Tried to Hire a Homeless Man Today

reply to post by onehuman


Your experience is Not in the slightest uncommon.

Before I continue I should mention that I have spent time homeless and on the streets. And when I was on the streets I would accept offers of work from PEOPLE I FELT I COULD TRUST!! I learned the hard way to carefully evaluate which offers I accepted due to working for 6 hours for a guy one time and then him telling me to F*** Off and get off his property when it came time to pay up! He also lived about ten miles from where I was staying at the time! This happens more than you'd like to think... and consequently I do NOT blame homeless people for being wary of what work they accept.

Now when I was homeless I had another homeless buddy I camped with and etc (we would both panhandle or etc and shared whatever we managed to make in a day with each other) I would take work whenever I felt there was a reasonable chance of ACTUALLY getting paid what they said they'd pay me, and yes I ALWAYS negotiated up front! My buddy on the other hand would NOT accept offers of work, and I didn't understand why until the day I got ran off the property of someone I just spent 6 hours breaking my back for with the expectation that I would be paid for my time!

Long story short, my buddy is still on the street and I have an apartment car and job now. Do I think its because I accepted the work? Absolutely not! BUT I think it did help make my time on the streets much shorter than it would have been otherwise.

In the future when seeking to hire homeless people I would recommend this approach.

First give them a dollar and say a kind word to them before even BRINGING UP any work you might have. By doing this you will tremendously up your credibility with them and it will buy you a little bit of trust. (Homeless people have EVERY REASON not to trusty you! Most people, especially city dwellers, can walk right past a homeless person and not even SEE them. Then there's the people that prey on the homeless and poor... and there is A LOT of them!)

Next tell them what you are willing to pay (and make it a reasonable HOURLY wage... like it or not homeless people can clear better than minimum wage standing on an off ramp. WHy would they want to take a pay cut to go do something MORE strenuous?)

then give them a reasonable time estimate of how long you think the job will take and SHOW THEM the cash you intend to pay them with! (don't flash any more than what you intend to pay them though! Not all homeless people are honest and some are violent and will rob someone if given the chance)

This should make your attempted hiring more successful... and While I understand that it might seem like alot to ask of you when you are just trying to help someone... But the reality is the world is Not a friendly place for street people and they are cautious for a reason.

It does make me very happy to hear that people reach out to the homeless though. and for that I salute you.

No way in hell would I go with a stranger for twenty bucks to do anything. Yet here we have an OP who is trying diss on this homeless guy, and others trumpeting, if you are really hungry you would do it, then others claiming they are really scammers. Give me a break. The homeless are often the first ones sadistist killers go for, because they usually won't be missed.

The old, twenty bucks to rake my yard scam has likely resulted in a lot of misery and death for homeless men and women.

This thread, and some of the attitudes it displays towards the topic of homeless disgusts me.

reply to post by onehuman


If you're near me I will do it for twenty bucks. But as long as it don't take that much gas to get there. LOL. Gas is outrageous!

Originally posted by hotbakedtater
No way in hell would I go with a stranger for twenty bucks to do anything. Yet here we have an OP who is trying diss on this homeless guy, and others trumpeting, if you are really hungry you would do it, then others claiming they are really scammers. Give me a break. The homeless are often the first ones sadistist killers go for, because they usually won't be missed.

The old, twenty bucks to rake my yard scam has likely resulted in a lot of misery and death for homeless men and women.

This thread, and some of the attitudes it displays towards the topic of homeless disgusts me.

Well, i admit that i havent read the entire thread but i think youve summed it up the best, at least as far as my opinion on the matter goes.. good post.

reply to post by onehuman


Sad story, but true. We, my love and I, went through a similiar story. We had a very long year friend, his last job was 13 years ago, and again he could not pay his apartment.
So... we told him, he could stay in our little apartment, it´s only 55 qm big, two rooms, one kitchen. But he would have to find a job within the time he is here. Here where we live it´s easy to find one, really. He had to pay nothing. NOTHING! We told him he could stay for a year to get his sitiuation under control and save every cent he got from unemployment insurence.

After seven months nothing happened and he refused to clean up the things he used: kitchen, bathroom etc. he said he was not used to it. We went mad. We had during this time no privacy, no place to escape after a hard day in work. And then coming home and the kitchens looking like at doomsday... well

But, he was a good friend, so we gave him a last chance, two months more. Nothing happened. It was so frustrating. He used us and as we said he had to leave he told us, we had lied to him, because we said it would be a year he could stay.
And that´s why I don´t give my money to others anymore. Most of them are organized.
We lost a friend. The bad thing was, we thought he was a friend. Now we don´t have any contact, and I´m very happy about it. Those nine months were the worst we ever had.

