I Have No Time For You, Sorry

I recently moved to Lima, Ohio with my job, and one of the first things I had to find was a barbershop; can't walk around having my head looking a mess! Anyway, no matter what time I go, or what day, I always see this same young Black man sitting on the stoop trying to get my attention. I am always polite and I say hello, but I never stop and give him the time of day. Yesterday, as I was leaving, he said, " You just going to keep ignoring me Ma?" As I continued to walk to my car with a half-smile and quick wave in his direction, I wondered if he viewed himself as I did: young, handsome, seemingly able bodied, and lazy. Every day, he is sitting on his butt, keeping the stoop warm, and from what I can see, not working. I had the mind to turn around and approach him and ask what made him think that he was worth my time; I work, pay my own bills, have my own car, place to live, do for myself and have a very hard time asking others for help unless I really need it. Yes, I have been afforded more privileges than he appears to have, but what is stopping him from accomplishing the same thing as me? Instead of sitting on that stoop, why isn't he out beating the streets for a job? Even if it's cutting someone's grass, raking leaves, washing a car or selling bootleg dvds on the corner, why isn't he doing something? I told a friend about this, and he said, "maybe that is all he knows." And that's supposed to be an excuse? Martin Luther King Jr. only knew racism, did that stop him from searching for peace and change? Ghandi searched for peace in a world for of war and chaos. Our ancestors only knew slavery and oppression, did that stop them from fighting for and obtaining freedom? So, no in my mind "all he knows" is not an excuse to sit on the stoop and let life pass you by. If a man doesn't work, he doesn't eat, and this young Black man doesn't seem too concerned about his next meal. In order to succeed in life, you need to stay hungry, and go after what seems impossible; call me being stuck up or a snob, but I have no time for this young man or any other man for that matter who isn't at least achieving on my level. Seems like to me, our people have become too comfortable with accepting life as it is, and they have given up on achieving greatness in life, and that bothers me because we were born of struggle and know what success looks like; it's in our blood, our history, our culture. No I'm not trying to take away from this man because I don't know his story, and he might have a very legitimate reason for sitting on that stoop, but I highly doubt it. I think the next time I go for my haircut, I will take the time and ask this man what he does and what future he is trying to create by making that stoop his place of employment.