I've lost all sympathy for street people

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

That's a good strategy.

Next time I see some down and out guy who's probably enjoying the absolute most miserable time in his life, I'm going to be mean to him, because it's funny.

Instead we should give 'em a brown bag of liquor and a pack of smokes, along with a $100 bill because that helps.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Instead we should give 'em a brown bag of liquor and a pack of smokes, along with a $100 bill because that helps.

Well you got me there. I can't think of any other options -- you have to either give a homeless person booze and money, or you have to be nasty and insulting. It's one or the other.

[DESS]

Originally Posted by flamesfever

I'm with you. I think we should all show compassion for those suffering with mental illness, especially those who have sunk to the lowest level of society because of it.

I realize not all street people's situation is the same and are going to benefit by a handout, but I think if there's a chance they need our help on occasion, it's probably worth the gamble.

It's easy to judge with a full belly and a roof over your head.

I'm pretty sure that being a lazy slob isn't a mental illness.

I think offering these people a job is showing a degree of compassion and it's certainly helpful. At first I was excited to be able to pass along an opportunity to them with a nice salary, benefits, a bonus, etc. I was naive and thought they'd appreciate that our economic boom and shortage of workers had finally given them a chance to get a foot hold in society again.

Sadly, these people don't want to work because they are pathetic losers. Half the time they'll accept the job only to not show up the next day.

You are right about it being easy to judge, though. It's easy to judge when I am offering them money and a place to work - in spite of their obvious short commings, mind you - and they turn it down because they don't want to work. It's that simple. If you ever have first-hand experience with these people I'm sure you'll come to that conclusion as well.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

Well you got me there. I can't think of any other options -- you have to either give a homeless person booze and money, or you have to be nasty and insulting. It's one or the other.

I know what you're saying but the other options were pretty clearly stated in the beginning of the thread. There's really no need to be an ass towards the homeless, but people shouldn't be frowned upon if they don't think it's a worthy cause to support. On New Year's Eve I gave a guy $5 and a then bought him a cheesburger at McDonald's just because. I'm normally against giving them money directly but I felt generous that day. The only ones I have problem with are the ones who get aggressive or swear at you when you won't give them anything.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by DESS

I'm pretty sure that being a lazy slob isn't a mental illness.

I don't know about that. It is certainly anti-social behavior IMO. Any psychologists here?

[flip]

wow im a little surprised at how much most of you guys are ripping into homeless people.

don't get me wrong i share many of the same opinions, yes they are mostly lazy, and a good portion of them are there because of their own mistakes and probably don't have a mental illness but i still have a little sympathy for them and treat them with at least a little bit of dignity.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by HOOT

I don't eat fast food anymore so it doesn't bother me

But I see what your point is, but hopefully within a few paycheck he/she wouldn't be homeless or at least "less" homeless.

Plus there are other jobs besides serving food; janitor, cleaning cars, oil rigs (not that would help their addiction). But there are plenty of jobs out there that ANYONE can do! Mental Illiness or not it doesn't take a brain scientist to push around a broom or be taught how to do simple tasks.

It's pretty hard to get a steady job without a fixed address. That is one of the roadblocks to becoming "homeful" if one is homeless.

Also, in Alberta you need certification and training to work on an oil rig now.

[metal_geek]

Not all the people in need at the mustard seed are bad...

The ones who hang out at the back corner, selling a buying drugs are the ones that gives the whole place a bad name..

Believe me, my office has a direct line of sight to transaction central. This very second some dude in a green car is doing a drive by purchase.. There are about 25 people, who hang out there through the day. The age ranges between 20 and 35. 20% are girls.

The old people, tend to be the ones who stay away from the drugs, and seem to be in genuine need. The 30-45 group seems to be the majority of people with the addiction problems. The young group all seem capable of working, as they're often wrestling or fooling around and being loud. They are also the ones that sell the drugs and have addiction problems as well.

I have to walk past that place every day and I've been hit up for stuff in so many creative ways I have no idea what to believe anymore and as such I just don't even pay attention to them anymore. It's brutal too, cause there is 1 African man, who carries his bags, well packed and kept very neat. He Looks like he works at times and he's very quiet and respectful. It makes me dislike the others even more knowing that a guy like that can't get enough help to get a place to live because some of the others are a complete waste..

