So you're homeless? Do I look like I give a f....

from JoeUser Forums
Near to my office we have quite a few homeless people. This is quite evident from the amount of Big Issue sellers that line the streets. On a 750m walk from said office to where I park my car there is usually 5 of them, sometimes 6! Now if I wanted to buy a Big Issue I would buy from the first one wouldn’t I? So why do I have to suffer all the others trying to sell me one!! Do you get the Big Issue in America? I am sure you do so I won’t bother explaining what it is.

Anyway, homeless people. I have nothing against them, they have fallen on hard times and that can happen to any of us but lets get one thing straight, I don’t owe you a bloody thing!! The world does not owe you anything! If you want a nice house and money bloody go out and get a job like the rest of us! And don’t give me any of the “I left school with no qualifications” crap because I left school with no qualifications and it has never done me any harm! And when I say I don’t smoke when you try to bum a fag off of me guess what? I don’t damn well smoke! You can’t cut all the sarcasm because how am I meant to give you a cig when I have none you idiot! And no if I did smoke you wouldn’t get any from me but at least you could be sarcastic then.

So why the sudden outburst against the homeless? It all started yesterday when my wife met me from work. She usually waits for me down by a well known supermarket in town but yesterday she was at my office and the reason? One of the bums had been kicked out of the shop for being drunk and for being abusive to shoppers. Fair reason for being kicked out of the store if you ask me but it didn’t stop there. Instead of going on his way and trying to get his Special Brew from elsewhere he stood in front of the store and yelled abuse at it, he then stopped people walking by and yelled at them and yes my wife was one of them. Scared the crap out of her he did, she was almost crying when I met her. And what did the stupid arse do for an encore? He walked past a parked car and smashed the window in. And we wonder why we were kicked out of the shop?! He then walked off into the distance shouting at people and kicking bins over etc…

Tonight on the way to the car there was a commotion outside the same store. This time it was not one twat making trouble but 6 of them having a fight over a can of drink! So society should help them but they won’t help themselves?! They are entitled to money each week from the government which they spend on booze and then I am meant to supplement that with money from my pocket so you can go and get “food” Well it aint never gonna happen bud!

I have just spent 3 years in South Africa. Over there they don’t have state handouts, if they don’t work they don’t get money, they don’t have council houses and they don’t get any help, them I feel sorry for, them I helped! And no I don’t consider selling the Big Issue as any great shakes, standing around on a corner selling a crap publication that no one ever reads is not in my book worthy of anything. You could argue that at least they are doing something yeah well I don’t see it like that, it is a cop out, it is a “look give me money I am doing something!” ploy when in fact they do squat!

This is of course only my opinion and I know loads of people feel differently, loads of people feel the same but are too ashamed to admit it and loads feel exactly like I do and are frowned upon by the rest of society because we admit how we really feel. And yes I do know that come the revolution I will be the first against the wall but at least I can go happy in the knowledge that I worked for what I have and worked damn bloody hard and you know what? I am proud of that, everything we own is ours, we are not lucky that we have stuff we got it because of sheer bloody hard work and none of it, not a single bit of it is going to the damn Big Issue or the idiots fighting over beer, ever!!!

Good to share isn’t it ;).
blogging
3,587 views 13 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
It's even worse when you realize they don't want work at all. When I see a "will work for food" sign, if I have extra money, I manufacture work (if I have reservations about having the guy near my home I may offer to drive to a "you wash it" car wash and let him wash my car while I enjoy a nice cold one in the shade (and heck, if he does a good job, I'm not averse to giving him a nice cold one either...a good way to show that there are rewards for honest work). By the way, I'm not being sexist when I say "him": I don't pick up female beggars. Too much opportunity for false accusations there.

I'm sorry to hear about your experience.
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
How lovely to see this in the featured section. I'm sorry your wife was so scared. As a recent homeless person and on behalf of many other homeless people, thank you for not judging all homeless people by a few you have seen. Most homeless people are not on any kind of assistance and many are very unaware of the fact they could probably get on SSI. Just think, if someone went around and talked to these people, helped them get on assistance, they might be off the streets. What a wonderful thought.
Siege of Centauri
Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
What is the big issue?
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
It's a publication created by a homeless charity with news, current affairs, music and culture articles that homeless people are licenced to sell and retain some of the money made.

I understand the point of the article and can sympathise - I would be feeling much like you if my wife suffered the same. There are genuine homeless out there on the streets and these people I do feel sorry for. The main problem that I find in England is that there are too many "professional" beggars, who aren't genuinely homeless. Hell, I've even seen them checking their mobile phones for text messages and even using a bank card to withdraw cash once!

