In Need

Coming across signs that have been abandoned by panhandlers is nothing new. Since I started carrying a camera, I've learned to pay attention for interesting found objects, and I come across these infrequently, but not rarely.

It's one of those things that doesn't seem to really change, even if the rest of the world seems to. There are always people out in various places, sometimes the same people in the same places, begging charity from passersby in an attempt to stay something resembling afloat.

Sometimes they're alone, sometimes they're in couples, or have children in tow. Sometimes, they have large signs, crowded with text as they seek to explain themselves and their plight, sometimes, they have simply a small piece of discarded cardboard, their pleas scrawled out in shaky black marker. Some of them seem hopeful, while others are clearly defeated, and beaten down by their circumstances.

Some of them are in their usual spot with depressing regularity. Others appear once, and then only a sign, left behind, marks that they were ever there.