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This site is a little project that lets me make fun of some things and sense of others. I use it to think a little more relationally without resorting to doing actual math.Subscribe
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This site is a little project that lets me make fun of some things and sense of others. I use it to think a little more relationally without resorting to doing actual math.
Ah, ripping on the homeless. America’s favorite pastime.
War homeless guys with rocks in their safety deposit boxes?
At first I thought I had the wrong page – an index card just isn’t an index card without the blue lines…
Pedro, blue lines cost too much in this economy.
Upon re-reading the card, I think it’s actually more a comment on the economy than a stab at homeless people. Friends don’t let friends (or themselves) comment after they just woke up.
@Jamie
Person A: How’re you man?
Person B: Not so good, actually.
She’s hardly making fun of the homeless, nor mocking their values. In this economy, no one is.
As a sideline, I’d rather people ask me for food than for money. I give a hand where I can, but I’ve had people ask me for change for food then tell me off when I tried to give them some food instead. The ones that really need it, though … man. I am glad to be where I am right now.
or, B = Dumpster divers outside the Grocery store
>As a sideline, I’d rather people ask me for food than for money.
It’s not really charity when you tell the recipient what they’re allowed to do with it. That’s more patronage. Do you really want to go around patronizing the homeless?
@pi
Actually, I prefer patronising them to supporting their drug habit. It’s still charity if you give food. I’m not telling them what to do with the food I give, after all.
Haven’t seen anyone hanging around outside the grocery store, yet.
> Do you really want to go around patronizing the homeless?
If they’re going to tell me the money is for food, but that they don’t want any food, then they don’t deserve my charity. Honesty is a pretty basic concept, and a simple enough courtesy that I can reasonably expect it from the world around me. They’re asking me for assistance, the least they could do is ask nicely — and truthfully.
To Chaz and others of like mind:
Why is it that we Americans see everything in terms of individuals rather than forces such as structural violence? So, someone homeless with a drug habit needs to beg nicely for food or money? Have a look at the ACE Study (www.acestudy.org, which clearly shows that what Americans tend to consider the individual failing of drug addiction, not to mention homelessness itself as well as health issues often considered simply biomedical, are strongly linked to adverse childhood experiences such as being sexually or physically abused or having an incarcerated parent. And these adverse childhood experiences themselves are patterned by inequalities — precisely the inequalities that this index card highlights.
Ann Baker:
Even if adverse childhood experiences are correlated with or lead to homelessness and drug abuse, I doubt that giving money to buy more drugs is going to improve anyone’s life.
Alex, I beat you to it ;)
iratecat, IMO the problem is more with the condescending attitude than the refusal to give money. That kind of attitude is all too common. Which is the reason I snapped in my very first comment here. People lack compassion.
I for one don’t care what the homeless spend my charitable offerings on. I’m fairly certain he needs a drink\joint\8-ball more than I do.
If a person is on the street because of a drug addiction and nobody gives them money to support it, eventually they’re going to go cold turkey from the drugs and become a better person. Why would i want to give them money to stop them from improving themself as a person and in turn their quality of life. Whereas giving them food is certainly going to improve their quality of life. for me this is an easy decision.
Food not money.
I have found myself more likely to give money to the honest individuals (regardless of repercussions of supporting any kind of habit.) I know you’re homeless so tell it to me straight, and I’ll help you out as much as I can.
I also have a habit of carrying around BK gift cards with 5 bucks on them. That way, it has to be spent there (to my best knowledge) and it’s enough for a meal.
woah, @bryce that’s horrible. hey your in a shitty situation on the streets, and I suspect its drugs. Lets let you go hungry, feel shamed and ignored, and go cold turkey, with out even a soft warm bed. You will turn away from drugs and not resent people after that?! WHAT!?
honestly, it was horrible asking for money on the streets, I was greatful for what ever people gave me. though all to often it was a beer, or a cigarette (i don’t smoke so i’d sell it for a quarter) or coffee, I had so much coffee and beer and no food, that I ended up with ulcers. somenights, especially cold nights when people take more pitty i would get food offerings, after a while i would get enough food, i wanted money for a room to stay in. I didn’t want to explain myself, I was embarrassed as it is.
I was not atypical. a lot of homeless people have mental disabilities, but many where like me, young, travelings, stuck, and could not find work. Yes some people are addicts, some arn’t. If your really that concerned, politely tell people you can’t offer anything, and proudly pay your taxes, and keep an eye on your gov. to make sure it goes to social services. Or heaven forbid, get involved in your community, your whole fucking community (not just your economic peers).
Al, you call bryce’s response horrible, but your story seems to confirm what he says:
The people who need it will gladly take the food.
I don’t know about forcing druggies cold turkey and all that, but “food not money” seems like a no-brainer to me.
clearly, person b is a charity worker looking for donations of non-perishable food items.
the responses here are as though a and b were outside a liquor store
@bryce: You have a rosy view of drug addiction. Not being able to afford drugs is far more likely to lead to robbery than to self-betterment, and cold turkey doesn’t do anything about the underlying misery that caused the addiction in the first place.
If you really want to help, then write to every politician who represents you, from the leader of your country to the chair of your condo association, and say you want more funding for social programs and public education.
Truly a matter of opinion. I’ve given both food and money to homeless. I’ve given socks and Dr. Pepper. They like it all. Never had anyone turn down food. They are hungry. There’s no way to tell where this person came from unless you ask. But a lot of homeless people that have been homeless for a while are used to the way they are treated and will take anything that they can get. I have never been on the streets, but I’ve been a floater. It’s a hard life when you have no money, and it’s really embarrassing. Sometimes a person just ends up in a situation. It’s not like they planned to be homeless. I had to leach for a while. That shit’s hard to do, makes you feel like a burden. But if you wanna survive, then you have to beg.