I've never seen so many homeless people.

[Mighty Thor]

This weekend my wife and I went to Jack and Box for breakfast and a homeless man asked us for any spare change. I gave him a dollar.

After I stopped by a gas station to gas up our car and a homeless man asked me for any change. I told him, sorry I put it all in gas. Then we went straight to Walmart and this young lady asked if we had any spare change. I said sorry, nope. I was going to use debit to pay for my stuff.

Then we went to the Public Library so my wife could checkout audiobooks because she likes to listen to them while driving to work. There were like 3 to 4 homeless people sitting on the corner staring at people that passes by and there's about 2 homeless people outside the library panhandling. Security had to ask them to leave.

I swear I have never seen so many homeless people. I practically grew up in my neighborhood. Corona, Calif. used to be a community for low-middle income people in the 80's. Rent was cheap, and houses were cheap. Back then you can buy a 3-bedroom house for 45k. There were no jobs in town though other than restaurants, gas stations and city jobs. You have to travel 30 miles west or east to get a decent paying job.

By the 90's a decent looking house was now 250-300k. Corona was becoming a bed-town community for people who work in Orange County and LA. People who were low-middle class were being pushed down to the barrios, which is where my wife and I are.

By the new millenia houses were up to 570-700k, some are even in the 1.2 mil category and they are only 4 to 5 bedroom houses with 2000-3000sqft. to them. Our rent went from 400/month in the late 90's to over 900/month to today and this is the 3rd cheapest apartments around in my town.

To top it all off, wages hasn't change. So I yeah, I see why there's a lot of homeless people in my neighborhood. I don't hesitant anymore to give them money if they ask me. What they do with my money is up to them. I just hope they don't smoke it or sniff it away. This weekend I'm donating a box of Ramen Noodles and Krotons (how I got a box of Krotons is beyong me) to the shelter.

[flyfrito_SS]

Re: I've never seen so many homeless people.

When I was in Philly, there was all of these signs saying dont give any money to the homeless, because it just continues their lifestyle. I dont know if I agree completley, but it was interesting.

[Phate]

Re: I've never seen so many homeless people.

Studies show that the average homeless person has an income of 30k a year. Dont know how the f#$% thats possible, or where it goes, but just something to think about.

[av6xperience]

Re: I've never seen so many homeless people.

my sister and i plan on going downtown sometime and giving out sandwiches and such to any homeless people. it always makes you feel good doing good deeds and such

[Fbody3400]

Re: I've never seen so many homeless people.

how many homeless people actually save any sort of that money? I was watching a special on CNBC or one of those channels. It was an in-depth look at the street teens of portland. It was incredible, so many homeless kids and 100s more were coming in monthly. The only time they saved the money is when the had to by a bus ticket to get back to their parents house.

I think your a kind person for giving them your spare change or a dollar, but in all honestly i can't see it going anywhere besides beer, weed, or some other drug. Maybe i'm just a close minded *******, or maybe its just a harsh reality.

[av6xperience]

Re: I've never seen so many homeless people.

thats why i prefer giving out actual food but ill still give out money if im feelin good

[Shirl]

Re: I've never seen so many homeless people.

Hey Ed, you got $100 for me? ;) Seriously, though, those people usually "want" to live like that. There are bums where I live too, and they were/are people with decent jobs... it's the wackiest thing. God, one guy smells so bad, you can't get within 20 feet of him without feeling like your going to throw up from the odor. This guy was a custodian at one of the elementary schools in town for many years. A few years back, he wasn't paying his water bill, so the water department shut his water off for several months... and HE DIDN'T EVEN CARE! The kids in town call him "hydro".

As for the beggars, they usually use the cash for booze or drugs. Next time offer them food (or a job) and see if they take it.

Even worse, there was this homeless idiot in a nearby town who use to harrass people at the local "public library". He stunk the high heavens and was seedy looking too. The workers there would kick him out because he would just sit there staring at people all day long and stink the place up.... until finally HE SUED the town. He ended up winning some ridiculous settlement of like $650,000. Guess what? He's still homeless and looking to sue others (there was another story on him a few months ago).

[vanbibber]

Re: I've never seen so many homeless people.

when it comes to beggars...

i use my discresion(sp?) i can with in 2 minutes of talking to someone tell wether they are a dirt bag liar or telling me the truth. most of the time they are liars. the last time i had this happen was at a gas station near my work. i was on the way in and there was a black dude sitting outside talking to someone who had just came out of the gas station. i gave him a glance and listened in on his bogus story about how he had just lost his wallet and needed some gas money to get to cincy. the person felt bad and gave the guy 5 bucks. by this point i could already tell the mother****er was going to hit me up next on my way out. so i went inside got what i needed and asked the clerk how long he had been out there. she said about an hour and that he had hit up everyone who came through so far. i LOL'd and started out the door. and of course here he came. he started with...

him-hey man god bless you man, my car just ran out of gas on the highway and i forgot my wallet in tippcity, could you help me out?

me- ummm LOL nope.

him- come on man i know you got some extra cash driving that nice comero.

