Would you recognize your own mother if you passed her on the street?
Maybe on a normal day, but you鈥檇 probably walk right past her if she was dressed as a homeless person, according to the results of a stunning social experiment carried out in New York City.
The New York City Rescue Mission, a group that provides food and shelter to the city鈥檚 homeless, recently worked alongside an ad agency and production company to launch the experiment meant to humanize the homeless.
The secretly filmed video starts with a question: 鈥淗ave the homeless become so invisible we wouldn鈥檛 notice our own family members on the street?鈥�
The answer is, apparently not, as five New Yorkers discovered.
The video opens with testimonials from the unsuspecting individuals as they talk about how much their loved ones mean to them. 鈥淣obody meets in bars anymore, but I met my wife in a bar and, 34 years later, it鈥檚 still working,鈥� says a man named Tom.
Unbeknownst to Tom, he walked right past his wife 鈥� and even looked right at her 鈥� on his way to the interview.
He can only shake his head after seeing the video for himself.
Fathers, mothers, brothers, cousins, wives, aunts and uncles 鈥� they all go unnoticed when their relatives walk by. One after another, they talk about how much they love their family, only to burst into tears when they realize they鈥檝e just turned a blind eye to those same loved ones.
One man stops and stares right at his disguised cousin, then continues on his way.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 my cousin,鈥� he says when he sees the clip. 鈥淚 know she鈥檚 not homeless because I just hung out with her a couple weeks ago, but I did not know that that person, when I was walking by, was her.鈥�
Each person then goes back out to the street and hugs his or her loved ones.
The video was posted to the New York City Rescue Mission鈥檚 website, makethemvisible.com. 鈥淲ith the continued support from our community we can all work to end homelessness, one life at a time,鈥� says the website.
The site includes a slideshow of photographs from actual homeless people, along with brief quotes about their lives.
鈥淚鈥檓 starting tech school in July,鈥� says William of North New Jersey. 鈥淚鈥檓 doing it all for my daughter and my son. They鈥檙e eight and twelve. I want to be a father to them. That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 here.鈥�
鈥淚 look for work every day,鈥� says Ronald of Tacoma, Wash. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been hard but I鈥檓 hopeful.鈥�
