Those Stinking Homeless Should Go Get Jobs!

reply to post by jd140

I only gave money to a homeless guy one time and that was because it was snowing outside and he didn't have any shoes.

I've given money to homeless people many times, thats how I know that I hate it! After a while it was like..."what good is this....just get out of my town...you people suck." And for the record i do still give money to the guy on 4th and union with no legs, and hands that look like feet. He can buy and do whatever hard drugs he wants cuz that just sucks. See, I'm compassionate.

I drove him to Wal Mart, bought him 10 cans of soup and a pair of boots. He also filled out an application and currently works at Wal Mart.

Exactly! Many of these people can get jobs, they just choose not to. They like being bums.

Other then that one time drive by them without so much as thinking about giving them a penny. They can get a job if they want to, the problem is that they make more money an hour begging then they would working at McDonalds.

Word.

reply to post by lucentenigma

The problem is how do you prepare for an interview or be presentable for work if you can't even shower? The only job I could think of would be some outdoor manual labor where your stench doesn't matter. I can't imagine how hard that might be.

There are places they can go to get a shower and shave if they really need it, and there are organizations that will help you if you need it, and actually want to better your situation. The company I work for has supported fair start, a program set up to help guys str8 out of prison get a job and not go right back to crime and sleazebagery, and Dress For Success, a program that gives nice outfits to poor or homeless women so they can go to job interviews and the like. You can look this stuff up, these are better attempts at helping then handing these losers your cash. If they really wanna get out their situation there are ways for most of em.

I won't hand out money to homeless people but growing up in Boston I would go into a store and buy them a sandwich or give them my leftovers, stuff like that, this way I knew my money wasn't going to beer or drugs.

I can't speak for Boston, just Seattle. Which has one of the worst, if not the worst, homeless situations I've ever seen, worldwide. This sentiment is shared by tourists, of which I speak with on a daily basis. Yet seattle probably has one of the better economies in the country right now.....funny how that works eh?

reply to post by marg6043

Well, I can tell you they should be outraged and asking for more money I mean donations, after all did our nations government bailout the filthy wealthy banks at the expenses of tax payers in the nation? hell can you imagine what 700 billion dollars can do to bring jobs and a decent home to the jobless and destitute.

Hell how about the trillions already wasted to prop the dying markets.

I will be no only mad but crazy too in a rage of madness

OK, let me get this str8, because the government bailed out banks, a move I disagreed with, yet had no control over, so bums should be mad because I don't give them enough cash out of my own pocket? Ladies and gentlemen logic has left the building...

I don't think you can just throw around a bunch of money and create jobs....I mean isn't that exactly what the government is trying to do? And I bet their plan is far more multifaceted than yours, what exactly was your plan again?

crazy in a rage of madness?
OK bro....

reply to post by FritosBBQTwist

I agree with you!

Darn it!! now how am I going to argue with you!!?

Are there exceptions to every rule? Yup. I am always willing to bet homeless people got stuck their because of their own choices. Sorry for those who truly do have bad luck, but it is not my duty to find you.

.

Crap!! I agree with you too! LAME!

reply to post by liquidsmoke206


Its very easy to sit and judge at a keyboard from one side of a screen, isn't it?

Gonna let you in on a few of pieces of advice that I've learned the hard way about over the past 39 years of my existence.

Firstly, you should never, ever mock or denegrate the position of someone worse off than you are.

Secondly, you should never take your current position in the world for granted.

Thirdly, everything changes over time.

Now you can take that advice any way you want to take it. Its offered for free, and I have no intention of imparting any more advice to you.

But I suggest you think it over.

What a great country we live in, nay, a great WORLD.

The 'freedom' we possess to express our own opinion (with limitations imposed legislatively, of course) is awesome.

We are free to be compassionate, free to be condescending. Free to be arrogant and self-important and free to be selfless and self-sacrificing. Free to CHOOSE to help, or free to CHOOSE to look the other way. Free to choose to help THIS guy, or free to let him struggle, till death with a problem he cannot beat on his own. We're free to be Spartan, and throw the retarded to the dogs, or free to be American and give until it hurts and struggle until we have created social change.

I've struggled for many years to find my own 'balance' somewhere. Do I want to support someone's addiction? No, I don't. Do I think a person who has suffered, through the witnessing or participation in government-sponsored atrocities should be discarded and swept under the rug of society? No, I can't get behind that one either. What about the woman that is alone in a city and loses her home? Shall I condemn her for bad decisions, or attempt to commiserate and be supportive?

