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[Warm Machine]

I do.

I'm sick of getting asked for spare change when I know they will take the cash and jam it into their arm.

I'm sick of them j-walking across the street forcing commuters to stop their cars. God knows these fuckers want to get hit so they can turn around and sue the drivers. They also know the only power in the world they have is to sicken and piss people off so they get the most out of it.

If you don't like the conventions of society and hate capitalism then why are you using the system? I know of about 1 million acres of wilderness you can go live in on your own where no one will ever find you or tax you. Fact is these anti establishment sponges couldn't last a day outside of the fringe of society.

Not only that, most of these fuckers love to pretend they have jobs. Opening doors for people, trying to choose places where cars can park for drivers, collecting cans, squeegeing windows...fuck. If you have the time to do that shit, go get a real job 8 hours a day doing it for a real salary with benefits. At least you'd be able to get a roof over your head.

Most of these bastards are drug using idiots. I know this is facist to say but seeing as though they are breaking the law while having a needle jabbing out of their arm while passed out of the street I'd yank them off the street and dump them in a camp up north. Clean them up and teach them something usefull. Better than a jail term and it would get them off the crack. I'd much rather society took these fuckers off the street and did something for them then stand by apathetic to their problems.

I pay taxes so I can have safe streets and a nice city to live in. I don't pay them so that I get accosted four times a day for cash.

Last night I saw this old man whipping pennies at this old street person. The guy he was whipping them at was a street person since I moved to Vancouver nine years ago. I HAD to feel good about this as I'm utterly sick of seeing the same people asking for the same 25 cents day after day.

 

[btrboyev]

I think you need to chill the hell out...not everybody is so fortunate as you.

 

[DMczaf]

Ninja Scooter finally has a friend.

 

[Tabris]

I live downtown vancouver...

...and honestly, it does wear on you here. We have an absolutely beautiful city, but we have one of the largest percentage of homeless in north america.

I get asked for change at least 4 times a day. Like completly serious.

I see homeless people shooting up or smoking crack while walking down the street. In plain view. I'm not even talking about main and hastings, just seymour.

The drug market is so fucking obvious here and the cops rarely do a thing about it.

I mean it's not like I don't feel safe, cause vancouver is pretty darn safe. I've never had a problem. It's just kind of discouraging having to look at someone smoking crack or asking change (same person that was smoking crack the day before) while you're walking to work.

 

[MIMIC]

I was walking down the street and a homeless guy asked me for a quarter. I was in a good mood and offered to give him a dollar.

"Can I have two dollars?"

Wow...I still gave him the dollar, though.

 

[Warm Machine]

I think you need to chill the hell out...not everybody is so fortunate as you.

When a woman with no teeth and bleeding sores all over her skin comes up to you and offers you a blowjob for 4 dollars try telling me that she is doing society a service

 

[xsarien]

What in the hell is wrong with jaywalking?

 

[Lathentar]

So where do you live? Austin, Washington DC, Seattle?

 

[Warm Machine]

What in the hell is wrong with jaywalking?

Nothing if you are not going across while traffic is moving and you are pushing a cart full of cans that are spilling everywhere where you run back across traffic to pick them up while leaving your cart in the middle of a lane.

 

[Tabris]

So where do you live? Austin, Washington DC, Seattle?

since I moved to Vancouver nine years ago

Reading comprehension -1

 

[The Take Out Bandit]

Move to Cleveland.

They're working on legislation that will prohibit those intrusive fuckers from badgering you in certain spots.

Problem being, if you move to Cleveland that same legislation will work against you when you can't find a job in this fucking city. :lol

I know, not everybody is fortunate; but if you're able bodied enough to harass people on the street, you can get a fucking job flipping burgers.

 

[mattx5]

Oh my God, you think those people are on the streets by choice? Very few people are homeless by choice, and those that are can go live in the fucking wilderness for all I care.

But the rest of them ARE NOT homeless by choice. They are homeless due to either family problems, financial problems, disease/illness or drug addictions. They can't just get up off the street and get a job, who the fuck do you think is going to offer a job to a tattered, smelly person? Homelessness is a vicious cycle that is difficult to beat once you're caught up in it. It doesn't help that the government doesn't do much about it in terms of affordable housing...

