My new hobby, and how to finance it
Quote: SOOPOOQuote: billryanQuote: DRichBill, what you are doing is fantastic. I wish I had the motivation to do what you are doing.
link to original post
I thank you and hope someday you'll find the motivation. A few good people can make a difference.
link to original post
I think what you are doing is laudable. But I’m not sure if it is really ‘making a difference’. If it doesn’t do anything to get these people out of the dismal situation they are in, but rather, just ameliorates it slightly, I’m not sure much ‘difference’ has been made. I know it’s better to have a cap when it’s cold out, but you get my point.
I have a well off cousin who like you also wanted ‘to make a difference’. He has used resources to build schools for girls in Uganda, and supplied the schools with computers so the girls ‘have more of a future’.
I guess your kindness helps out somewhat for the immediate present, but does nothing for their ‘future’.
I remember a ‘donate your suit’ so poor guys could have a suit for a job interview. To me, that’s effective charity.
link to original post
I hate to say it, I mean I really hate it, but I agree with Soopoo. Giving these people things is not helping them get out of their situation it's just prolonging it. It makes them feel like victims taking handouts and it doesn't do anything to improve their future. What it does do is makes the giver feel all warm and toasty inside like he's really important because he's so generous. Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime. What you see in places like Los Angeles and San Francisco and New York City is that when you coddle these people, they will continue to take advantage of you forever. This is why people like John D Rockefeller built universities instead of standing on the street corner giving out overcoats and blankets. A university is a place you can go to help yourself,, giving somebody a blanket just keeps them on the street for another day.
Quote: EvenBobQuote: SOOPOOQuote: billryanQuote: DRichBill, what you are doing is fantastic. I wish I had the motivation to do what you are doing.
link to original post
I thank you and hope someday you'll find the motivation. A few good people can make a difference.
link to original post
I think what you are doing is laudable. But I’m not sure if it is really ‘making a difference’. If it doesn’t do anything to get these people out of the dismal situation they are in, but rather, just ameliorates it slightly, I’m not sure much ‘difference’ has been made. I know it’s better to have a cap when it’s cold out, but you get my point.
I have a well off cousin who like you also wanted ‘to make a difference’. He has used resources to build schools for girls in Uganda, and supplied the schools with computers so the girls ‘have more of a future’.
I guess your kindness helps out somewhat for the immediate present, but does nothing for their ‘future’.
I remember a ‘donate your suit’ so poor guys could have a suit for a job interview. To me, that’s effective charity.
link to original post
I hate to say it, I mean I really hate it, but I agree with Soopoo. Giving these people things is not helping them get out of their situation it's just prolonging it. It makes them feel like victims taking handouts and it doesn't do anything to improve their future. What it does do is makes the giver feel all warm and toasty inside like he's really important because he's so generous. Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime. What you see in places like Los Angeles and San Francisco and New York City is that when you coddle these people, they will continue to take advantage of you forever. This is why people like John D Rockefeller built universities instead of standing on the street corner giving out overcoats and blankets. A university is a place you can go to help yourself,, giving somebody a blanket just keeps them on the street for another day.
link to original post
EB, my new best buddy, more eloquently elucidated my point.
Maybe, Billy, next time you graciously give out your care package, ask the recipient if there is a way you can help him out of the mess he is in?
Quote: SOOPOO
I think what you are doing is laudable. But I’m not sure if it is really ‘making a difference’. If it doesn’t do anything to get these people out of the dismal situation they are in, but rather, just ameliorates it slightly, I’m not sure much ‘difference’ has been made. I know it’s better to have a cap when it’s cold out, but you get my point.
I have a well off cousin who like you also wanted ‘to make a difference’. He has used resources to build schools for girls in Uganda, and supplied the schools with computers so the girls ‘have more of a future’.
I guess your kindness helps out somewhat for the immediate present, but does nothing for their ‘future’.
I remember a ‘donate your suit’ so poor guys could have a suit for a job interview. To me, that’s effective charity.
link to original post
I agree. There are so many great ways available to all of us to contribute our time and resources to constructively help good people affected by misfortune to build a better future.
This is something I can do, hands on. It doesn't take away from my other charities, which almost exclusively involve writing small checks these days.
Since I started doing this, I feel better, mentaly and physically. Performing acts of kindness and compassion, acts of mercy. The things we used to read about as kids.
Some people get it, some don't .
I didn't move here to do it, and it wasn't something I planned on doing.
