on one hand theres alot of good perople with bad luck that end up liek this.
they are the minority.
the unfortunate truth is most of them are there fora multitude of reasons that are not as nice or heart warming stories.
life is hard.

my step-brother is "homeless". he prefers to be that way, and he has schizophrenia.
last year i gave him all of my top of the line outdoor gear (which i cannot afford to replace)

i found him huddled up on the street in the rain so i gave him my mountain smith back pack, m gortex expedition weight jacket and gortex expedition pants. with long underwear for both top and bottom.

when i saw him next, he ditched it all... and was wearing his usual garb of clothing that doesn't keep the weather from him.

i was heart broken. not for the fact that he had ditched about $1500. of high tech outer wear, but that he doesn't make sense of it all and how it could help him live a better life.

some people are homeless because their world is so very askew. they can't help it.
they want normal life like us, but it's not there to be had and they CANNOT work because of their condition.

please be more understanding of some of our homeless.
-zoo



[edit on 10/2/2009 by zooplancton]

Originally posted by STFUPPERCUTTER
on one hand theres alot of good perople with bad luck that end up liek this.
they are the minority.
the unfortunate truth is most of them are there fora multitude of reasons that are not as nice or heart warming stories.
life is hard.

I agree that there are some folks on the streets due to their own accord. However these tent cities are not just about the normal homeless these are people who had homes, jobs, families and did not do drugs and did not drink ect. ect. they were happy and would still be working and paying their mortgages if they had a choice. We are not talking about pre crisis homelessness we are talking about a current symptom of a disease and that disease is the greed of the elite weather the gov't, feds or whoever...

Originally posted by KSPigpen
What do you use as an address when you live under a bridge, but need to fill out an employment application?

Many years ago there was a certain street corner where guys looking for work congregated. It was before they used cardboard signs or panhandled.
These guys did neither.

If you had to move and needed help, or needed someone for yard work for the day, or someone to sweep leaves off your roof....whatever....you could drive to this certain street on the corner and ask "Whose looking for work?"

If someone was really interested, they'd give up the checker game and walk over and ask you what you need.

Then they would turn to the congregation of men and say "Billy...didn't you do some climbing in your job? "etc. They would ask the others to try to get the right person for you.

No body thought about liability or getting mugged back in those days. Guys picked up work every day from people in the town just by making that street corner known and being sincerely available to work right then.


Recently I saw 2 grown men hanging out in the BK parking lot with buckets and sponges to wash cars. I guess the owner had allowed them to hook up to the hose also. I did not see them getting any business, though.

I have also seen guys at auto parts places. Sometimes they ask people before they go in are you buying a battery, etc. today? I have seen them follow customers into the store and ask them if they need assistance to find something. (Store help is often scarce) Then, if it was an item they could fix for the customer, they would offer to help put your battery in, or change the tire, put on your windshield wiper. I am not sure if they work for tips or name a small fee. But I have seen this done.

Someone told me a while back that you could find day laborers at H. Depot. I really needed a hand. So I went there to see, but no such luck.

If there was a way for some of these guys who really want work to organize and get the word out that they have a "congregation place"...you never know...for some it might lead to regular work. At least they could make a lot of contacts and have more possibilities.

Hi all, I have been an avid reader of ATS for over 5 years before it was even popular amongst the masses, when it was a little site with a couple of stories, out of over a half of a decade of reading this site and never feeling compelled to post anything, i must say this has been the first post that has made me write on here. I firmly believe you all should be ashamed at supporting this post. None of us, and none of those homeless, would have ever imagined we or they would be homeless, in the state of this economy your home isnt safe, and to actually hate, judge and frown upon these people so desperate to find something better and proper for themselves and family is outrageous. Everyone judges and never thinks, that if people are so willing and desperate to put themselves their children and their family in this situation, they're previous outcome was so much worse, focus on the thing that effects us as an individual and as a nation. And I humbly suggest if your heart is pure and innocent wish the best on those who's desperation for bettering for themselves is answered, humanity is best described as being able to put yourself in others shoes, no matter race creed religion or political standing at the most basis of all things we want whats best for our family. reflect on that. ty Ed note. Im not homeless but i thank goodness that i'm not burdened to go to those extremes to provide for my family.