If the government hadn't laid claim to all the land, then first sold it off in huge parcels to the richest people, to turn around and sell it off in progressively smaller parcels to people of lesser means, driving off game or hunting it to extinction, regulating fishing, camping and fire burning, in other words OUTLAWING a natural life living off of and with nature, what might a 'homeless' person be doing.

Well one thing is for sure most homeless people don't really want to be part of this system we are all indoctrinated to with no choice at birth and then moan and groan when ever any one rejects it.

I think it escapes some people that NO not everyone wants to be just like you, or live just like you, or think just like you, or do just like you.

The truth is our all encompassing system that pretty much paves everything, puts a fence around it, slaps an ordinance code sign on it, and then patrols it with uniform personnel and cameras is very hard to escape from.

Yes the homeless live in the fringes of it, but in large part because it's such an all encompassing system there is practically no place on earth and certainly hardly any place in this country to escape it.

Me I would be more 'troubled' by that little factoid than the fact that someone doesn't want to labor for you doing menial labor for 20.00.

About a year ago my boyfriend moved into a small apartment at the corner of a busy intersection. There is a gentleman there with a sign saying "Will Work For Food", like many of them have. Later that day we ordered a pizza and shortly after my bf remembered the guy and brought him down a few slices. He then returned a few minutes later, putting the pizza in the microwave. I asked him, "What are you doing?" He told me the guy told him "I DON'T LIKE COLD PIZZA!" and shoved the pizza away. God bless my boyfriends good heart because i would have left the pizza on the ground right in front of him.
A few months later I was paying dear bf a visit when I noticed the man on the corner. I was walking towards bf's building to enter when I noticed the homeless man was also going into the same building. Upon entering the foyer, I punched in bf's buzzer code to be let in. Lo and behold, Mr. Homeless held the door opened for me. The door he opened with his very own key!!!
I have always been one to give an extra helping hand when needed, but things like that has left me looking the other way when it comes to helping homeless people. I know everyone has their own story, but come on!
I live in Windsor, On Canada and I hear people complaining day in, day out about there not being any jobs in the city. There are jobs, but people are so picky. No one wants to bend over, everyone just wants to sit at a nice desk on a comfy little cushion.
Sorry that My post is all over the place this is just a very touchy subject for me.
I know people that get one job after the next to fill up their resume's, holding 2 or 3 jobs at a time while in school, and these people can't do the same? What about food banks? The options are there, but laziness is comfortable.



woosah

reply to post by onehuman


Unfortunately most of these people are either drug or alcohol addicts, or both. I once gave a homeless man some money, because he was claiming he was hungry. I watched from across the street as he went into a convenient store, and came back out with a bottle in a brown paper bag. That was the last time I will ever hand out money to someone under the premise of being hungry...

Originally posted by TriForce
I am really surprised this thread has grown the way it has. You didnt try to "hire"anyone, you tried to pay him for a task and he declined.
If you were a business owner and tried to give the guy a position in your company, that would be considered a hire, not raking your damn leaves.
Get off your bigscreen and rake them yourself.

I agree fully with your post.

That's often how the rich elites and their bootlickers utilitarianly despise and make others despise those down and out.

Some elite Harvard kid will come along and claim that if that homeless guy had accepted the job, he would have made $20 an hour. If he just spare 6 hours a day, that would be $120 a day or for a month of 26 days, that would be $3,210.

But that's what very often the rich elites wants us to think. It is only an illusion.

1. Would there be 6 clients EVERYday?
2. Would they pay $20 each hour EVERYday?
3. Even if they would, would they trust him as you are a freelancer?
4. .And the red tape to get oneself incorporated to gain trustworthiness?
5. What about travelling time and costs, as one CANNOT assume all 6 would be proximity neighbours
6. What happens when it rains or snows, when there will be no jobs, how is one gonna survive?

7. Many more, but MOST CRITICALLY - is the state of mind of the person. Is he ready to trust himself or others to even take on a job? For there were reasons why he ended up homeless, which are many which made him lost his confidence in himself and took that much despised path to survive - begging. It only proves he had lost his sense of selfworth in himself and in public eyes, caring nothing anymore....

He needs guidance and counselling, not pennies to feed him a day. He is a fellow human just like everyone else and would be able to contribute back to society once guided straight. We must not be like the utilitarian elites who cares only about their own wealth. Payback time will come for them one day, but you and I must not lose our sense of kinship to humanity, and I am honoured to know that you had not lost yours, unlike some others here.

reply to post by TheWalkingFox


Thats a beautiful attitude and the pervasiveness is why we have such a dependant class in this society. Is it worth the $20? If you're hungry its worth it. If you're cold and need a coat its worth it. If you have a bit of self respect and want to actually do something to contribute to your own existance its worth it.