I love that I can make my own choice and whether anyone else likes it or not, I am free to choose. I love that YOU, whoever you are, can make YOUR own choice too. I may not like it, but I love that you have the freedom to make it.

If human beings weren't capable of tremendous acts of generosity, tolerance and love, none of us would be here. If humans weren't also capable of tremendous acts of violence, hatred and selfishness, the same might also be true.

The point for me is that so many, rightfully so, are proud of this country and our accomplishments. They will accept as gospel the words of our leaders and then throw themselves into Hell for America. Sometimes, these guys don't get the honor of death in battle, but instead, get the slow, excruciating agony of coming back home to a country that mysteriously lost it's 'need' for them. A country where they are bums and drug addicts and worthless scraps of humanity.

Some people, through fault of their own, or not, have not been equipped to figure out the things necessary to live in the society we have created. It's much easier to accuse them of slackedness than it is to admit our fault in the maintenance of our society.

There's not an easy fix. Ah...the 'American' way....we cut out the cancer, or treat the runny nose, or give our patients something for the pain, but don't really treat the cause. Every man is expected to be his 'own' man and force the world to bend into a place where he can be free and experience success. When he cannot, he is cast aside as a loser, the dregs, the part of our nation that we aren't proud of.

He's my grandpa, maybe your dad. She's your sister, or your aunt, or maybe not. It may help me sleep better when I can proclaim loudly that this man, or woman has created their own situation and that since I have dropped some change in the cripple's can on occasions, my responsibility has been met.

I suppose it comes down to a question much older than me. 'Am I my brother's keeper?'

It sounds like an awful lot of responsibility and there's a game on tonight.

Here in the metro area, we have people who live under the freeway over passes, and in tunnels. They are mostly mentally ill men, who have a host of problems compounded. There are some women as well. The women are really a mess. The city rounds them up, gets them help, only to see them return later.

The families who have lost everything, have various resources they can resort to, but those agencies tend to be aggressive about putting the adults to work...any work! So in some cases, the adults choose to stay away. They live in campers, tents, vans, during the good weather or with a compassionate family member or in a church rescue organizations housing units.
Unfortunately, the numbers are growing of those who are loosing jobs, income, and their homes...

We have the Salvation Army, Goodwill who will help out the homeless. We have a couple of Mission organizations who'll feed you, give you bed for the night, but you have to attend their religious counseling sessions. Many refuse their help, because of that stipulation.

We have the GOD's KITCHEN organization, that will feed anyone no questions asked. Many down on their luck families go there for a meal. There are also those who take advantage, and eat a free meal who can afford to buy their food easily.

This is a very religious area, and there are more churches here per capita than in most areas. Many feed the poor basic meals, and have wonderful chicken or spaghetti meals on Saturday and Sunday.

In the metro area, we have multiple food pantries that hand out groceries daily. We also have a couple of Gleaner groups, who gather all the left over restaurant foods everyday. They then distribute that food to needy families.

Meals on Wheels offers fresh delivered meals to your home, for a nominal fee monthly. Many seniors / disabled use that service. You have to qualify for it however.

The Veterans Organization has multiple offices, that will find cheap housing and a source of income for any vet that needs it. The work may be temporary work, but, it'll help you out. Something is better than nothing!
This organization also helps them pay their utilities, and gives them food from the VA pantry!
They help retrain Vets, and give them assistance writing resumes' and finding permanent work.

I have been told, that there are some vet's who just refuse to help themselves, and just want an endless free ride. The VA will only go so far, then they write them off. Can't say that I blame them.

For those who are working, and make low end wages, there are half a dozen places who have bargain prices on off brands, and minor damaged goods.

Our metro part of the city, tries it's best to deal with the unemployed and under employed poor and disparate. Since we have long hard bitter winters, there aren't any tent cities here.

We do have beggars on the road side, who ask for food. People here have soft hearts, and give them staples and money to take home...until the police show up. It is illegal to beg in public for handouts...but, some do it anyway.

The thing that always makes me wonder just how bad off some derelict really has it, is when you see them with a pack of cigarettes, and a bottle of whiskey! They have a source for those, but not a meal? SAD...

We donate to food pantries, and give to charities yearly. We also support two major animal shelters here. We are not wealthy, but we do what we can.

It isn't in my soul to sneer and look down the poor or those who have hit the skids...

"There but by the grace of God, go I!" It is always in the back of my mind.

reply to post by dariousg

No, they don't have a magic wand. But they do have the ABILITY and POWER to STOP all of the homes being ripped out from under these people's feet while they struggle through one of the worse economic depressions in our short history. Considering that much of their actions actually led to the circumstances we find ourselves in now.

actually no, they don't have that power they'd need the wand...sorry but there's no quick fix.