Look, I don't want to sound callous...cause I do care about homeless folks. So much that I won't help them. Makes no sense right? Wrong. As long as these people are given what they need, they will never make forward progress.

Most homeless don't want to improve their situation because they get all they need from others! They are already living a "primitive" lifestyle. If they had a shred of self respect they would be out fending for themselves in the woods! But that would involve work, not begging.

I know most of them wouldn't be educated about that stuff but hell, every city has libraries. Everything I learned about survival, I learned by reading. That pretty much covers the homeless folk we had up to the recession. The ones that come after that, sure they probly have families, and are trying to get jobs during the day so they don't have time to hunt...well whatever. They might be different cases but I doubt it. I mean really, we had a whole damn decade dedicated to homeless people and they got along fine. We called them hippies. They fended for themselves and theirs and survived just fine. Only because they were willing to take personal responsibility and not wait for someone to come swooping in like the government and save them.

You want out of your problems? Dig your way out.

PS this post does NOT lump in the homeless that are disabled, crazy or just plain dumb. I'm referring to able bodied and sound minded folks who are waiting for a hero to save them.

There are always 2 sides to the story. Many of the homeless in my area were that way long before the economic downturn. They chose to live on the street, as they will never fit into society. The idea of those street hardened homeless getting a job just isn't going to happen. They will never have a job. Around here, in central FL, their job is begging. They probably make more in a day than someone working a menial job.


The other side of the coin are the new homeless. Those who have lost their jobs recently, who were already one paycheck away from the street. There are thousands of these new people who have entered the ranks of the homeless, and many into tent cities. They don't want to be there, and would readily take a job if offered The only thing is, in many parts of the country as here, there aren't any jobs. So to make the statement" why don't they just go get a job"? There has to be one first.

One example to note. Substitute school teaching positions used to be filled by those that needed temporary employment while going to college, or to fill in a gap between jobs. In my area, the school system has their choice of people with masters degrees, PHD's, Engineers, and many other professionally degreed people. These pros are working for a job that pays the same as a Wal Mart job. There is no work around here. The real unemployment level is probably is probably 12-15%. And it will get worse before it gets better.

So keep in mind, there are different kinds of homeless people, and the ranks of those wanting work will rise significantly over the other group of bums that will never have a job. keep everything in perspective.

I have myself been homeless, it was a long time ago, but I will always remember.

When I was just barely 17, I did have a job and was living at home. Family life became so violent I had to leave. I had no one to count on, as we had just moved to a new area a few months before, and basically I did not know anyone, so I ended up on the streets.

I would "bathe" in the bathroom of grocery stores or wherever I could find before I would go to work, at the time, fast food. I was also still hiking my butt to school every day as I wanted to graduate.

The money I was making, was not enough to afford anywhere to live, though I did look. Some nights I would have friends sneak me into their rooms to sleep in the warmth. A few of the parents let me stay a day or two, but then would make me leave, not wanting the responsibility of another teen in their homes.

After a few weeks of this, word got back to my boss at the fast food restaurant, he fired me as "he could not have an employee who was homeless". In confusion, I tried to explain, that I was still going to school, that I was looking for a place to live, but without a job, I would not get a place to live. He did not care and fired me, leaving me without the one thing that was at least allowing me to continue going to school and feed myself. A job.

After I was fired, I still tried to go to school, but it was becoming harder and harder. I would stand in front of the grocery stores, and not ask for money, but for food, things like fruit or sandwiches if I saw those items in someone's grocery bag. Nine times out of ten I would be ignored, and the worse was those that would yell at me to get a job. That one person in ten, would have compassion and give me something to eat.

I lived this way for two months, it felt like 20 years, fighting to go to school, fighting to stay warm. I admit, I started becoming, what people were telling me I was, a no good bum. I started stealing groceries instead of begging for it as I was much more likely to have a meal if I stole it. I started telling people to "f off" if I asked for money and they said no. I started drinking heavily, I stole that too, at least it made sleeping on a bench somewhere much more "comfortable". I became, what they hated.