What makes it really worth it is that the gent has an opportunity to do a good job and perhaps get more work to do. The gent has an opportunity to do well enough that this guy could recommend him to his neighbors to do lawnwork. Its worth it because if he is bright and articulate he might get or be referred for another job by this guy. Its simply worth it because it is not sitting on his butt doing.

Its the same argument that we get from the folks on welfare who won't take a minimum wage job. "Ain't worth it". Fine. How about we deduct a 40 hour week's take home from their monthly government cheese and see if they think its worth it.

Oh, but that would be an outrage. Taking money from the poorest in society, heartless, all the associated rubbish that gets tossed about.

reply to post by Cocasinpry


Im a veteran too doesnt mean they DESERVE the money. Please they probably get money from the government monthly because they are a veteran. I feel no pity from most anymore

Originally posted by dolphinfan
reply to post by TheWalkingFox

 

Thats a beautiful attitude and the pervasiveness is why we have such a dependant class in this society. Is it worth the $20? If you're hungry its worth it. If you're cold and need a coat its worth it. If you have a bit of self respect and want to actually do something to contribute to your own existance its worth it.

What makes it really worth it is that the gent has an opportunity to do a good job and perhaps get more work to do. The gent has an opportunity to do well enough that this guy could recommend him to his neighbors to do lawnwork. Its worth it because if he is bright and articulate he might get or be referred for another job by this guy. Its simply worth it because it is not sitting on his butt doing.

Its the same argument that we get from the folks on welfare who won't take a minimum wage job. "Ain't worth it". Fine. How about we deduct a 40 hour week's take home from their monthly government cheese and see if they think its worth it.

Oh, but that would be an outrage. Taking money from the poorest in society, heartless, all the associated rubbish that gets tossed about.

Be a slave for $20? Do anything for $20 to assuage a hunger? I hope one day you will not be in his position, for I would like to pay $20 for you to lick my boots, just to see how low you can get.

US is a still a free country, and its a free world. A man still has a choice, respected by Constitutions around the world less despotic nations.

Fortunately, the OP is only offering an honest hour's job of $20 for raking up leaves, and NOT doing anything else for that $20 to assuage a hunger, but $20 after a moments consideration, he decline on his choice as he believes he will get something better later, or regret his choice when nothing pans out.

You know, imho you saw one situation with a few guys. Like any group/clique demographic or whatever there is a spectrum. All doctors aren't smart and humble, not all cops are crooked, not all are altruistic. A while back I saw an old homeless couple. I'm sure they were homeless though I cannot say for sure. My neighborhood is far from being ghetto-like or scary at all. Anyways in broad daylight I see a visible minority dressed with old tattered second hand clothes, pushing a beat up baby carriage, and a shopping cart. This is her workhorse for all intents and purposes. It's got all kinds of bags holding bottles hanging all over every edge of her work wagons. She is walking around going from garbage to garbage in this trendy stripmall area. picking bottles and mind you not making a mess or begging from others, just doing her unnofficial job of cleaning up after the typical jet set westerner. Now I know everyone in this area is quite well off, not rich or fat, just not worried about $$. What I didn't like was how people had to stare at the "freak". She was happy, smiling, sauntering without a care in the world, all while the normal folks mostly gave a look of despair and oh poor lady, but then that's it, back to shopping, move along. I drove past her and I know I've seen her a few times in my area. Bucket, I turn around and stop to hand her 5 bux. I normally don't do this kind of thing because there really is a stigma attached to the homeless, even in my stupid brain. BUt I tell ya she was so happy and grateful and bowed her head like I was a Japanese official.

She deserves more than a few fleeting sympathetic yet non active looks. If I see her again I'll be sure to offer her what lil change or food I may have. She's picking up after our spoiled laziness, and at the same time preventing US from sh*tting all over our planet just that little bit more.

Another story I will make short: Downtown one day I was walking to and fro, when a younger fellow (25ish) wearing a Columbia jacket and glasses and hiking boots was broadcasting his begging to anyone within 20 feet of him, expecting that'll suffice. He was rude and and obnoxious and angry when people said no. I gave him a few words and left.

Just because I had a more than enough of my share of undesirable encounters with the homeless, it still did not make me grab a big mop and one colour of paint to use on all homeless.

I'm no angel, I'm just saying, like any other cross section of society, whether it be christians, eugenicists, doctors, bums, colored people, or whatever, there is a broad spectrum. The only brush I like to use to paint a whole section of people is very broad... people, humans, are pretty stupid, myself included



I havent had time to read all the posts, but I think I'm slowly finding out I'm .... oh nO!! A bleeding heart liberal!

While in Cincinnati, me and a friend went to Arby's and got their 5 for 5 deal. We took our food to eat downtown on fountain square. While eating, a homeless man walked up to us and asked for some money so he could eat. I offered a sandwich, and the man's face looked annoyed as I had to shovel the sandwich into his hand. He walked away with it and never opened it before he was out of sight.