Quote: billryanI do what I can. I can't afford to give people clothes for job interviews, nor do I have jobs to offer them. I see someone living in a tent and feel compelled to do what I can to help them. I'm not sure when it went out of fashion, but it is how I was raised.
This is something I can do, hands on. It doesn't take away from my other charities, which almost exclusively involve writing small checks these days.
Since I started doing this, I feel better, mentaly and physically. Performing acts of kindness and compassion, acts of mercy. The things we used to read about as kids.
Some people get it, some don't .
I didn't move here to do it, and it wasn't something I planned on doing.
link to original post
Please don't talk down to us, we absolutely 'get it.' What you don't seem to get is that what you're doing is more for you than it is for them. Like lots of charity, it makes the person doing it feel good and has nothing to do with the individual on the other end. Send a check, donate some canned goods, hand out some blankets. For people who just had a devastating disaster that stuff is great. For people in it for the long haul like 99% of the homeless it does almost nothing to help them in the long run. It's like welfare which we now know has done far more harm than all the good it ever did. My experience in dealing with homeless people in the years I lived in California the vast majority of them didn't want to improve themselves, they moaned and complained but they really liked where they were getting handouts and not having to work for a living. That's why they all gravitate towards the warmer places like Arizona California Florida, you can live outdoors year-round and not die.
Quote: EvenBobQuote: billryanI do what I can. I can't afford to give people clothes for job interviews, nor do I have jobs to offer them. I see someone living in a tent and feel compelled to do what I can to help them. I'm not sure when it went out of fashion, but it is how I was raised.
This is something I can do, hands on. It doesn't take away from my other charities, which almost exclusively involve writing small checks these days.
Since I started doing this, I feel better, mentaly and physically. Performing acts of kindness and compassion, acts of mercy. The things we used to read about as kids.
Some people get it, some don't .
I didn't move here to do it, and it wasn't something I planned on doing.
link to original post
Please don't talk down to us, we absolutely 'get it.' What you don't seem to get is that what you're doing is more for you than it is for them. Like lots of charity, it makes the person doing it feel good and has nothing to do with the individual on the other end. Send a check, donate some canned goods, hand out some blankets. For people who just had a devastating disaster that stuff is great. For people in it for the long haul like 99% of the homeless it does almost nothing to help them in the long run. It's like welfare which we now know has done far more harm than all the good it ever did. My experience in dealing with homeless people in the years I lived in California the vast majority of them didn't want to improve themselves, they moaned and complained but they really liked where they were getting handouts and not having to work for a living. That's why they all gravitate towards the warmer places like Arizona California Florida, you can live outdoors year-round and not die.
link to original post
Thank you. You made it possible to add Mercy and Forgiveness to my day.
Quote: billryan
Thank you. You made it possible to add Mercy and Forgiveness to my day.
link to original post
You capitalize them, are they the names of your dogs? Towns you want to visit someday perhaps.
Quote: EvenBob
Please don't talk down to us…
!!!
Quote: EvenBob
What you don't seem to get is that what you're doing is more for you than it is for them.
link to original post
[snipped]
Thanks, EB, I needed a good laugh! I believe the saying goes something like “pot”… “kettle”…
(And I’m one of the few who actually appreciates your unique, sardonic brand of humor. The irony!)
Quote: camaplQuote: EvenBob
Please don't talk down to us…
!!!Quote: EvenBob
What you don't seem to get is that what you're doing is more for you than it is for them.
link to original post
[snipped]
Thanks, EB, I needed a good laugh! I believe the saying goes something like “pot”… “kettle”…
(And I’m one of the few who actually appreciates your unique, sardonic brand of humor. The irony!)
link to original post
So in your fantasy you think I've come on this forum bragging about all the stuff I give to homeless people? Never happened, I have no idea what you're talking about.
Quote: DRichI think what Bob and Soopoo might be missing that some of these people may not have a future without food and warm clothing. Without food and warmth people have been known to die. I guess that might help the rest of us with more food, jobs, and iphones available to us.
link to original post
The point is if you just keep giving it to them over and over and over and over and over and over which is what people do, then for them it becomes their lifestyle. Why should they try to do anything positive with their lives if they're getting everything they need given to them. And more people are opting for this lifestyle all the time, Society has always been full of lazy people. It's a fact that if you own a large corporation and employ a lot of people, 20% of the people do 80% of the work and the rest come in to do as little as possible and still collect a paycheck. They're only two steps away from discovering the freebie lifestyle of being homeless in 'America.' Just saw a story about a guy in Hollywood who's actually built a shack on the sidewalk on Hollywood Boulevard and the police come by every day and nobody tells him to move.