Finally, someone offered me assistance and allowed me to stay at their place until I got a job, got myself together and found a place to live.

Without that one person who offered me assistance, I have no idea where I would be right now. Who knows. Maybe dead, or that true drug addicted alcohol drinking "bum".

I graduated High School, and fought my way through college.

Those on here who are not compassionate, you are the one who fired me for being homeless. Knowing that would make my situation worse.

Those of you here who are not compassionate, you are the nine that denied me that sandwich sticking out of your grocery bag as you climbed into your brand new SUV yelling at me to get off drugs and get a job, even though I did not do drugs. Even though I had had a job, even though I was 17 fighting to finish school.

Those of you here who are not compassionate, you are the ones who in the middle of winter, refused me a warm place to sleep.

Those of you here who are not compassionate, get a heart and get an efn clue. If it was not for that one person, who noticed a 17 year old in need, and offered her real help, I would have truly become, what you hate. So stop and think. Many times, we just need someone, one person to stop and say, you look like you need help, come, here is a meal, here is a warm bed, here is a shower, here is a ride to a place to work, and here is a ride to school.

Harm None
Peace

Having not been active here since April, through homelessness, I feel I'm in a fairly good position to retort.

I was illegally evicted from a private rented property, in order for the landlady to move her son in who had been evicted for actually not paying his bills, unlike I who was a couple weeks only behind. Point being she would have rather seen me on the street than her son - understandable, but no less deplorable.

I didn't beg anybody, though I did busk, and although I made more than most hourly wage jobs for sitting there playing songs, I was slightly embarrassed and did feel like charity.

I have no family locally except my daughter, a few friends who, when they could, let me stay on their sofa and wash etc - all in all I was very lucky, and the cold nights I did spend on the street can only be seen as 1st hand experiences of Capitalism failing.

Why was I out of work in the first place? Pulmonary embolism... 2 of them successive months. So I had to inject (prescription) drugs, on the street. I don't think anybody saw me, but if they did I'm sure they would have assumed the worst.

So to answer a few lines earlier up:

"I know none of you scum will ever read this, but just get a job you hopeless scumbag losers.... "

I hope you're not referring to all homeless as scum. If I could get a job in this economy I would, but not much requirement for any of the skills I have here and now. I could apply myself to any job, but when you're homeless and have nowhere to wash up before going to work, no clothes to change into and no change to ride a bus 'cause the government f***ed the economy and no one locally is hiring it's a pretty tall order and so I ask you to 'walk a mile' before you label a community of people.

"I think homeless people are just lazy or stupid. in either case it is their own fault. No one forced them to become homeless."

Forced illegal evictions. They happen every day, and it's very difficult to get any recourse. Luckily for me I petitioned myself while I was on the street - I went to my library looked up the laws and represented myself. A lot of homeless people, those I've met, don't have the awareness of basic rights that I know we have, and you're almost making sense in that some, lesser educated (and not by their choice) homeless people don't have the learning capacity or mindset to go about responding to something like that. I can imagine that some have been s*** on so many times they have just given up - I came close to "packing it in" a few times myself.

Lazy and stupid? I would happily get up and do your job every day for a decent wage. Moreover, I would wager here and now that you would not consider me stupid, in fact if I replaced your boss tomorrow, you would not have any qualms over my ability to manage the business. A homeless guy.. neither lazy, nor stupid!

"They chose to live on the street, as they will never fit into society."

Nobody chooses a cold, rubbish filled, electricity void underpass over a warm, well stocked apartment. Is it perhaps not truer to say "They didn't fit into society, so were chosen to live on the streets". The experience has changed my life in that I now can openly express my views, anti-capitalistic or otherwise, without fear of moral, ethical retort - you can't tell me any of this is right when I've seen exactly how the so called 'dregs' of this failed, greedy, jealous, miseducated, mismanaged society are treated. EVERYONE has a right to live with shelter, warmth and food at a bare minimum, and once given these things and ask for a little 'community work' in return I'm sure at least 7/10 will be happy to do their bit in return.