So, though I understand and respect your right to believe what you believe, you seem to have a very caustic view towards the homeless. You know, my mother was homeless when I was 7 and my sister was 4. Yes, that means that we were homeless too. She would leave us in a park every day to try and shelter us from the situation. Sleep under cardboard at night. I actually witnessed her begging for money.

and now yer not a homeless bum, you got out of it, great. what makes you so extraordinary, because a lot of these people can't seem to leave their lifestyle behind...

No, she didn't spend it on drugs. Many of the other homeless we associated with didn't spend it on drugs. Some do. Maybe more where you live. But they are still human beings. You DO NOT know their story. Maybe if you grew a heart and sat down with one of them and listened to that story you would get a clue and possibly some compassion.

Dude these people are losers who have been playing the victim their entire lives. Not all homeless people of course, but I see the same losers everyday, just hangin around...what's the use of em?

Just because a person is lost doesn't make them less of a person my friend. You obviously have a lot of growing up to do. Especially if that is an image of you in your avatar.

I have growing up to do? yer the one judging me by my avatar. It is me, what of it? You don't know anything about it. Do you? Well do you?

Again with that. Gun ownership is another right I feel should be defended. But arrogant displays of trying to be a 'bad a$$' just makes you look like a young thug. Again, if that is you.

LOL, yeah that was the idea, to look like a young thug...so what, I'm tryinto tell you , you don't know what yer talking about here. Remember, I'm the only one who knows the context of my avatar...yer just some faceless user spouting off yer own judgmental tiny point of view.

So, that avatar with your two statements in the beginning of this thread state a LOT about you as a person.

according to who? you? I don't know you and I don't think you know me either...
sorry bro, really hard to take someone like you seriously...

reply to post by Big Oil

Do you have any empathy towards humanity?

yes.

From looks of it I guess you don't because you probably think highly of yourself and look down on people who don't have it easy in life.

I look down on people who are lazy, or just plain stupid. That's how most bums end up there. It's really not as hard as you people make it out to be to stay off the streets and if nothing else at least be self sufficient enough to stay fed and off the streets. You bleeding hearts act like our society just beats people down mercilessly....you ought to get out and look around.

reply to post by liquidsmoke206


in your last few posts you summed up everything that i feel about the homeless.

there are some homeless that are honestly in a bad position, cripples and such but most are just people too lazy to change their situation. it is not our job to help them. if everyone just stopped giving them money eventually they would be forced to get jobs.

reply to post by Darthorious

In one sense I have to agree with the above post as anyone from a very large city will know what the above poster says is true no matter what the economic situation (my experience was in San Antonio).

yep yep.

You could offer them meals to eat and they refused only wanted cold hard cash with a few exceptions whom were really homeless. A good majority are not homeless but make so much money begging they do it as a profession. Of course some just want the cash for drugs also.

Yep a coworker was telling me the other day he offered food to one of those guys and they asked what it was, when he told him the dude said, "nah I hate that crap", and refused. They just want money and they don't mind not working for it.....it's sickening.

However the original intended idea of this post is not of those whom have made a profession out of it but the ones who can no longer find a job because there are none.

Right, and there are jobs(nearly 200 posts in seattle's craigslist today, it's only noon here), sure you might have to take a job you hate or that doesn't pay very well, but it's called being an adult and making it work. You can figure out a way out later on, but in the mean time get yerself a roof and some food.

Where I work at we would normally get about 20 applications a week and would interview people every week because there were always spots open for the past 8 years.

2 months ago we had 26 available spots to fill we had 400 applications in one week. Most applications we had on record in one week and the facility has been around for over 120 years.

More applications than during the depression which is concerning. I have friends calling me up asking me to text them the second someone quits so they can walk in and ask for the spot. First time sense the depression we had every spot filled and no one leaving. We employ about 700 people.

Last time I checked the paper for employment ads there was 2. That is just insane.

Sounds rough, but for some people relocation, or other drastic means may be necessary. No one said life was a breeze, but everyone knows it's not impossible.

We have to remember that we're talking about roughly 3 million people in the United States in any given year. The number of chronically homeless people is estimated at around 120-140 thousand people. Quite staggering numbers, so it's kind of hard for me to understand how some of you are generalizing them as mostly lazy etc.

Check the stats, pretty sobering.
en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by colec156

Go live in a tent city and then try and find employment, find someone, anyone to employ you. You would not even get through the door.

