Here, have a cookie.

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Just a few weeks ago my GF tried to give a perfectly good hamburger to a homeless guy in Chinatown (DC).

His reply: "Thanks buddy, but I don't take food from nobody out of principle. God bless you!"

The GF and I walked away in disgust.

And just last week, a homeless woman was hanging out near a bus stop and asked my GF for $1.35 bus fare. My GF relented. Fast forward about 15 minutes, we're walking down the street, and the same woman had moved to a different bus stop pulling the same trick.

My oh my, what the welfare state has created! Brace yourself for more of it!

So what happened to the burger?!?

 

[RichardE]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Just a few weeks ago my GF tried to give a perfectly good hamburger to a homeless guy in Chinatown (DC).

His reply: "Thanks buddy, but I don't take food from nobody out of principle. God bless you!"

The GF and I walked away in disgust.

And just last week, a homeless woman was hanging out near a bus stop and asked my GF for $1.35 bus fare. My GF relented. Fast forward about 15 minutes, we're walking down the street, and the same woman had moved to a different bus stop pulling the same trick.

My oh my, what the welfare state has created! Brace yourself for more of it!

This has been going on since the dawn of time. Welfare states don't create this, its just people who create this.

We can pass some laws making it illegal to be homeless though. That'll get rid of em.

 

[Platypus]

You really don't know what you're talking about. A lot of vagrants are mentally disturbed either by drug usage/addiction or natural means...or fresh out of jail. Ever try landing for a job with a felony on your record? Where should the company send your W2 form to if you're truly homeless? These people couldn't hold a job even if they wanted to. How can you look at someone and know if they're disturbed or not? Do you know how completely overcrowded homeless shelters are? Try going for a job interview in the same clothes you've been wearing for months sans a shower since you were turned away from a shelter due to overcrowding.

Where do all the people living in the recently destroyed section 8 housing end up in Cambridge? Where do people who are addicted to crack and heroin end up once they've blown through everything they can sell?
Do you have lots of notoriously violent housing projects up there at Harvard?

SUMMARY: People with untreated psychiatric illnesses comprise one-third, or between 150,000 and 200,000 people, of the estimated 744,000 homeless population. The quality of life for these individuals is abysmal. Many are victimized regularly. One study found that 28 percent of homeless people with previous psychiatric hospitalizations obtained some food from garbage cans and 8 percent used garbage cans as a primary food source.

* The New York Times reported that in Berkeley, California, "on any given night there are 1,000 to 1,200 people sleeping on the streets. Half of them are deinstitutionalized mentally ill people. It?s like a mental ward on the streets."

E. Nieves. Fed Up, Berkeley Begins Crackdown on Homeless. New York Times, November 3, 1998, p. A19.

My sister, a triple certified special education teacher, spent a lot of time studying mental illness among the homeless and found that while a lot of them are disturbed, a lot of those who weren't mentally disturbed were either on their own due to being thrown out of their houses for being gay / leading alternate lifestyles or getting into trouble with drugs or the law.

There are always exceptions to the rule but it's grandiose to say that most homeless people just do it for fun or because they're lazy and that they should just change on the spot. I'm certainly not defending the bums here but rather being objective about the situation instead of furthering the gross generalizations that surround the homeless lifestyel.

 

[Robert Munch]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Just a few weeks ago my GF tried to give a perfectly good hamburger to a homeless guy in Chinatown (DC).

His reply: "Thanks buddy, but I don't take food from nobody out of principle. God bless you!"

The GF and I walked away in disgust.

And just last week, a homeless woman was hanging out near a bus stop and asked my GF for $1.35 bus fare. My GF relented. Fast forward about 15 minutes, we're walking down the street, and the same woman had moved to a different bus stop pulling the same trick.

My oh my, what the welfare state has created! Brace yourself for more of it!

i wouldn't blame the homeless guy for not taking the food, although it's pefectly untouched. People can be cruel and didn't want to take the chance of that possibility of it being tampered with.

 

[AlienCraft]

I don't waste food anymore. It's rare the person who is REALLY hungry.

I won't pull the wallet out either. That's just paranoia on my part, tho.
They get whatever change or bills I have in my pocket or hand at the moment.

or they get nothing.

 

[AccruedExpenditure]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: Platypus

Originally posted by: E equals MC2
99% of homeless fucks are useless and homeless

Thanks for the synopsis John Madden.

LOL!

ROTFLMAO

 

[Riceninja]

I've gotten so many people asking me for change to take the bus cuz their car broke down or something. Everytime I bust out a bus ticket they get all upset.

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: E equals MC2

Originally posted by: Platypus
Wide sweeping judgement always pays off :roll:

I've purchased meals for the vagrants around Chicago plenty of times. Sure there are those who obviously want booze but some people are genuinely hungry. Also keep in mind a large majority of them are mentally handicapped/disturbed...

