Beggars

[monster]

Originally Posted by DanaC

I hate that word 'bum' it makes the person you're talking about sound worthless, dehumanised. .

There's probably an element of you being a Brit in there. Over here the term is not more commonly used to mean the arse/ass.

[DanaC]

Then it's a fucking appalling word to apply to a person.

[Pico and ME]

Especially since there is going to be so very many more of them in the coming year.

[BrianR]

Dana, I may be politically incorrect but I am precise in my use of words.

Many of our beggars today are there by choice and it is not uncommon to see one in clean clothes, new shoes and well-fed. There are umpteen outreach programs designed to take them off the streets and put them back in productive lives but they do not take advantage of them. If the bum in question does truly want to get off the street and be productive, then they will. Help is there for the asking.

And there was once a case of an old, indigent woman who carried all her possessions in shopping bags for many years. One winter, she finally succumbed to the elements and died. In her bags, police found over $20,000 in cash.

Oh and I lied...I once gave a dollar to a bum in dirty clothes and a dress to stop jumping up and down in front of my car and go away. It was worth the investment. Oh, and also once I gave a sandwich and a bag of dog food to a bum near a truck stop who had a skinny dog.

So perhaps I lied about NEVER giving stuff to bums. But let's call it rarely. VERY rarely.

[DanaC]

Many of our beggars today are there by choice

Unless the individual is known to you, you have no idea what put them where they are, or what barriers they see in their way. If you have a friend, and know that friend to be an idle sod who just hates work, then the word bum may be appropriate. I don't like the judgement cast about people we don't know.

Sorry, not meaning to be a pain :P I have always hated that word.

[wolf]

I do know many of those individuals, and the word "bum," although it has fallen out of favor because of political correctness, does still apply.

"Homeless" sounds so much more pitiable than "worthless piece of shit who won't do anything to help or support him/herself but expects me to work so that not only will my tax dollars flow downhill to him/her, but also demands money, food, a place to stay, drugs, and sundries be handed over immediately."

I know them. I know their stories. Not a noble mother of four struggling to find her children a better life among them.

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by wolf

I know them. I know their stories. Not a noble mother of four struggling to find her children a better life among them.

I'm not sure that the ones you encounter in your line of work are a true sampling.

Many of the 'mothers of four' can usually find something other than street begging. There are still a lot of organizations, Govmt and NGO, who can help the determined. Still, shelters are full, low-income housing is getting scarcer, and an already overstretched system just took a big hit.

It would be interesting if someone would buy up all of the foreclosed homes and turn them into multi-family shelters. I'm not sure how the suburban communities would feel, but it would probably be better than an abandoned firetrap.

IMO, kids should never be homeless. In some cases it might be the parents fault. In other cases, everyone is one job loss or serious under/uninsured injury away from losing everything. It is possible to do everything right and still end up homeless.

[monster]

I can read when I'm drunk. It's the typing thing I have difficulty with....

[Aliantha]

According to studies done on homeless people in Australia, a large percentage of them suffer from mental illnesses including anything from severe schizophrenia to mild depression, and of course anyone who's ever suffered even mildly from depression knows how hard it can be to drag yourself out of the black hole you're in even if you have a support network around you.

How hard would it be if you had no one to help you?

[DanaC]

Probably a mental patient released from one of several institutions when they were closed in the Philadelphia area. Off meds, likely. Or a junkie not too far gone for me to spot easily.

Either way, not worthy of my money.

?

[Aliantha]

Actually, speaking of mental patients. Dazza is in Canada atm. He was in Vancouver first, and the thing that struck him the most was the number of homeless people. Now he's in Calgary and he said there's no where near the number of homeless people. He suggested that's because there's better mental health facilities there. I suggest that it's too fucking cold to have no home in Calgary.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

Now he's in Calgary and he said there's no where near the number of homeless people. He suggested that's because there's better mental health facilities there. I suggest that it's too fucking cold to have no home in Calgary.

Calgary is a boom town. People there tell me there is no unemployment for anyone willing to work. They have a chronic shortage of help, though that may change in the future.

[Cicero]

lol!!! Yea. I hope they closed down the good personality he had, while they were at it!! Asshole handicap.

You should have pinched him Brian, and let him know that it isn't merely just a nightmare, he's having.

*I never roll my eyes but this is the exception*

For the record, I said "Brian" in my head, all shitty just now.

[Aliantha]

Hmmm...maybe that's why they're thinking of starting up a new department in Dazza's company there.

[W.HI.P]

its all about crack cocaine here, so no, i never give.
anyone who gives a crackhead money is an idiot.
a heroin addict is a different story, i would consider giving, although you don't see them on the streets i pass.