It's actually really interesting observing these people when they think no one is looking. It's like some strange social experiment...
________
Public Video

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by DESS

I'm pretty sure that being a lazy slob isn't a mental illness.

I think offering these people a job is showing a degree of compassion and it's certainly helpful. At first I was excited to be able to pass along an opportunity to them with a nice salary, benefits, a bonus, etc. I was naive and thought they'd appreciate that our economic boom and shortage of workers had finally given them a chance to get a foot hold in society again.

Sadly, these people don't want to work because they are pathetic losers. Half the time they'll accept the job only to not show up the next day.

You are right about it being easy to judge, though. It's easy to judge when I am offering them money and a place to work - in spite of their obvious short commings, mind you - and they turn it down because they don't want to work. It's that simple. If you ever have first-hand experience with these people I'm sure you'll come to that conclusion as well.

From personal experience with someone in this situation, I can tell you that something like Bi-polar disorder would leave them feeling fine, accepting your job, optimistic to start work and then unable to remember their tasks from day to day, frustrated at that fact and resentful at the world, curling up in a ball and quitting the next day or even through the day. . . . . and going through job after job in that kind of a cycle.

I agree there are certainly a group of uncompetitive people who have made a deliberate lifestyle choice, or at least a choice to compete at the lowest possible level . . . . . but I wouldn't lump all of the people you encounter in your circumstances into a single category.

On the issue of addiction, addressing another poster, people chose to become addicted and then, after the fact, may require help to move out of that cycle. But the initial choice is often their own.

Cowperson

[flylock shox]

Boy. Some ugly comments in this thread. A lot of posters so far come across to me (and, I would think, to most outside observers) as likely being arrogant and ignorant; coming from privileged backgrounds with healthy families, who were given plenty of opportunities to succeed, and simply don't care to try to understand how the other half lives.

I don't think a lot of people on this board understand what it's like to grow up in a household with an alcoholic (and usually absent) father and a heroin-addicted mother - parents who've kicked you out on the street when you were 14 or so, or who effectively got you involved in the drug world when you were a kid, or who sexually abused you. And I doubt most people posting here understand just how bad things can be when you find yourself unloved by anyone, alone, poor, and living in a situation where you can't see a way out. Some of the people you're criticizing deserve credit for at least one thing - they haven't committed suicide in circumstances where a lot of people would have done. A lot of the people you're describing have never been given any reason to hope for anything better in their lives, and it's a minor miracle they've held on to what they've got.

In fact, the number of people you're talking about who are homeless or poor because they have a mental illness is actually very small. The number of people who have a mental illness because they're homeless or poor on the other hand, is much larger.

There are, among this population, an exceptional sub-group who are, in fact, making a lifestyle choice. For them, I have no sympathy.

But seriously, the blanket statements... yeesh...

[Russic]

i've worked with mentally ill individuals before that many of you would never consider to be ill at all. In fact some are probably the "lazy" detriments to society that many of you seem to be so bent out of shape over. Many have no physical signs of disability but as soon as you place them in certain situations they are unable to function in a way that allows them to fit well in society.

There are large amounts of homeless that are simply lazy and want an easy ride. I will not dispute this fact. I will also not use that as an excuse to abandon all care to those who actually need it. I do not give money out on the streets but rather to the organizations that provide proper rehabilitation.

I realize my position places me in the minority in this thread, but I cannot stand the sweeping generalization that there wouldn't be homeless people if they'd all just pick up a push-broom and get to work. Toss several people with fetal alcohol syndrome, autism and early schizophrenia into a room along with somebody without illness. Given the same upbringing do some of you actually think they'd all end up the same? To simply ignore the genetic factor is a massive oversight.

Homeless people can be incredibly annoying and frustrating. They can smell bad and their persistence can be infuriating. To those affected by such negative experiences with the homeless, am I supposed to feel bad for you? You can whine and complain about how somebody asking for change ruined your whole day, but in the end I won't be feeling a whole lot of sympathy for you.

Some people who do not need the system abuse it. Some people refuse to help because of this. Personally I'm not sure which group of people are worse.

Edit:

I'm pretty sure that being a lazy slob isn't a mental illness.

wow . . . that's the most ignorant thing I've come across in a long time. I won't even return to this thread because I'm scared of what other gems you may have in store for us.

