Hobophobia – An irrational fear of poor people, especially poor people who do not live in houses.

We don’t like to admit it, but most of us are hobophobic. If they are not cleaning our office or house or waiting our table, we would rather poor people not be around. They often have issues that have contributed to their poverty, such as poor education, poor social skills or poor hygiene.

We can make hobophobia go away, but it involves actually listening to poor people, not talking at them.  It means seeing them as people and not as furniture. It means getting outside our own self-righteousness and our self-assurance and getting to know them.