We are an insulated society. We isolate ourselves. We walk on the streets and plug in our headphones and let the music become a soundtrack for our invincible minds. We look down at our phones, pretending to have suddenly gotten a text message or notification so that we don’t have to look someone in the eyes and tell them, “No, I don’t have spare change,” as we walk by with our new shirts or Starbucks cups or updated iPhones.

How uncomfortable.

As I watched people walk down the Drag, it seemed as though there were small pockets of space around the homeless who stood on the streets or sat against the sides of buildings. It was subtle, with the typical traveler leaving enough polite distance between them and the homeless. It was an interesting juxtaposition of two worlds, two kinds of cultures, when the homeless were gathered in a group as groups of frat boys walked past them. Some people seemed flippant when a homeless person asked them for change, brushing them off with a frown on their face. Others just pretended that they hadn’t heard anything, ducking their heads down and leaving a wide circumference of space around them and the other person. Many people appeared to be uncomfortable to speak to a homeless person, as though interaction with that homeless person would be factored into their social status.

Watching other people interact with homeless people struck a nerve. I always hope that a homeless person won’t ask me for change or talk to me as I walk down Guadalupe. I feel guilty that I sometimes buy into the stereotype of them being lazy, addicted bums who just didn’t work hard enough to move up the social ladder of society. It reminded me of how fast this world moves, with people always having somewhere to go and money to earn and things to buy. Conversely, I wonder what it’s like for homeless people to watch people walk by. I wonder if they notice things that people ordinarily wouldn’t see or care about, like the beautiful simplicity of a couple holding hands, or that one person who begins to cross the street with only 3 seconds to spare. I wonder if they think about that.

One thing I did learn, however, in this practical exercise: All people may be created equal, but they certainly don’t always end up that way in the real world.