 

[Lathentar]

Reading comprehension -1

Yeah, I'm stupid.

 

[The Take Out Bandit]

who the fuck do you think is going to offer a job to a tattered, smelly person?

They'll fit right in at Wal-Mart. :lol

 

[Warm Machine]

This one homeless woman CONSTANTLY asks for change. When you don't give it up and its close to time for her hit of smack she'll walk behind you swearing at you and calling you all sorts of names. I don't mean quietly either. She'll yell at you.

The next day you see her and she is smiling at you trying to coax cash out of you! WTF lady!?! Yesterday you called me a shit sucking motherfucker and today you want a dollar!?!

 

[Grizzlyjin]

This one homeless woman CONSTANTLY asks for change. When you don't give it up and its close to time for her hit of smack she'll walk behind you swearing at you and calling you all sorts of names. I don't mean quietly either. She'll yell at you.

The next day you see her and she is smiling at you trying to coax cash out of you! WTF lady!?! Yesterday you called me a shit sucking motherfucker and today you want a dollar!?!

A large percentage of homeless people are mentally unstable.

 

[Tabris]

Oh my God, you think those people are on the streets by choice? Very few people are homeless by choice, and those that are can go live in the fucking wilderness for all I care.

But the rest of them ARE NOT homeless by choice. They are homeless due to either family problems, financial problems, disease/illness or drug addictions. They can't just get up off the street and get a job, who the fuck do you think is going to offer a job to a tattered, smelly person? Homelessness is a vicious cycle that is difficult to beat once you're caught up in it. It doesn't help that the government doesn't do much about it in terms of affordable housing...

I understand financial situations, disease/illness or family problems...

...but I have no sympathy for drug addictions.

There's many different options out there for -recovery-, but they either don't want to take them or don't have the willpower.

Well that's great. Should I be giving them my hard-earned change so they can their latest fix cause they don't have enough willpower to get into recovery (rehab, NA, AA).

No respect for people like that. While I have immense respect for people who are in recovery.

 

[teiresias]

This is a true story:

I was in town one day either at school or at work, can't remember, but I was walking to my car and this woman came up to me and started feeding me this story about how she needed some money to get a cab because she had come up here to interview for some lowly minimum wage job and her friend hadn't shown up to pick her up, etc., etc. I refused.

This woman apparently hit up quite a few people between the time she talked to me and the next day, because she didn't recognize me at all when stopped me in the parking lot of a shopping center NEARLY AN HOUR SOUTH ON THE INTERSTATE the next day and fed me the SAME STORY.

Stupid bitch.

 

[Warm Machine]

Oh my God, you think those people are on the streets by choice? Very few people are homeless by choice, and those that are can go live in the fucking wilderness for all I care.

But the rest of them ARE NOT homeless by choice. They are homeless due to either family problems, financial problems, disease/illness or drug addictions. They can't just get up off the street and get a job, who the fuck do you think is going to offer a job to a tattered, smelly person? Homelessness is a vicious cycle that is difficult to beat once you're caught up in it. It doesn't help that the government doesn't do much about it in terms of affordable housing...

First off the drug addiction is almost always by choice. I don't know of too many people who just by walking down the street are forced into drug use. Hookers maybe, but regular joes make a very distinct choice at one point in their lives to jab a needle into their arm or boil lunch on a spoon to make themselves feel good.

Second, in Vancouver where I live we have a Seymour street which is FILLED with help homes and groups. That is besides the churches and other groups like the salvation army who help these people like you wouldn't believe. If you are down and out and need a real helping hand, it exists. If you were to actually make the most of what they offer you'd be able to get back up on your feet. They have showers and postal boxes. For a few dollars you can buy a clean 2nd hand set of clothes to help you go out and get that job wherever.

Third, the ones who say they are starving are not. There are LOTS of places these people can go to get free meals. In fact, there are FREE MEAL signs on the streets giving times and locations for these people to eat...though they have the gaul to stand infront of these signs asking for change for food. Fuck that shit.

Fourth, the real single mothers and men without jobs do not beg for cash on the street. I know this because I use to hang out near the lineups for free food and groceries and not one person in those lineups were ever one the street asking for cash.

I've been near the people in LA living in the cardboard houses and shit with kids. THOSE people looked like they haven't been eating.