Sorry about the long post, obviously it's personally meaningful. And I am in no way making personal attacks here. I hope you guys can see the error of your ways in labelling a group of people - lest you be wrongly labelled yourselves.

I applaud all of you who have been through hell and made it back, and used those tough life lessons to help others in similar situations.

I am sorry for those who experienced the same but learnt nothing from it.

I am very lucky. The country I live in doesn't have these kind of problems. Yet.

I am a university student, currently in my honours year, hoping to get into a master's degree next year. I live off government benefits. I had the luxury of qutting my part-time job to focus on my studies as I get enough to live on through Centrelink (govt. benefit). I live with my boyfriend and he lives off his savings from a previous job. With our combined finances we have a good life. My parents worked had for everything they had and as a result I am also fortunate enough to have private health insurance. Failing that, we have a good public health care system to fall back on.

I have a warm home, food, clothing and luxuries such as money to rent movies, play video games, buy books and eat out every now and then.

Yes, I realise I am VERY fortunate. I am a "real" bum. I bludge off the government. I quit a decent part time job. I was earning $20-25 ($18-23 for you in the US) an hour. I got to pick my hours. And this was only at a discount department store. I am studying visual art, which for all intents and purposes, doesn't contribute a damn to the economy. I guess you could call me selfish. Spoiled by the Australian government.

But I am also able to realise that you can't judge a book by it's cover. I used to work as a checkout chick. The nicest customers I had were those whom I percieved to be "bums", going by their exterior. The nicest friends I've ever had were "poor". The most giving people I have met don't have much but they are willing to share. I like to think I am like that too.

The thing I realised is that when something bad happens, like Katrina, or the recent earthquakes in Samoa and Indonesia, people are willing to give $10, $50, $200 because they can tell their friends, "I donated! I helped those people! See how nice I am?" But these same people would never give 10c to a busker, or spare $5 to buy a burger meal for a homeless guy. Because there's no "reward" in it. No pat on the back.

Homeless doesn't equal bum. I am not homeless but I know that for all intents and purposes, I am a bum.

So don't bag these homeless people. You don't know what they had and how they lost it. You don't know their potential. Next time you see Joe Rich down the street, ask yourself how many of these "bums" he stepped all over and turned away to keep his fancy suit and nice car. Next time you see Johnny bum in his cardboard box ask yourself what he has to offer. Ask yourself if maybe he has a little kid who has to beg for the money to buy a can of baked beans for dinner.

As for those saying that all these homeless as alcoholics; alcohol is a good way to escape, but there are plenty of rich people who are alcoholics and drug users too.

I also wanted to add that I was adopted. I have read my story and I understand that my single mother was quite poor. So I understand how fortunate I am, because if I hadn't been relinquished for adoption, I too would be in a similar situation to many of these homeless. You could accuse me of "squandering" my good fortune, and I would agree with you. I know how close I came to a similar fate and I like to think I am a decent person with a good future. Look at yourselves in the mirror and ask what kind of person you are. Maybe if you really look into it you won't like what you will see. Maybe you will be ok with that, maybe you won't. But the point is, only you know what you are truly like and don't like to be judged unfairly; same goes for the homeless.

[edit on 2-10-2009 by Vilyariel]

Been homeless as well,starved and suffered.My situation is precarious,no doubt.My way with panhandlers is this.I can't really afford anything more than a dime apiece and that ain't much.So I count the money in my change purse,easy when poor.When hit up,I make the proposition that if the person can guess the correct amount they get the windfall.A mild gamble with no up front cost to them.If one ever gets it right,I know I'd pay whatever small amount to know I was dealing with a psychic.It has cost me nothing so far and I know it is sort of fun for them as now I am remembered as the guess the money guy and am smiled upon by those who otherwise are treating 'straights' as 'marks'.To live outside the law you must be honest.Good luck all.

Like others, I will not give money to those who need it or appear to need it.

I have been scammed to many times.

That said, when I have the money to do so,i an happy to get food/clothes for those who need it.

Give money, no!

Give food/clothes, sure, as much as I can.