Downtown Eastside - Katarina Wind
Updated: Jun 24, 2020
Relief
is a parking spot
right out front.
I don’t need to
hurry past, head down
“those scary people”
Shadows in the alleyways
Chorea dancing down the street
Shopping carts rattle the sidewalk
Only 3 blocks from the Gastown glitz
double check that you’ve locked the
car doors.
But confined to the
small clinic chair
he’s not scary
Objective:
minimal eye contact
dressed warmly but dishevelled
one-to-two word answers
agitated
I’m here to help
but what can I really do
methadone prescription
blood work
a smile
end of the first day
I walk outside
something has changed
I’m not afraid
“those scary people”
are my
Patients
Growing up in Vancouver, I was implicitly taught to fear the homeless; especially residents of the Downtown Eastside. I was taught to cross the street if someone was acting strangely, and to never walk alone in certain places. While safety is important, this subconscious teaching of "otherness" forms a large part of the systematic discrimination that marginalized populations face. It is effortless to go about our lives, particularly as a white person, ignoring and fearing certain populations. A privilege of practicing medicine is being forced to confront how societal norms have created preventable tragedies, including the opioid crisis and police brutality. The first step is seeing each other as human, and recognizing that we are all on the same team.
Author Bio: Katarina is a Family Medicine resident at Saint Paul's Hospital in Vancouver.