THE 23: WHO CARES?

They’re not aloud to be outside of a business for more then five minutes. They don’t feel welcomed at the local high-risk youth hangout spot. They’ve either been thrown out of their houses or haven’t been home in several days with out the parents even noticing. So where do they hang out? They call it The 23.

At the 23-hour parking lot on any given day you will find anywhere between 10-20 kids hanging out. Well, maybe not all kids. Their ages range from 14-24. These are the outcast of our community. The druggies, potheads, losers, scum, dirty people of our society that most people don’t really care about. The police don’t mind that they hang out at the 23-hour parking lot. As long as they don’t hang around the community and scare the ones who make the wonderful town of Cambridge civilized. It makes sense now that when someone new to the community hangs out at The 23 they assume he’s an undercover cop. They’re not use to seeing police near there so they think it’s a little too fishy.
You’ll find beer cans, cigarette butts, candy wrappers and a mass variety of garbage on the ground. You’ll even find a tore-up mattress on the floor with a dingy pillow laying underneath a tree where kids will be resting.
What should be done about this issue? Should they be chased away and dispersed? Some think so. Should they be arrested to teach them a lesson about right and wrong choices? Some would argue that. Should they be ignored? This community has mastered that.
"There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land." Deuteronomy 15:11