The mentally ill DO NOT deserve to ever be put out on the street. Society has absolutely no safety net or method for dealing with the mentally ill besides the use of care homes or asylums. Unfortunately they closed the majority of them here and luckily for the drug dealers the mentally ill are some of the easiest to get hooked. So the stupid cycle begins again.

If I were apathetic to the problem I'd ignore the whole thing and no bring it up. No one should be on the street asking for cash.

 

[Nester]

I was once stopped while walking past a McDonalds. The guy asked me for some cash so he could go get a bite to eat, and pointed at the McDonalds with his thumb.

I was feeling generous, so I said "I'm not going to give you any cash, but if you want, I'll buy you a sandwich or a value meal."

His response? "Aw..fuck no man, thanks for nothing." and walked off giving me the finger.

I'm pretty sure he wasn't planning on using any cash I would have given him for food. This is what pisses me off about some homeless people. He couldn't be honest about it. While walking downtown Minneapolis with a few friends years ago, we were approached by some guy asking for money for food. My friend asked him "Don't bullshit me man, what do you really want the money for?" The guy got this sort of shocked look on his face and sighed and said "Beer..."

My friend said "That's more like it." and gave him a buck for being honest about it.

Of course if the guy at McDonalds came up and said "Hey man I need money for drugs and beer, can you help me out?" I wouldn't give him a penny anyway.

 

[DarienA]

First off the drug addiction is almost always by choice.

I stopped reading right there.... you obviously don't know what the hell you are talking about.

To get a sense of it try talking to someone who smokes, ask them if they've ever tried to stop , how they start to feel if they wait too long to smoke, etc... while some folks can just stop... the comments you'd get from the majority will surprise you.

It's obvious by many of the scattered comments in this thread that most of you are f'n clueless about how folks come to be homeless, what drives them, etc...

I pray that none of you have yourselves in that situation or someone close to you.

So great to see how you people are compassionate of your fellow humans... no wonder this world has so little crime, poverty, etc.

 

[Claus]

The homeless people in San Francisco and Berkley are always amusing. I remember one guy was running around with a toy gun, pretending to commit suicide and another was doing yoga in burnt heart pajamas.

 

[Warm Machine]

I stopped reading right there.... you obviously don't know what the hell you are talking about.

Perhaps if you kept reading you'd have read...

"regular joes make a very distinct choice at one point in their lives to jab a needle into their arm or boil lunch on a spoon to make themselves feel good."

Anyone ever FORCE you into using drugs?

perhaps if you kept reading you would have also got this...

"If I were apathetic to the problem I'd ignore the whole thing and no bring it up. No one should be on the street asking for cash."

Lesson learned...hear what someone has to say before making an assumption.

 

[jadehorizon1]

Whenever I go into the heart of downtown Miami around midnight I feel like I took a trip into Resident Evil 2

 

[Drinky Crow]

Most of 'em have serious psychological issues and have been abandoned by the system. They do drugs to dull the pain, and panhandle because they can't keep down a job (or even get one, in the more severe cases). Very few are actually lazy, and many times they appear capable and normal to the outside observer -- but they really shouldn't be outside proper hospital care. A select tiny few are anti-establishment types who like the lifestyle, but those are a VERY small minority. Nobody generally WANTS to be homeless and abandoned.

But hey: you get your tax break!

 

[Fatghost]

Ya know, if we made homelessness illegal, then people wouldn't sleep on the streets and die of exposure, hardworking people like us wouldn't be forced to put up with their crap, our cities would be cleaner, and everyone would be happier.

 

[Tabris]

I'm heartless cause I have no sympathy for people who are "dependant"?

I've lived my life around people in recovery. So the only step I'm away from understanding the situation better is jabbing a needle into my own arm.

I just can't respect people who don't have the willpower to recover. Yes, it's one of the hardest things you'll have to do in your lifetime. Yet, it's probabaly one of the most important things you'll need to do in your lifetime. Not only are these people destroying themselves, but they're hurting the people around them in one way or another.

No respect for users. None at all.

All the respect in the world for people in recovery though.

So is it really so bad of me to be apathetic to their suffering? especially when it's brought upon themselves? (and yes I understand some people are more susceptable to addiction, but there's always that first choice. The "would you like to have a little taste?". That was their moment). And before you speak of second chances, they do have a second chance and it's called realizing you have a problem and seeking help.