NO. Why would I live in a tent city, I'm not a bum.
But as I've already stated in previous posts, there are routes people can take to get back into the work world, will they have to start at the bottom? maybe, but what do wants, to hand every homeless person a 80K a year job so they can own their own home and raise a family...the 'Merican dream! Am I the only one in here who hasn't lost it?

Congratulations for humiliating them for a quarter, that is very grown up of you, I hope one day, you will fall on hard times and have to humiliate yourself for a quarter.

Thanks for yer sentiment. And you think yer so much more compassionate than I?

Yes some people are there cos of drug / drink addiction, but an ignorant attitude like yours only leads to hate.

It's an ignorant attitude like yours that leads to the host of problems caused by these zits on the otherwise gorgeous face of the city. See I don't hate, sweeping the streets clean of bums actually benefits everyone but the bums! I want the majority to be better off, not a buncha of irresponsible homeless.

reply to post by Odessy

bad form...
who are you to judge anyone?
... unless your the type that judges books only by their cover...

Not only by their cover, but if you think a person's outward appearance isn't telling of who they are, then your own judgement on a basic level is in question. I may not have perfect record, but my judgement has kept me off the streets thus far.....better than I can say for the people you're defending.

Isn’t it funny that those who are calling the homeless bums, stupid and lazy, are the ones that cannot seem to spell check, cannot seem to capitalise where appropriate, and use words like ‘dude,’ ‘em,’ ‘hangin’ and ‘yer.’ And you are calling those who have fallen on hard times ‘stupid’?
It would seem that it is the young on these forums who are so brainwashed that the ‘elite’ would be proud. They are the ones wholeheartedly supporting a system of slavery and enchainment, a system of total control; and they want to be even more controlled. They are the ones condemning anyone who does not support, or is not actively chained alongside them as ‘losers.’ They condemn even those who have inadvertently fallen out of the system. They are the ones that see ‘winners’ as those that conform to this corrupt system. They are the ones that feel being ‘productive’ is the essence of worthiness in this world, while failing to see that this only prospers the rich. They are the ones that have nil empathy. They are the ones that would happily end someone’s life just because they reached 65 or over. They are the ones that would happily euthanise the crippled, the mentally retarded and those with serious illness, lest it ‘takes ‘their’ money’ from the corrupt system.
I don’t know if this is just a product of dumbing down the education system, but it is somewhat worrying. We seem to have produced a generation of compliant and idiotic slaves for the elite.

[edit on 2-10-2009 by oneclickaway]

reply to post by Melissa101

How right you are, BUT BYGOD THEY CAN STOP THE FORCLOSERS ON HOMES IF THEY WANTED TOO. You know my husband and I have worked our fingers to the f**kin* bones to build what we have we sweat, we blead and we cried yet just before logging on I was in tears trying to find away to pay our bills because both of us are out of work and cannot find work that we could make more than our unemployment pays. Then I come on here and read this. Well kiss my gritts. I hope that you are sitting up on yur thrown probably still employed and have not a clue, well buddy you will know what it feels like I promise you that because it is comming down on everyone yes even you, it is just a matter or months or even weeks. So maybe the gov't does not have all the control but they sure as he*l had enough control to hand out millions to the not so needy a few months back. I was mad about the situation but like many I many I have passed mad. We cannot sit back and let these SOB's take what we have worked so hard for I will be damned and over my dead body will I leave my home for a tent so those SOB's can sit back driving their Rolls smoking their cuban cigars. When is America going to wake up and put that proverbeal boot up some bodies as* and take back what we have worked for?

Times are tough, you might lose a lot that you have worked for, it does suck. But, people keep trying to blame vague entities like "them" or "the government" and the anger from the economic issues of our times just starts to look so unfocused. I'm not a fan of bailouts either, and I don't agree with many of the decisions made by our politicians, but when I saw the economy start to drag I immediately filled all my time work, 7 days a week. Would I rather work less? Sure, but I don't think less work is really the direction I want to go at this time. I'm not saying my solutions are your solutions, you have to find you're own way out of this mess, but just kind of blindly focusing your anger and frustration at vague enemies is like spinning your wheels...I mean when was the last time "they" listened to you? Think it's gonna happen anytime soon?

I'm beginning to think that geographical location and societal influence from regionally established 'norms' has a lot to do with it. In some communities, you don't SEE homeless folks. In others, you do, and they are just accepted as 'another lazy bum.' Some communities seem to care, just as some people do and then some don't.

Here's a pretty recent story from Seattle.

www.cnn.com...

Tent camps once associated mainly with the "Hoovervilles" of the Great Depression are springing up in places as varied as Sacramento, California; Nashville, Tennessee; Pinellas County, Florida; Providence, Rhode Island; and Seattle, Washington.