Quote: SOOPOOQuote: billryanQuote: DRichBill, what you are doing is fantastic. I wish I had the motivation to do what you are doing.
link to original post
I thank you and hope someday you'll find the motivation. A few good people can make a difference.
link to original post
I think what you are doing is laudable. But I’m not sure if it is really ‘making a difference’. If it doesn’t do anything to get these people out of the dismal situation they are in, but rather, just ameliorates it slightly, I’m not sure much ‘difference’ has been made. I know it’s better to have a cap when it’s cold out, but you get my point.
I have a well off cousin who like you also wanted ‘to make a difference’. He has used resources to build schools for girls in Uganda, and supplied the schools with computers so the girls ‘have more of a future’.
I guess your kindness helps out somewhat for the immediate present, but does nothing for their ‘future’.
I remember a ‘donate your suit’ so poor guys could have a suit for a job interview. To me, that’s effective charity.
link to original post
You can think of it as like caring for a patient in a hospice. That person has little to no future on this earth. But ameliorating his suffering today makes as much difference as is possible for him today, and there may be no tomorrow for him.
My observation and knowledge of the street-dwelling homeless is that they are very cruel to one another. That does not justify my being cruel to them. But it does justify my turning my back to them, and contributing instead to legitimate charities who know how to traverse that world and help the homeless in a realistic rather than idealistic way.
Quote: EvenBobQuote: camaplQuote: EvenBob
Please don't talk down to us…
!!!Quote: EvenBob
What you don't seem to get is that what you're doing is more for you than it is for them.
link to original post
[snipped]
Thanks, EB, I needed a good laugh! I believe the saying goes something like “pot”… “kettle”…
(And I’m one of the few who actually appreciates your unique, sardonic brand of humor. The irony!)
link to original post
So in your fantasy you think I've come on this forum bragging about all the stuff I give to homeless people? Never happened, I have no idea what you're talking about.
link to original post
It’s not a fantasy, it’s the sim…
Bill gets a good feeling from giving
the homeless get a good feeling if only for a minute because somebody thought about them and showed some caring
the homeless are not being saved by this
it's a small thing, but it's something
the criticism of it here is unjustified
.
Quote: lilredrooster.
Bill gets a good feeling from giving
the homeless get a good feeling if only for a minute because somebody thought about them and showed some caring
the homeless are not being saved by this
it's a small thing, but it's something
the criticism of it here is unjustified
.
link to original post
How about the DISCUSSION? I prefer that to describe my posts. It is definitely a noble EFFORT Billy makes. If you want no ‘criticism’, then just talk to yourself!
The ‘good feeling if only for a minute’ is why people take illegal drugs.
Quote: SOOPOOQuote: lilredrooster.
Bill gets a good feeling from giving
the homeless get a good feeling if only for a minute because somebody thought about them and showed some caring
the homeless are not being saved by this
it's a small thing, but it's something
the criticism of it here is unjustified
How about the DISCUSSION? if you want 'no criticism' then just talk to yourself!
The ‘good feeling if only for a minute’ is why people take illegal drugs.
link to original post
what a horrible and terrible analogy
really bad
as far as 'then just talk to yourself' - guess what - I don't take orders from you -
and guess what else - calling the criticism 'unjustified' is part of the discussion
.
Quote: lilredroosterQuote: SOOPOOQuote: lilredrooster.
Bill gets a good feeling from giving
the homeless get a good feeling if only for a minute because somebody thought about them and showed some caring
the homeless are not being saved by this
it's a small thing, but it's something
the criticism of it here is unjustified
How about the DISCUSSION? if you want 'no criticism' then just talk to yourself!
The ‘good feeling if only for a minute’ is why people take illegal drugs.
link to original post
what a horrible and terrible analogy
really bad
as far as 'then just talk to yourself' - guess what - I don't take orders from you -
and guess what else - calling the criticism 'unjustified' is part of the discussion
.
link to original post
Actually his analogy is spot on. There are all kinds of drugs, and not all of them are things that you put in your mouth and swallow or smoke.
there are surely many thousands who will be made homeless by the L.A. fires
many will no doubt recover fairly quickly and become productive
but many who are not so strong will not quickly recover
I for one, won't be talking down the ones who remain homeless for much longer
I'm not really sure that if it happened to me that I could quickly recover
.
