giving away their snacks start protesting and the conversation goes like this:

David: who is that man

Mom: a bum

David: what's a bum

Mom: a homeless person

Dad: you can't call them bums anymore

Mom: what am I supposed to call them...

David: what's a homeless person

Mom: someone who doesn't have a home

David: who took his house away

Mom: no one took his house away sweetie, he just doesn't have anywhere to live

Savannah: ( very concerned) why did you give him our food?

Mom: because he's hungry

Savannah : why is he hungry

Mom: because he has no food

David: why doesn't he go to a hotel, there's free breakfast at the hotel

Savannah: why doesn't he live with his parents-they probably have food

Mom: because he doesn't have money for food or a hotel, and maybe he doesn't have parents

David: why doesn't he get a job then

Mom: I don't know maybe he can't (laughing)

Savannah: where did his parents go...

And the conversation went on for seriously 15 minutes...anyway, we thought it was so funny. Our world traveller kids can't quite grasp the concept of bums.