I'd have to disagree with you here. I think the generalization is more correct than wrong here.

There are so many freakin' homeless wastes at Harvard Sq. in Cambridge. If you look at them, you can tell they're just lazy fucks with perfectly good health and working limbs.

One time my friend and I walked out of Bertucci's. My struggling college student friend had her leftover to go so she can save $$ for lunch next day. The bum came begging. She kindly gave her lunch up.

That smelly ass homeless bitch opened the bag like it's holding a winning lottery ticket inside, opened the box, touched the food and said, "WTF is this?", then refused.

She had to throw her lunch away. I was fvcking furious.

99% of homeless fucks are useless and homeless. Their complacency and begging became their life style. If there were truly a diligent person who had some shitty ass luck financially, you would NOT find that person begging on the streets.

I don't think you know as much about homeless people as you think you do.

QFMFT

 

[bobsmith1492]

A guy asked me for a dollar for a burger as I was leaving Burger King. I gave him a burger instead; seemed fine to me.

 

[Jugernot]

There was article on CNN a year or two ago about a woman who wasn't homeless, but would beg for money in NYC I think... she apparently made over 6 figures a year from begging. She didn't even make up excuses or anything, she just asked and people gave.

What a miserable human being.

Jugs

 

[AreaCode7O7]

I have never been turned down or received a rude response when giving food to someone who had a sign asking for food or money or work or help. I'm sure they're out there, and I'm sure that some of the people who received my food were more grateful because they'd be able to save the cash they get to use for booze/drugs/whatever, but I figure that the truly important thing is the attitude I'm bringing to the situation, not the attitude they're bringing. I think acts of kindness should come from your desire to be a better person even more than your desire to make the recipient a better person.

 

[AreaCode7O7]

Originally posted by: E equals MC2

Originally posted by: zinfamous

Originally posted by: E equals MC2

Originally posted by: Platypus

Originally posted by: E equals MC2

Originally posted by: Platypus
Wide sweeping judgement always pays off :roll:

I've purchased meals for the vagrants around Chicago plenty of times. Sure there are those who obviously want booze but some people are genuinely hungry. Also keep in mind a large majority of them are mentally handicapped/disturbed...

I'd have to disagree with you here. I think the generalization is more correct than wrong here.

There are so many freakin' homeless at Harvard Sq. in Cambridge. If you look at them, you can tell they're just lazy fucks with perfectly good health and working limbs.

One time my friend and I walked out of Bertucci's. My struggling college student friend had her leftover to go so she can save $$ for lunch next day. The bum came begging. She kindly gave her lunch up.

That smelly ass homeless bitch said, "WTF is this?", opened the bag and touched the food then refused.

She had to throw her lunch away.

99% of homeless fucks are useless and homeless. Their complacency and begging became their life style. If there were truly a diligent person who had some shitty ass luck financially, you would NOT find that person begging on the streets.

Comparing the homeless in a metropolis like Chicago to fucking Cambridge is a bit cavalier don't you think?

Come here and see how many of the bums are in perfectly good health.

99% of homeless fucks are useless and homeless

Thanks for the synopsis John Madden. Your last statement pretty much proves my point, no one in their right mind would willingly choose to live like the bums I see in Chicago unless they absolutely had to.

Yea? You mean to tell me if I got off the freaking Chicago airport, I would see a totally different breed of homeless people? I highly highly doubt this.

I phrased my words carefully citing 'more correct than wrong'. The majority of homeless fucks ARE lazy with perfectly good health. This is observed through my stay at Boston, NYC, Montreal and even Seoul, Korea.

I highly doubt Chicago is a magical place where the majority of homeless are as you had described it.

how do you define observe? You glanced at them, but know nothing of their lives or their situation?

you're an idiot.

How do I define observe? With my own eyes, year after year, seeing the same person. Not stuck a classroom and READING about them.

I wish I took one anthropology class so I become a know-it-all and call others idiots with my enlightenment. But then, why am I not surprised this is ATOT. The fools I see in Cambridge have been there for ages. It's to a point my GF recognize their face and their territories.

I have sympathy for those who are hard hit financially and try their best to come out of it- working double/triple shifts, cleaning library toilets and doing cheapass flea market yard sales.

Those were my parents who brought me to where I am today. They didn't fucking beg with their perfectly working health. If anything, they WORKED themselves to sickness.

Will Smith's character didn't beg in Pursuit of Happiness, because he was determined to WORK, even though he was literally stranded on the streets.

I'm just a know-it-all based on one Hollywood movie I saw- oops, sorry I was just mimicing your idiocy.

Will Smith's character in Pursuit of Happiness was an idiot because he preferred to take a non-paying job and gamble on the "big score" and live on the streets rather than pay his taxes (reason his accounts were frozen), get a min wage job and take proper care of his son. Inspiring movie and all, but the mom in that film was the one who made wise choices, not the dad.