Quote: lilredrooster.
there are surely many thousands who will be made homeless by the L.A. fires
many will no doubt recover fairly quickly and become productive
but many who are not so strong will not quickly recover
I for one, won't be talking down the ones who remain homeless for much longer
I'm not really sure that if it happened to me that I could quickly recover
.
link to original post
Adam Carolla addressed that subject. He's tired of the media claiming that because he lost his house him and others like him are now just like the homeless in Los Angeles. He says they are not because they're for the most part staying with friends and family and they're invited to do so because the last time they were there they did not steal the homeowners' jewelry and all the drugs out of their medicine cabinet to support their habit. He said people who lost their homes still have their bank accounts, still have their jobs, still have their lives. They're just missing their houses.
Quote: EvenBobQuote: lilredrooster.
there are surely many thousands who will be made homeless by the L.A. fires
many will no doubt recover fairly quickly and become productive
but many who are not so strong will not quickly recover
I for one, won't be talking down the ones who remain homeless for much longer
I'm not really sure that if it happened to me that I could quickly recover
.
link to original post
Adam Carolla addressed that subject. He's tired of the media claiming that because he lost his house him and others like him are now just like the homeless in Los Angeles. He says they are not because they're for the most part staying with friends and family and they're invited to do so because the last time they were there they did not steal the homeowners' jewelry and all the drugs out of their medicine cabinet to support their habit. He said people who lost their homes still have their bank accounts, still have their jobs, still have their lives. They're just missing their houses.
link to original post
what he's saying may apply to some but not to all
many who lost homes didn't have insurance because the State has a dispute with insurance companies
and they still owe on their mortgage
maybe 90% of their net worth was in their homes -
and many also lost their jobs - thousands of businesses were destroyed
one size doesn't fit all
your problem is that the simulation that engineered your existence didn't program you to have any empathy with others less fortunate than you
.
Quote: lilredroosterQuote: EvenBobQuote: lilredrooster.
there are surely many thousands who will be made homeless by the L.A. fires
many will no doubt recover fairly quickly and become productive
but many who are not so strong will not quickly recover
I for one, won't be talking down the ones who remain homeless for much longer
I'm not really sure that if it happened to me that I could quickly recover
.
link to original post
Adam Carolla addressed that subject. He's tired of the media claiming that because he lost his house him and others like him are now just like the homeless in Los Angeles. He says they are not because they're for the most part staying with friends and family and they're invited to do so because the last time they were there they did not steal the homeowners' jewelry and all the drugs out of their medicine cabinet to support their habit. He said people who lost their homes still have their bank accounts, still have their jobs, still have their lives. They're just missing their houses.
link to original post
what he's saying may apply to some but not to all
one size doesn't fit all
your problem is that the simulation that engineered your existence didn't program you to have any empathy with others less fortunate than you
.
link to original post
I just love how people do not understand the simulation at all. It doesn't program anybody to do anything, it is something that was set in motion and does anything it wants. Whether you have something or don't have something has nothing to do with how you were so-called programmed.
Quote: EvenBobI just love how people do not understand
I just love people who constantly flap their gums in the belief that they have great knowledge and insight into a great many things
when in reality they have very little to say that is worth listening to
AS IF anybody on the planet who is reasonably coherent actually values your Simulation rubbish
I made a bad mistake even reading your posts or bothering to respond - it won't happen again - I'd rather read random posts on subjects I could care less about on Tik Tok or Reddit
.
Quote: lilredroosterQuote: EvenBobQuote: lilredrooster.
there are surely many thousands who will be made homeless by the L.A. fires
many will no doubt recover fairly quickly and become productive
but many who are not so strong will not quickly recover
I for one, won't be talking down the ones who remain homeless for much longer
I'm not really sure that if it happened to me that I could quickly recover
.
link to original post
Adam Carolla addressed that subject. He's tired of the media claiming that because he lost his house him and others like him are now just like the homeless in Los Angeles. He says they are not because they're for the most part staying with friends and family and they're invited to do so because the last time they were there they did not steal the homeowners' jewelry and all the drugs out of their medicine cabinet to support their habit. He said people who lost their homes still have their bank accounts, still have their jobs, still have their lives. They're just missing their houses.
link to original post
what he's saying may apply to some but not to all
many who lost homes didn't have insurance because the State has a dispute with insurance companies
and they still owe on their mortgage
maybe 90% of their net worth was in their homes -
and many also lost their jobs - thousands of businesses were destroyed
one size doesn't fit all
your problem is that the simulation that engineered your existence didn't program you to have any empathy with others less fortunate than you
.
link to original post
Perhaps they never anticipated such a possibility.