The camps have often led to standoffs between local governments that say the camps violate housing ordinances and homeless rights advocates who argue that people struggling to get back on their feet need a permanent place to stay.

There are no definitive numbers on how many people have taken to living in homeless camps. A recent annual report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development showed an increase in homelessness among families while overall rates of homelessness stayed roughly the same.

But those numbers are only the initial waves of what could be a larger crisis, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

It would seem that in Seattle, for example, the 'norm' is to keep pushing the homeless away. Maybe if they don't see them, that will mean there's no problem. Rather than address the problem with tolerance and compassion, they bring the people up on charges or try to get them to leave and go someplace else.

What we get from the behavior of the leadership of places like Seattle, is an attitude of intolerance that is trickled down from those 'in charge' to those that feel they have somehow earned more of a right to live than someone else.

We all know what's happened to different groups of people throughout history when we dehumanize them. When I can make myself believe that all homeless people are idiots, or bums, or addicts, or mentally ill, or lazy then they are prime candidates for 'cleansing.' They are probably just 'inferior' to me and should be removed from the gene pool. Heaven forbid my pure genes be tainted with their illness.

What some would advocate, it seems, would be some sort of 'social cleansing' that would eliminate the problem. Maybe a flood will come and all the bums will be washed away and then we can all enjoy looking around and seeing this country the way it's SUPPOSED to be. Free. Not the BUMS sort of freedom, but the freedom for those of us that make enough money to eat, and have a place to stay. You know, us 'productive' citizens..us 'sane' citizens those of us that DESERVE to live.

Damn filthy hobos. Always messin' up my view.

reply to post by ablue07

You must be very young because you show know wisdom with your words.

what's "very young"? I'm wise enough to know that young people can be wise.....
So how'd you get to be such an expert on wisdom?

Give no quarter and you'll get no quarter.

Unless you're a bum of course, they do nothing for society and still get plenty of quarters...

Your day will come.

or it won't, oh I guess you know the future of my life because you are so wise...

Best to be compassionate and understanding.

This is the problem I've always had with so called spiritual leaders, they state the obvious like "Best to be compassionate and understanding." and everyone acts like it's so enlightening. I mean yeah thats true, but how tolerant do we have to be? where do you draw the line? Let me guess you're one of the people on that list that wants Roman Polanski released.....
this site has lost its mind...

If you were in a war as you say you would know about the gray areas in this world and therefore not be so brash in your thinking and words. Nothing personal.

Well Mr. king of all wisdom, you must know something I don't because I have never been in a war, and as far as I know never lied and said that I was, so where are you getting this bit of wisdom from eh?
Nothing personal, but you came out calling me unwise and immature, then told me my day would come, then ironically followed that statement with some cliched mumbo jumbo about compassion and understanding.

Got anymore wise words chief?



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[edit on 2-10-2009 by elevatedone]

reply to post by liquidsmoke206


I get what you're saying, and for the most part you are quite correct. People are angry in this country, angry at "them" and "the government"...a nation whose majority is ignorant, self-absorbed, celebrity-obsessed, and for the most part quite intellectually vacuous.

However, I personally DO blame "them", but I happen to know who "they" are. They are the politicians in DC who bow to special interests in the name of the almighty dollar, they are the Federal Reserve bank and other major banking institutions that extend globally, THEY are the 1% that wage proxy wars in the name of MONEY. They are more concerned with control over the masses than they are with freedom, liberty, and anything written in the Constitution.
And many of us here are well aware of all of this, we know who to blame and we're trying to figure out how to shake these rat bastards down.

Done with the threadjack, sorry about that. You touched on a sensitive subject obviously

reply to post by silo13

And one day when you're there, you too will dance for a dime.

Odds are if I'm ever in that situation it's because i put myself there...but I don't know why you think I'd do that.

None of us are exempt from this fate.

I disagree with you about 100% of people eventually experiencing homelessness.

And if they drown their sorrow in drugs - who the hell are you to judge them?

I don't but if you want drugs get em the same way as everyone else, get a job and pay for them, stop living outside of your means...it's funny, bums live their lives as recklessly and irresponsible as our government, but most of the people in this thread can't stand our government, and think we should keep giving handouts to bums.
weird.

What have you done that so deserves accolades?

I don't ask for accolades( tho I have received them, I'll be in GQ again this dec if you want proof.) and have no idea what that has to do with anything...

What have you done other than condemn your brother, thus condemning yourself?

Whats wrong with condemning bad behavior?

peace

peace.