 

[Drinky Crow]

How do you get "recovery" when you have no support? No money, or worse: hospital debts ad nauseum? How much assistance is within walking distance? How much is it is actual assistance, and not just the pittance charity affords spent on placebos and good intentioned but impractical post-collegiate social workers?

Really, no matter how much you convince yourself that you've been in a similar situation, you haven't. For starters, you're SANE.

 

[Tabris]

Both NA (Narcotics Annoymous) and AA (Alcholics Annoymous) are free.

Government funded detox clinics and rehab centres are also free.

Both are easy to find.

 

[videogamer]

I stopped reading right there.... you obviously don't know what the hell you are talking about.

Maybe it could have been better rephrased as, "drug addition is preventable". People just don't get addicted to drugs out of nowhere. They chose that path. OK, there may be exceptions, but aren't they the exception?

Anyways, I keep (or had) organic flax vegan bars in my car just for the homeless people that may appear at the highway exit. True, it suggests that I do not trust them with my money, and that may offend some. But then again, I would rather not imagine my money being spent on alcohol or on a hamburger.

 

[Tabris]

Really, no matter how much you convince yourself that you've been in a similar situation, you haven't. For starters, you're SANE.

By the way, I'm not talking about people who are mentally unstable. I was speaking exclusively on drug addiction.

I think we're responding to 2 different statements and our topics are merging now, so that's where that confusion came from.

 

[Warm Machine]

How do you get "recovery" when you have no support? No money, or worse: hospital debts ad nauseum? How much of it is within walking distance?

Really, no matter how much you convince yourself that you've been in a similar situation, you haven't. For starters, you're SANE.

Good point though if you look through my 2nd really big post you'll find the info to that. Vancouver, possibly unlike some US cities, has many many places for recovery. I'm happy my tax dollars go towards the places to help these people. I'm not happy when the very people that need them choose not to use them and instead leech off the system and keep spreading HIV through dirty needles.

 

[Drinky Crow]

No, they AREN'T free. An hour of psychobabble is free, but when you're unstable or damaged, you need more than just an hour or two of counseling. You need proper hospitalization, and these so-called detox clinics are being closed right and left, as well as government-sponsored mental health wards and halfway houses. The thin red line between civilization and ruin is barely legible these days.

 

[Drinky Crow]

Tabris: oh. Okay. I'm referring to the homeless, many of whom DO suffer from drug addictions developed during their abandonment or downward spirals.

 

[Tabris]

I can't speak for your american cities, but NA and AA are completly free and can be found very easily in vancouver.

Government funded detox and rehab centres are around, and you can always be referred by attending an NA meeting.

 

[Drinky Crow]

Canada, despite its own particular breed of governmental corruption, treats its poor and homeless with a lot more dignity than the US does.

 

[DarienA]

Perhaps if you kept reading you'd have read...

Lesson Learned: Perhaps if you didn't make idiotic fuckin comments at the top of a paragraph or to start a thread more folks would be intested in reading all the way through.

Why do dumb comments on this piss me off so much? Because I spent to years working for a non profit dealing with homelessness in MD, and countless times I've heard the same dumbass comments from other clueless tards, so now I have less patience for it.

 

[totoro'd]

Anyways, I keep (or had) organic flax vegan bars in my car just for the homeless people that may appear at the highway exit.

I think if I were homeless, i'd rather eat a diseased rat

That is nice you did that though

 

[God's Hand]

I treat homeless people like they're real people... you should try it sometime! Some people are just less fortunate than yourself. A couple bucks here or there isn't going to prevent you from paying your bills on time, but it will make someone happier.

 

[videogamer]

I think if I were homeless, i'd rather eat a diseased rat

That is nice you did that though

Thanks. Admittedly, they don't taste too good, but they need the health food more than I do. After a couple of bites, the taste kind of goes into the background.

 

[impirius]

I, like SpeedRazor, usually offer to buy them something to eat instead of giving them money. About 90% refuse the offer.

 

[Tabris]

I treat homeless people like they're real people... you should try it sometime! Some people are just less fortunate than yourself. A couple bucks here or there isn't going to prevent you from paying your bills on time, but it will make someone happier.

