Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 14 · column 2 of 7 · from the scan, no model involved
1 looked up from my concerned fog to see a house on fire — just three doors from mine. Smoke was already billowing through the living room window and out the door. Firetrucks roared up, and firemen dragged hoses into the house. Knocking out windows, they extinguished the blaze in minutes. The smoke, however, lingered. Broken windows and puddles of water lay on the floor. Though nobody was injured, the home was wrecked.
“I hovered around the outskirts until I sensed Things were under control,’ then I hurried on. Someone else would have to invest (an) afternoon helping this (person) — living on social security and food stamps — to wrestle with the insurance company and sort out the mess. Lucky for her, someone else did.
“I was not oblivious to the irony of my situation: here was a genuine homeless person who I did not help because I was on a deadline to write a story about helping homeless poor people.
“I specialize in big problems, remember.
“ ‘Charity begins at home.’ So do justice and kindness. They can only begin at home — they can never end there. In 1985, the boundaries between ‘home’ and the whole human family are impossible to draw.
“I looked for a burning bush to lead me to a new promise land. God pointed to a burning house leading to a homeless person three doors up.”
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