These are the people that are the real problem, and the reason why I no longer give cash to people on the street. It's a sorry state of affairs, but relects the general degradation of British society, and is one of the key reasons I'm emigrating. Some of these people should go and see the horribly disfigured and scarred beggars outside Chatuchat market in Bangkok - then they would think twice ... though I suspect they wouldn't even notice they existed!
Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
As with any grouping, you are going to get those who abuse the system. They are there in any walk of life, from government down to the homeless. Its difficult not to stereotype, as the ones who stick in your memory are normally the ones who have done the most shocking things.
Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
This was a great article, and I totally see where you're coming from, we have lots of Big Issue sellers in Manchester and you have to walk past loads of them and continually say I've just bought one of the guy I passed 2mins ago. Most of the time they look at you like you're telling porkies anyway! I'm sorry your wife got scared, there is no need for that behaviour and I would of been exactly the same in that situation, these people maybe going through hard times but thats no need to lose complete human decency.
Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top

I once saw a man with a "will work for food" sign on a road near my house

hehe...there is this guy that I see *every time* I take this certain exit.  He holds a well made, easy to read sign that says (wait for it.............) "Will stay sober for food"   Can you believe that?  What a great reason to give somebody a handout!  They will stay sober!  Yay!

Getting people off the street and onto welfare is not solving the problem.  They need to get off the street and into some sort of work.

Reply #8 from JoeUser Forums Top
There *are* most definitely professional beggars. About once a week, while Im stood at the tram stop on the way home from work, this one girl comes around and asks me for cash. When I dont give her any, she gives me a sarcastic remark and walks off in a huff. Every single godamn week
Reply #9 from JoeUser Forums Top

Here's where the debate really begins: Are most homeless people victims of circumstance or just sad losers of society?  I would argue the latter.  Most homeless people are either mentally ill or addicted to drugs/alcohol. 

We had a debate like this awihle back and I provided countless statistics to research on the homeless. While there are some homeless people who are legitimate down on their luck, they are the exception, not the norm.

Reply #10 from JoeUser Forums Top
I happen to do volunteer work with the homeless and you are not seeing the faces that I see, sure there are many who are just lazy but far from the majority. I would say that Drug and Alcohol abuse are the main problems, only about 30% have a Mental illness. Can you imagine what it is like to try and find a job when you have no address and no phone number for prospective employers to call you if they are interested. Until they have a place to live they will never be able to break the cycle they are caught up in. Can you imagine what it is like to come home from a hard days work, when you can find a days work, in the middle of a Canadian winter to crawl into you comfy spot under a bridge to try and rest up for another day of work. There is no hot shower and warm bed for these people. Even trying to get assistance is dificult if you do not have a residence. One of the writers on this thread mentioned just taking his proof of address to the Church for a handout, they lack this basic human right. I have found that if you treat a person with respect they will learn to respect themselves and others. That's all I have to say.
Reply #11 from JoeUser Forums Top
Horatio is justified in his horn blowing; yet it says something about the state of the nation's neglect with respect to problems at home. These homeless need government projects, both work and rehabilitation. Those, like the one in this illustration, require civilian or military boot camp.
Reply #12 from JoeUser Forums Top
schizo1988 - what an insightful comment! It is very true. In order to get food at most of the food banks, you need proof of residence. During my homeless time,after a lovely man let us stay in one of his empty apartments, there was a total of seven of us that banded together to work daily and try to get enough money to get a place of our own. The only reason I was able to get food was because I had put a phone in the apartment where we were staying so I had that as a proof of residence. My daughter was ill at the time and you will never know how thankful I was for that carpeted floor for her to lie on.
Reply #13 from JoeUser Forums Top
Here's where the debate really begins: Are most homeless people victims of circumstance or just sad losers of society? I would argue the latter. Most homeless people are either mentally ill or addicted to drugs/alcohol.


Menal Illness is just that, an illness. A disease. Alcoholism and other Drug dependencies are defined by the AMA as diseases. Link

So you are explicitly identifying sick people as the sad losers of society, and stating that these losers are the majority. Diseases and illnesses do not come about from poor life choices. No one chooses to be schizophrenic. I realize it's a stretch to call many crackheads 'victims' of a disease; many have brought this damage onto themselves. But they are indeed sick whether self inflicted or not, and the onus is on others to argue the AMA's diagnosis, not me. A less hasty judgment of these people would reveal that many have pre-existing conditions such as fetal aclohol symndrome, sexual abuse, and a lot of nasty stuff most wouldn't dream of that are out of their control which precipitated their slide down skid row.

I strongly agree that most of the homeless are mentally ill or suffering from substance abuse, I just disagree with your characterization of the sickest and most vulnerable members of our society as sad losers.