Do you live or work "downtown"? Cause if you did, and you were hit up a minimum of 4 times a day, I don't think you would feel the same. Especially when you see the same people you give change to, buying drugs.

EDIT - By the way, I never used the word hate. I used the word discouraging. That's all. I have a different stance then the main subject, and want to make sure you understand I'm not showing my support for his thoughts on the subject but my own.

 

[Warm Machine]

I treat homeless people like they're real people... you should try it sometime! Some people are just less fortunate than yourself. A couple bucks here or there isn't going to prevent you from paying your bills on time, but it will make someone happier.

I'm always polite to them. I'll tell them I'm sorry but I don't have change.

If them being happy means they'll get their hit of heroine I'd rather they be miserable. I'm not funding someones drug habit. No one should. How do I know that my 2 dollars isn't going towards the hit that ODs and kills them.

I'm talking more about the drug abusing degenerates who beat the crap out of each other in allys and spread disease with their needles. There are very few truely homeless on the streets of Vancouver. What real homeless there are are being taken care of by the system reasonably well and they are not the people asking for cash on the street.

I think to fully understand where I'm coming from you have to have been as saturated with it as I have been. I worked near Main and Hastings in Vancouver for long enough to recognize the difference between the leeches and users and those who were honestly poor. I also have the benefit of my girlfriend being a psychiatric nurse and hearing her stories of working in the Main and Hastings area as well as in emergency psych wards.

 

[galeninjapan]

Does anyone know why there are so many homeless people in Austin Texas? There is someone panhandeling on every corner. Why cant the city just make it illegal to panhandle?

 

[Warm Machine]

Do you live or work "downtown"? Cause if you did, and you were hit up a minimum of 4 times a day, I don't think you would feel the same. Especially when you see the same people you give change to, buying drugs.

EDIT - By the way, I never used the word hate. I used the word discouraging. That's all. I have a different stance then the main subject, and want to make sure you understand I'm not showing my support for his thoughts on the subject but my own.

I agree with you. HATE is the wrong word to have used in the subject line. There is also a difference between the people I'm talking about and the people that others may think of with the word "homeless" A woman with 2 kids living in a box is truely homeless to me and the drug addicted CHUDS are who I'm really referencing.

I'm not backpeddling either just reinforcing who I'm really talking about. Anyone confusted about the point just has to read through the thread.

 

[Boomer]

I have sympathy for them, but why give them any money? What good are you doing by helping them get their next rock? They are homeless because they are helpless.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

We have homeless people in NZ and it really fucks me off. Over here you just go to the Work and income office and they GIVE YOU MONEY. like 200 bucks a week. shit that's what I did when I didn't have a job. get 4 of you homeless togther and get a flat.

I don't know about America, but the homeless here are all just useless glue sniffers.

 

[Fatghost]

I treat homeless people like they're real people... you should try it sometime! Some people are just less fortunate than yourself. A couple bucks here or there isn't going to prevent you from paying your bills on time, but it will make someone happier.

Why don't you just hand them a syringe loaded with smack?

Why not just buy an alcoholic a drink...it will make him feel much better.

 

[galeninjapan]

We have homeless people in NZ and it really fucks me off. Over here you just go to the Work and income office and they GIVE YOU MONEY. like 200 bucks a week. shit that's what I did when I didn't have a job. get 4 of you homeless togther and get a flat.

I don't know about America, but the homeless here are all just useless glue sniffers.

If I visit new zealand could I just pretend Im homeless and get $200?

 

[Teddman]

Holy shit, I know you're probably semi-serious, but that first post made me laugh until tears came out. Great one, Warm Machine. I agree you have a few points... My favorite parts:

If you don't like the conventions of society and hate capitalism then why are you using the system? I know of about 1 million acres of wilderness you can go live in on your own where no one will ever find you or tax you.

I know this is facist to say but seeing as though they are breaking the law while having a needle jabbing out of their arm while passed out of the street I'd yank them off the street and dump them in a camp up north.

Last night I saw this old man whipping pennies at this old street person. The guy he was whipping them at was a street person since I moved to Vancouver nine years ago. I HAD to feel good about this as I'm utterly sick of seeing the same people asking for the same 25 cents day after day.