Quote: lilredroosterQuote: EvenBobI just love how people do not understand
I just love people who constantly flap their gums in the belief that they have great knowledge and insight into a great many things
when in reality they have very little to say that is worth listening to
AS IF anybody on the planet who is reasonably coherent actually values your Simulation rubbish
I made a bad mistake even reading your posts or bothering to respond - it won't happen again - I'd rather read random posts on subjects I could care less about on Tik Tok or Reddit
.
link to original post
I'll have you know that in this version of the simulation my gums have teeth in them.
I spent a solid hour and a half distributing food to almost two dozen neighbors.
It is simply a great day to be alive
Quote: billryanA glorious day today. It was in the mid-sixties, but the sun was bright and warm. The sky was that perfect azure blue with visibility for miles.
I spent a solid hour and a half distributing food to almost two dozen neighbors.
It is simply a great day to be alive
link to original post
How much longer can you afford to support your neighbors in the trailer park, did you win the lottery? People have clubs that go dumpster diving behind grocery stores for food that is expired that the store throws away. Is that where you get the food you give your neighbors?
As I'm spending less each month than the account earns in dividends, the idea is for this to be self-perpetuating. It's all in the preparation.
Quote: billryanIt got below freezing again last night, but it wasn't horrible without the wind. It's just after 7 AM and light out, though the sun hasn't come up over the mountains. I picked up a dozen 1970s-era sleeping bags at a surplus auction yesterday that I'll be distributing today- if they are usable.
link to original post
This is how I picture the hobo camp in your backyard looks like. I bet it's pretty close.
Where have you been? That's a dream camp compared to the ones nowadays. Most of them are filled with trash, drug paraphernalia and very few are washing their clothing. You'll need to replace that campfire with broken beer bottles, a few crack pipes, and then scatter soiled underwear and tattered blankets mixed in with garbage everywhere to get the true picture of homeless camps nowadays.Quote: EvenBobQuote: billryanIt got below freezing again last night, but it wasn't horrible without the wind. It's just after 7 AM and light out, though the sun hasn't come up over the mountains. I picked up a dozen 1970s-era sleeping bags at a surplus auction yesterday that I'll be distributing today- if they are usable.
link to original post
This is how I picture the hobo camp in your backyard looks like. I bet it's pretty close.
link to original post
I was putting the food into the vehicular when I figured that I had to give him something, I mean how could I not after all I have been winning lately, so just as I peeled off a couple dollars he decided to ask me again if I could "spare any change so he could get his clothes washed," and I just handed it to him and said, Good luck.
That's the coldest temperature I can recall in the USofA.
Quote: AxelWolfWhere have you been? That's a dream camp compared to the ones nowadays. Most of them are filled with trash, drug paraphernalia and very few are washing their clothing. You'll need to replace that campfire with broken beer bottles, a few crack pipes, and then scatter soiled underwear and tattered blankets mixed in with garbage everywhere to get the true picture of homeless camps nowadays.Quote: EvenBobQuote: billryanIt got below freezing again last night, but it wasn't horrible without the wind. It's just after 7 AM and light out, though the sun hasn't come up over the mountains. I picked up a dozen 1970s-era sleeping bags at a surplus auction yesterday that I'll be distributing today- if they are usable.
link to original post
This is how I picture the hobo camp in your backyard looks like. I bet it's pretty close.
link to original post
link to original post
If that's true then why are you giving them sleeping bags and hand warmers. You should be out there every day policing the area, picking up trash picking up refuse taking it to the dump. Improve their living conditions don't just give them a bandage here and there. But it's much easier just to throw a bunch of stuff in a bag at them and go back into your house, I get it. Feel warm and fuzzy about yourself all day while they're still living in squalor.