Just for a footnote, it's possible to have stuff wrong with you that isn't visible, both in terms of physical and mental illnesses. Yeah, there's a crapload of druggies out there and there are plenty of people that just won't work, but some of the folks that may look fine really aren't.

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Just a few weeks ago my GF tried to give a perfectly good hamburger to a homeless guy in Chinatown (DC).

Originally posted by: bobsmith1492
A guy asked me for a dollar for a burger as I was leaving Burger King. I gave him a burger instead; seemed fine to me.

I didn't know so many people randomly carried burgers in the company of the homeless.

 

[feralkid]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Just a few weeks ago my GF tried to give a perfectly good hamburger to a homeless guy in Chinatown (DC).

His reply: "Thanks buddy, but I don't take food from nobody out of principle. God bless you!"

The GF and I walked away in disgust.

And just last week, a homeless woman was hanging out near a bus stop and asked my GF for $1.35 bus fare. My GF relented. Fast forward about 15 minutes, we're walking down the street, and the same woman had moved to a different bus stop pulling the same trick.

My oh my, what the welfare state has created! Brace yourself for more of it!

Huh? If these people received welfare, maybe they wouldn't have to beg in the street.

 

[her209]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: Platypus

Originally posted by: E equals MC2
99% of homeless fucks are useless and homeless

Thanks for the synopsis John Madden.

LOL!

Haha... I think John Madden would say something more along the lines of "Homeless people are homeless because they don't have homes."

 

[Geekbabe]

There's a lot of meaness in the world today, people beating and burning homeless people for sport, I don't blame them for refusing food products.

 

[abaez]

I live about two blocks from skid row in downtown l.a. - I'll have to agree that most times I've given homeless food they reject it. But a couple of times I've gone into Carl's or McDonald's with someone begging outside and given them a meal I bought.. they lit up like it was christmas. It's not much, but for those who appreciate it, it's a pretty good feeling.

 

[Cogman]

I wouldn't generalize all homeless people outright like that. I see no reason not to offer to buy them a meal, a blanket, I have even offered to show them to homeless shelters. Many have turned me down (Their loss, I can still feel good about at least trying to give assistance) but some do accept it.

Of course, giving anyone straight cash without any follow up is just dumb, because there are enough people out there that do use the money for unwise things that aren't helping their situation.

 

[QueBert]

I hear stories a lot about some asshat who gave a homeless person a burger or something and slipped a razor blade in it for "fun" if I was homeless I'm sure I'd love a burger but I would always wonder if the fuck who gave it to me did something to it.

I've given them food before and most of the time I was greeted with a warm smile and a "god bless you" Although one did tell me "sorry I don't eat meat" I dunno if they were lying but I laughed at the thought of a Homeless Vegetarian. I came across a homeless Vietnam Vet, he was a little gone in the head. He asked for money I offered him a few tacos, he said he wanted some Mad Dog 20/20. I dug his honesty so I went in the store bought him a bottle and gave it to him along with 4 tacos. I watched him eat 2 of the tacos in about 10 seconds.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wQRBDzogR4k

I know that Anandtech isn't on really friendly terms with Anime, but its VERY related

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Originally posted by: tenshodo13
Thats because they live on Change!! They can't survive on normal human food.

mmmm... shiny penny... shiny tasty penny... nom, nom, nom....

 

[thepd7]

Originally posted by: Jugernot
There was article on CNN a year or two ago about a woman who wasn't homeless, but would beg for money in NYC I think... she apparently made over 6 figures a year from begging. She didn't even make up excuses or anything, she just asked and people gave.

What a miserable human being.

Jugs

100k = $17/hour if she "worked" 16 hours a day EVERY day. Don't believe everything you see on TV, or at least get your facts straight.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: Deeko
Anyone siding with the bums in these situations has clearly never lived in a big city. After six years in Philly, the vast majority of panhandlers either A) does this as their job, is not homeless, and wore nicer clothes than me or B) is just looking for alcohol/drugs/cigarettes. Hey, once it's "their" money they can do with it what they please, but they're still flat out lying to you when they say they're a vietnam veteran looking for a warm meal.

i was down in center city and one guy said "wanna give me some change for alcohol? i don't care about food, i just want a drink!"

at least he was honest

 

[NoShangriLa]

Originally posted by: Platypus
Wide sweeping judgement always pays off :roll:

I've purchased meals for the vagrants around Chicago plenty of times. Sure there are those who obviously want booze but some people are genuinely hungry. Also keep in mind a large majority of them are mentally handicapped/disturbed...

:thumbsup:

 

[AbAbber2k]

Originally posted by: tenshodo13
Thats because they live on Change!! They can't survive on normal human food.

ChaaaAAAaaAAAAaange.....