[flylock shox]

edit: double post

[driveway]

Originally Posted by DESS

I think offering these people a job is showing a degree of compassion and it's certainly helpful.

Sadly, these people don't want to work because they are pathetic losers. Half the time they'll accept the job only to not show up the next day.

If you ever have first-hand experience with these people I'm sure you'll come to that conclusion as well.

This is what's troubling about your statements. The fact that you are making generalizations and lumping each and every homeless or disadvantaged person into a group and then identifying them as "those people". In essence what you are doing is denying them individuality and humanity - it's exactly the same thing as racism. I understand that you've had frustrating experiences - and it's entirely within your right to stop offering money or opportunities to people if you choose too. However, making blanket statements about a large group of people - any large group of people - is both logically and ethically flawed.

[SeeGeeWhy]

Some people have a hard time coping socially, even though they are perfectly capable of performing work. There will always be people that want to push themselves away from others, but are paralyzed to help themselves satisfy their needs. Could you imagine being terrified of other people, but also know that the only way you are going to be able to eat is to rely on those same people? You would want to tear your skin off.

It is sad to see that the population of working homeless in this city is growing, especially with immigrants that have little or no social safety net in place.

[Sainters7]

I remember a few years back one guy walked up to me and explained he was "from Toronto" and was trying to raise $$$ to fly his pregnant girlfriend home so she could be with family for when she had her baby...meanwhile she's about 20 feet away with her back turned to us, puffin on a cigarette. Either a) shes not pregnant, or b) shes a classy lass.

Anyways, I ran into the same guy about a week later, and this time he was "from Montreal" but with the same story...

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by Reaper

It's pretty hard to get a steady job without a fixed address. That is one of the roadblocks to becoming "homeful" if one is homeless.

Also, in Alberta you need certification and training to work on an oil rig now.

Honest question...Would KFC or McDonalds care if your fixed address was the shelter? If they were going to fill some shifts that would never get filled by students and so on...

Did not know that about the rigs.

[dubc80]

I've always thought it would be interesting to find out the stories behind homeless people, and what brought them to where they are at.

I work downtown and am specifically talking about:

- The guy with the Weird Al haircut who mumbles all the time and goes from newspaper box to newspaper box checking for change. Sometimes darting across 3 lanes of rush-hour traffic.

- The +15 guy who walks around the +15's all the time.

Some of you may know who Im talking about. What happened to these people? What were their lives like 10, 15, 20 years ago?

[CaptainCrunch]

I as a rule don't give money to beggers, I give money to the Mustard Seed or other homeless agency, or even give some time when I can.

In my old smoking days, I used to offer to buy their smokes off of them at .50 cents a cigarette, and explain to them that you have to give something to get something. Usually I wouldn't smoke em, I'd toss em. But at least theres a transaction there.

After a while they go so aggressive in the Calgary streets that I'd hit them up for money before they could hit me up. I just lost my job and my wife is sick, could they spare some change so I could get some coffee before my next interview. That worked like a charm.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by HOOT

Honest question...Would KFC or McDonalds care if your fixed address was the shelter? If they were going to fill some shifts that would never get filled by students and so on...

Did not know that about the rigs.

I don't think McDonalds or KFC would care as they are willing to pay by normal checks.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

That's a good strategy.

Next time I see some down and out guy who's probably enjoying the absolute most miserable time in his life, I'm going to be mean to him, because it's funny.

I agree on one level. However, there are many cases where the person deserves it.

My attitude towards such a person is dependant on their attitude. If they act like jerks, or act like I owe them something becuase I live a "normal" life while they are on the street, then they are going to get a wise ass comment.

Its that sense of entitlement that really bugs me about the "lowest levels" of society. I'm better off than you are, therefore I have a responsibility to give you what you want? I don't think so.

I've never been homeless or addicted to anything, but that doesn't mean my life has been all sunshine and lolipops. You simply cannot rely on someone else to make your life better. I've had to fight damn hard to get where I am today, and nobody carried me at any part of it. I had to earn everything I've ever had. So when someone who will not take responsibility for their own lives starts insisting that I have any obligation to them, they stop getting treated with respect becuase they will not put in the effort to earn it.

If you want a better life, $1 from me won't help you. If you want a better life, then take command of your life. There are dozens of agencies that will help you if you have the will power. Those are the places that will get my $1.