Quote: EvenBobQuote: AxelWolfWhere have you been? That's a dream camp compared to the ones nowadays. Most of them are filled with trash, drug paraphernalia and very few are washing their clothing. You'll need to replace that campfire with broken beer bottles, a few crack pipes, and then scatter soiled underwear and tattered blankets mixed in with garbage everywhere to get the true picture of homeless camps nowadays.Quote: EvenBobQuote: billryanIt got below freezing again last night, but it wasn't horrible without the wind. It's just after 7 AM and light out, though the sun hasn't come up over the mountains. I picked up a dozen 1970s-era sleeping bags at a surplus auction yesterday that I'll be distributing today- if they are usable.
link to original post
This is how I picture the hobo camp in your backyard looks like. I bet it's pretty close.
link to original post
link to original post
If that's true then why are you giving them sleeping bags and hand warmers. You should be out there every day policing the area, picking up trash picking up refuse taking it to the dump. Improve their living conditions don't just give them a bandage here and there. But it's much easier just to throw a bunch of stuff in a bag at them and go back into your house, I get it. Feel warm and fuzzy about yourself all day while they're still living in squalor.
link to original post
Day Drinking?
If anyone wants to see how the homeless live in Tucson, there are hundreds of videos on youtube. There is a community of a few dozen living in The Hundred Acre Woods, and multiple camps along the dry river beds. Police here tolerate the homeless, but if garbage mounts up, they shut them down pretty quickly. My observation is most homeless don't want to live in garbage and vermin and will keep their space up if they aren't constantly chased away. After a fire broke out in a tent in the woods behind the church, the others have cleaned their areas and established firebreaks, cleaning the woods of fuel.
Quote: billryanQuote: EvenBobQuote: AxelWolfWhere have you been? That's a dream camp compared to the ones nowadays. Most of them are filled with trash, drug paraphernalia and very few are washing their clothing. You'll need to replace that campfire with broken beer bottles, a few crack pipes, and then scatter soiled underwear and tattered blankets mixed in with garbage everywhere to get the true picture of homeless camps nowadays.Quote: EvenBobQuote: billryanIt got below freezing again last night, but it wasn't horrible without the wind. It's just after 7 AM and light out, though the sun hasn't come up over the mountains. I picked up a dozen 1970s-era sleeping bags at a surplus auction yesterday that I'll be distributing today- if they are usable.
link to original post
This is how I picture the hobo camp in your backyard looks like. I bet it's pretty close.
link to original post
link to original post
If that's true then why are you giving them sleeping bags and hand warmers. You should be out there every day policing the area, picking up trash picking up refuse taking it to the dump. Improve their living conditions don't just give them a bandage here and there. But it's much easier just to throw a bunch of stuff in a bag at them and go back into your house, I get it. Feel warm and fuzzy about yourself all day while they're still living in squalor.
link to original post
Day Drinking?
If anyone wants to see how the homeless live in Tucson, there are hundreds of videos on youtube. There is a community of a few dozen living in The Hundred Acre Woods, and multiple camps along the dry river beds. Police here tolerate the homeless, but if garbage mounts up, they shut them down pretty quickly. My observation is most homeless don't want to live in garbage and vermin and will keep their space up if they aren't constantly chased away. After a fire broke out in a tent in the woods behind the church, the others have cleaned their areas and established firebreaks, cleaning the woods of fuel.
link to original post
So I asked you why you're not out there every day cleaning up and your reply is, day drinking? Maybe getting out there and putting your back into it would help you with that. Drinking in the daytime is not a good thing, always leads to bigger problems.
It's very true, while it may not be the rule, but it seems to be the norm. I have just had too many bad experiences with street/homeless/riffraff people over the years, so I now avoid them as much as possible, and usually just say NO. On rare occasions, I might give someone homeless a few bucks.Quote: EvenBobQuote: AxelWolfWhere have you been? That's a dream camp compared to the ones nowadays. Most of them are filled with trash, drug paraphernalia and very few are washing their clothing. You'll need to replace that campfire with broken beer bottles, a few crack pipes, and then scatter soiled underwear and tattered blankets mixed in with garbage everywhere to get the true picture of homeless camps nowadays.Quote: EvenBobQuote: billryanIt got below freezing again last night, but it wasn't horrible without the wind. It's just after 7 AM and light out, though the sun hasn't come up over the mountains. I picked up a dozen 1970s-era sleeping bags at a surplus auction yesterday that I'll be distributing today- if they are usable.
link to original post
This is how I picture the hobo camp in your backyard looks like. I bet it's pretty close.
link to original post
link to original post
If that's true then why are you giving them sleeping bags and hand warmers. You should be out there every day policing the area, picking up trash picking up refuse taking it to the dump. Improve their living conditions don't just give them a bandage here and there. But it's much easier just to throw a bunch of stuff in a bag at them and go back into your house, I get it. Feel warm and fuzzy about yourself all day while they're still living in squalor.
link to original post
I will stick to helping people who can use some help temporarily and most likely parlay that into something meaningful I may only ask that they do the same for someone else in the future.