me- yeah i do BUT 1) its a trans am and 2) you aint getting a damn dime from me.

him- oh its liek that? well **** you then you ****ing a**hole! i dont want your ****ing money anyways.

me- good because i didnt plan on giving you any you prick.

about this time the cops came and arrested him. apparently he had sat in front of every business in the area and pulled the same thing. i waited long enough to watch him get cuffed and stuffed. drove by the cop car and gave him a nice byebye wave.

i dont feel sorry for people like that one bit. as stated before these people make quite a bit of money off of this stuff. and as stated most of them smoke or drink that money away. i will never feel sorry for a person who doesnt want better for theirselves.

the only time ive ever given money to homeless people are if i can tell that they have really had a tragic thing happen(like a family that house burns down or a homeless war vet that screwed by the system..ive come across many of these living in the city of dayton and i just flat out feel sorry for these people because all the ones ive come across are really nice people and try so hard to better theirselves but cant seem to catch a break) other than that, i refuse to feel bad for crackheads needing a fix,drunks who need a drink and etc.

[Fireball27]

Re: I've never seen so many homeless people.

Theres this really good Taqueria downtown I used to go to alot. It was so annoying tho because there were always bucket loads of bums around asking for money. Even worse though was when they'd come into the restaurant to fish threw the garbage for scraps. The place was tiny and the smell made you want to puke

[ahank1]

Re: I've never seen so many homeless people.

oh sorry i thought you were talking about arizona lol

[96RS Alex]

Re: I've never seen so many homeless people.

I had my encounters with bums and "needy" people as well.

One quick story I have was about a particular skinny black guy in his late 30's who arrived outside my building with crutches where I used to work and he was always on time to start his begging routine right around 12 noon when the lunch truck stopped by. He knew we had money to blow for eats and did not hesitate to ask each employee for a "charitable" contribution.

Well I was fed up by his constant everyday routine and warned him to stay away from me if he wanted money. As I sat in my Camaro and ate my brown bag lunch, he approached me for the final time and asked for a donation. I flipped and threatened to kick his a$$ to holy hell or have the cops haul his scrawny self away for harrassment. The hot next second he dropped his crutches and ran away like an olympic sprinter, what a scammer I realized. Anyway, I had a good hysterical laugh but I almost choked on my chicken sandwich watching him do the 100 meter dash.

Seriously, I wish all communities would accelerate a voucher/food coupon program for "poor" people that they can cash out and help themselves with basic needs to live and not abuse it over alcohol or a dirty needle to shoot up.

[Camaro Dom]

Re: I've never seen so many homeless people.

whenever i go downtown, i do two things, put all my money and credit cards in my front pocket and i carry $40 of "mugging money" (so they get money, they're happy and dont shoot me) and i carry mcdonalds cards. that way i can give to needy people w/o supporting a habit. i know two people off the top of my head that are well on their way to being homeless. the one guy is an alcoholic who's retardedly stupid, another is a kid about my age who grew up in a Louisville ghetto, moved up to MI, and right now just works to buy food and drugs while he lives with the alcoholic. its really sad. i see him every now and again (long story how i know those two) and i always encourage him to go back and get his GED and to start looking for a career, not a job. i keep trying to tell him how much mechanics or construction workers make... its like talking to a wall. i just feel bad.

[Fireball27]

Re: I've never seen so many homeless people.

whenever i go downtown, i do two things, put all my money and credit cards in my front pocket and i carry $40 of "mugging money" (so they get money, they're happy and dont shoot me) and i carry mcdonalds cards. that way i can give to needy people w/o supporting a habit. i know two people off the top of my head that are well on their way to being homeless. the one guy is an alcoholic who's retardedly stupid, another is a kid about my age who grew up in a Louisville ghetto, moved up to MI, and right now just works to buy food and drugs while he lives with the alcoholic. its really sad. i see him every now and again (long story how i know those two) and i always encourage him to go back and get his GED and to start looking for a career, not a job. i keep trying to tell him how much mechanics or construction workers make... its like talking to a wall. i just feel bad.

Don't. Its survival of the fittest at work (and people say that its dead... HA).

[SpeedingFirebird]

Re: I've never seen so many homeless people.

The hot next second he dropped his crutches and ran away like an olympic sprinter, what a scammer I realized.

I rememeber a piece on the NYC news a while back (10 years maybe), and they were talking about professional bums. These people had homes but would dress up like homeless people and take others money for a living.

Since then, I give nothing to nobody. Well, except the guy playing bagpipes in the subway. Gotta love the bagpipes.

[RicE-ter]

Re: I've never seen so many homeless people.

him- oh its liek that? well **** you then you ****ing a**hole! i dont want your ****ing money anyways.

me- good because i didnt plan on giving you any you prick.

about this time the cops came and arrested him. apparently he had sat in front of every business in the area and pulled the same thing. i waited long enough to watch him get cuffed and stuffed. drove by the cop car and gave him a nice byebye wave.

lol nice. wonder how many people gave him money and how much :stp: ;) i dont give out money either, small temporary fix and sometimes cant tell if its a scam.