Whatever the case, Bill is helping people in his own way and that shouldn't be villainized, perhaps this is a stepping stone to something else.
Quote: AxelWolfIt's very true, while it may not be the rule, but it seems to be the norm. I have just had too many bad experiences with street/homeless/riffraff people over the years, so I now avoid them as much as possible, and usually just say NO. On rare occasions, I might give someone homeless a few bucks.
I will stick to helping people who can use some help temporarily and most likely parlay that into something meaningful I may only ask that they do the same for someone else in the future Whatever the case, Bill is helping people in his own way and that shouldn't be villainized, perhaps this is a stepping stone to something else.
link to original post
When I was in Vegas I would get comp drinks and I would always get vodka on the rocks and because I never drank when I was playing roulette I would give the drink to a homeless person on Fremont Street downtown. This always made them very happy and I always felt good about it. I guess I could have given them a Hostess Twinkie or a pack of gum but the vodka really made them seem happy, so I went with that.
But I guess back then somehow those homeless trusted that you weren’t trying to poison or drug them.
Social workers tend to divide the homeless population into these categories:
Drug addicts
Hard-core alcoholics
mentally Ill; i.e., highly dysfunctional
Socially maladjusted
The social workers concentrate their resources on the socially maladjusted, because they are more likely to be redeemable, but the great majority of homeless are drug addicted, alcoholic or mentally ill. The socially maladjusted tend to bond with each other and shun the addicts, alcoholics and crazies.
But one thing that surprised me: There is a high frequency of theft among the homeless: if a homeless person falls asleep with his possessions in a pack nearby, the pack will be ransacked and his 'valuable' possessions lost. They must constantly guard against theft.
I would assume that some of the goodies that billryan is distributing are being stolen, sometimes with force, by other homeless people. It's the law of the jungle.
I think it is both sad and pathetic that Bob is allowed to crap all over this but it's part for the moderation.
Sounds about right.Quote: gordonm888I gained some first hand knowledge of homeless people ages ago when a relative went homeless.
Social workers tend to divide the homeless population into these categories:
Drug addicts
Hard-core alcoholics
mentally Ill; i.e., highly dysfunctional
Socially maladjusted
The social workers concentrate their resources on the socially maladjusted, because they are more likely to be redeemable, but the great majority of homeless are drug addicted, alcoholic or mentally ill. The socially maladjusted tend to bond with each other and shun the addicts, alcoholics and crazies.
But one thing that surprised me: There is a high frequency of theft among the homeless: if a homeless person falls asleep with his possessions in a pack nearby, the pack will be ransacked and his 'valuable' possessions lost. They must constantly guard against theft.
I would assume that some of the goodies that billryan is distributing are being stolen, sometimes with force, by other homeless people. It's the law of the jungle.
link to original post
And crime. The apartment complexes in Vegas near the heavily populated homeless camps are having their mailboxes broken into regularly along with other various problems..Quote: billryanIt's why they congregate into packs. There is strength and protection in numbers.
link to original post
Properties near camps are hard to sell devalued and insurance rates go up.
Camps should be designated on the far outskirts of town, panhndiling.and loitering should be illegal as well.
People won't seek help if they can have everything given to them on the streets. While I do believe you are doing a good thing i also you are also contributing to the problem.
Quote: gordonm888I gained some first hand knowledge of homeless people ages ago when a relative went homeless.
Social workers tend to divide the homeless population into these categories:
Drug addicts
Hard-core alcoholics
mentally Ill; i.e., highly dysfunctional
Socially maladjusted
The social workers concentrate their resources on the socially maladjusted, because they are more likely to be redeemable, but the great majority of homeless are drug addicted, alcoholic or mentally ill. The socially maladjusted tend to bond with each other and shun the addicts, alcoholics and crazies.
But one thing that surprised me: There is a high frequency of theft among the homeless: if a homeless person falls asleep with his possessions in a pack nearby, the pack will be ransacked and his 'valuable' possessions lost. They must constantly guard against theft.
I would assume that some of the goodies that billryan is distributing are being stolen, sometimes with force, by other homeless people. It's the law of the jungle.
link to original post
There's a YouTube channel that has this guy who gets contributions from people who watch the channel and he buys things for homeless people and makes videos of him distributing it. He's out west somewhere in California or Arizona where he can do this year round. He'll approach a homeless guy and ask him what he needs then he'll take him to the store and buy him a new tent, a new sleeping bag, new shoes socks couple pairs of pants and shirts, a poncho a hat sunglasses. A cooking stove and fuel, tons of food, and give it all to the guy hundreds of dollars worth.
Quite often he has repeat customers. A few months later he'll see the same person and all the stuff he gave them is gone because it got stolen. And the guy is right back where he was. Obviously this YouTuber thinks he's doing a great service and all the people sending him money think likewise but all he's doing is empowering the guy to remain homeless. Which from my experience is right where he wants to be anyway. This isn't like the Hoovervilles and the hobo camps of the 1930s during the Depression where people were truly down on their luck and there was almost no substance abuse involved. The vast majority of homeless now are drunks and drug addicts like it says in the post above and they like it that way. They like living in an area of the country where they can sleep outside year round and get handouts and Welfare and continue the lifestyle. They have no desire to get a job, they love getting up at 10:00 a.m. and laying around the whole day. I saw this again and again and again when I lived in Santa Barbara and things haven't changed. It's why I left that state 40 years ago and I've never been back.
Quote: billryanIt's why they congregate into packs. There is strength and protection in numbers.
I think it is both sad and pathetic that Bob is allowed to crap all over this but it's part for the moderation.
link to original post
I have a totally different opinion than you do about how to deal with the homeless, too bad you don't like somebody who feels differently than you do. You obviously think of yourself as some kind of hero but I can guarantee you the people who you give stuff to think that people who give them things are chumps. They may act all grateful and thankful but they really think anybody who gives them something is a chump. I know this because I used to do it 40 years ago. I owned the bar in the bad part of town where all the homeless people lived on the street and I got to know them and sometimes I would give some of them free drinks or make them a sandwich. One Christmas I even had a big meal catered at my house and had 8 or 10 of them over and served drinks and we all had a great time. I was stupid enough to think that they were all my buddies and they were really grateful but I slowly learned that they thought I was a giant chump who was an easy mark for them to get freebies. So I eventually quit doing it and this is where I get my attitude from. Most of these people are crooks and super lazy who don't want to work. In my defense I was only 30 years old at that time and had no experience at all with this type of people. You live and you learn as they used to say.
God loves the homeless, as he keeps making so many of them
. Some organization must have been handing out movers' blankets in the park as some people were wearing them as blankets, others had made them into ponchos,A- frames, or in some cases, had put together shelter halves.
God doesn't love the homeless, that's exactly why he made them homeless 😊Quote: billryanIt is a much colder night than last night. I returned home to pick up some extra blankets and hats. Lots more people on the streets compared to last night. It seems to go in cycles. I'm debating if I'll return tonight, although I'm running low on food and my next shipment is ten days away.
God loves the homeless, as he keeps making so many of them
. Some organization must have been handing out movers' blankets in the park as some people were wearing them as blankets, others had made them into ponchos,A- frames, or in some cases, had put together shelter halves.
link to original post
Quote: AxelWolfGod doesn't love the homeless, that's exactly why he made them homeless 😊Quote: billryanIt is a much colder night than last night. I returned home to pick up some extra blankets and hats. Lots more people on the streets compared to last night. It seems to go in cycles. I'm debating if I'll return tonight, although I'm running low on food and my next shipment is ten days away.
God loves the homeless, as he keeps making so many of them
. Some organization must have been handing out movers' blankets in the park as some people were wearing them as blankets, others had made them into ponchos,A- frames, or in some cases, had put together shelter halves.
link to original post
link to original post
Thats ignorant.
Quote: billryanQuote: AxelWolfGod doesn't love the homeless, that's exactly why he made them homeless 😊Quote: billryanIt is a much colder night than last night. I returned home to pick up some extra blankets and hats. Lots more people on the streets compared to last night. It seems to go in cycles. I'm debating if I'll return tonight, although I'm running low on food and my next shipment is ten days away.
God loves the homeless, as he keeps making so many of them
. Some organization must have been handing out movers' blankets in the park as some people were wearing them as blankets, others had made them into ponchos,A- frames, or in some cases, had put together shelter halves.
link to original post
link to original post
Thats ignorant.
link to original post
God is actually rewarding them because he has people like you giving them free stuff all the time so they can keep their lifestyle going. How long do you think they'd remain homeless if people stop giving them crap all the time. I can guarantee you they wouldn't be homeless very long they'd move on to find something else. I know exactly how these people think cuz I dealt with them every day for 3 years. We are just chumps to them that they can live off of.