Another time a homeless person came to my door asking for money so he could buy milk or formula for his baby. Instead of money, I gave him what was left in my milk cartoon, which was a considerable amount. He took it and thanked me. The next day, I seen the milk cartoon with the same amount of milk in it sitting on the sidewalk a couple houses down.

I will never give money to a homeless person.

reply to post by hotbakedtater


It was a feeling of animosity I had towards this man that resulted in my wanting to run him down. If I acted out every emotion I felt without thought I would have been in jail or dead long ago. I'm not advocating murder, just illustrating my disgust towards someone pretending to be something he isn't and, in so doing, feeding off of the generosity of others.

I'm sure you've felt anything so strongly that you would ..*gasp*.. have a violent thought.

well heres from a person who is homless NOW.
have been homeless off and on the lst 4 years .
answered even craigslist add i could.
so lest see were that got me shell we.
one guy says I have a yat (boat) i want fixed up ill let you stay on the boat and pay you 100$ a week wile u fix it up .But its in the middle of no ware he says .
Ok i think if i really want out of this mess im in ill risk it.
so off we go out to the bonnies yat? lol floting pile of junk is what it was .
told the guy right off you want this thing fixed its going to end up costing u a minum of 15k.
so 3 days later ( refinish his deck at his home ) still hasent bought even SAND paper finly relizing this guy is full of it .But lets rember i did refinsh his deck at his home (10 hour job)
so i tell him drop me back in town do i geta dime?? nope but he will buy my lap top (hey thanks for the 200$ for my lap top and no money for teh work i did on your deck.
ok so on word now weeks later anothyer craigslist add .
wanting soemone to help rebuild modles homes in a park. ( professionial costruction work mind you.
painting dry wall pluming roofing the works for teh next 6 weeks with him the whole time saying i cant afford to pay you .
given my 50 60$ a week on jobs that normaly pay 800$ yea ok thanks .
finly relizing this guy will use me as skilled slave labor as long as i let him and once his hiomes are repaired drop me like yesterdays news
' so you go ahead blast us homeless people tell evryone how were all lazy crimials .
all i will say is I have been walked on and used by u enough for two life times.
believe me you wont see me holding sign and i am glad you have your self convinced we are all drunks becasue even if you offered me money i wouldnt take it.
you regulate anyone who doesnt fit your perfict world into slums and then have the nerve to complain?

reply to post by SeekerofTruth101


How is accepting a genuine offer any form of slavery?

Of course you are right, he is certainly not obligated to accept the offer of honest work. He is also not entitled to anything, period. Not from any other person nor any of the "despotic" nations that somehow are robbing him from the opportunity to earn money, despite the fact that a citizen of a despotic nation just offered him some.

He can choose sitting in filth, eating half eaten Whoppers out of dumpsters if he chooses and that is his right.

See how low someone would go for $20? If my kids where hungry, the concept of low with respect to honest work would in fact be pretty low.

When I was purposely homeless in Los Angeles I knew the streets and where all the regular bums pan begged daily. Befriending a lady at Starbucks she would give me the leftover food (sandwiches, donuts, fruits) Making it a mission that night I was going to give my bag of food away to the true bums that needed it. The first guy I went up to always sat Indian style on a metal grate that pumped out heat to stay warm all night. I tried to say Hi to him sometimes but he never spoke. I went up to him and said...

Me: Hey man I got some sandwiches, you want a tuna sandwich?
He was completely confused as to how to respond...
Bum: Th-th-th an ank you. He said always too excited to speak.

But then I realized that this man over the years and years of begging lost his ability to communicate with other people.

I walked up to the next street and waited at the light to cross. I didn't even need to look and I could feel an evil presence on my left side. My conscience told me not to look...I did. Sitting on a bench 15 feet away was a broken old bum just sitting and staring at the wall. My conscience again told me not to go over there but I ignored it and walked over. He was sitting with his head down not paying attention to anything. I said...

Me: Hey man I got some sandwiches and donuts here if you want any...
Bum: (slowly lifts his head up) Low, raspy voice - What did you saaay??
Me: Uhh, I got some sandwiches and donuts if you wanted any...
Bum: GET THE # OUTTA HERE!
Me: I was taken back, startled. (i honestly thought about kicking his face into the bench) I said, WOW. And walked away.

So I as walked away up the street, with murder on the mind, I saw another bum walking like a broken mechanical mocking bird towards my direction. I could tell by his body language that he was going to ask me for money. Low and behold...boogers running down his face...he asked...

Bum: Hey you gut any bills man??
Me: Bills? Yeah I got a phone bill you can have...
Bum: Dumb look.
Me: Yeah dude, take this bag. It's full of sandwiches and donuts man, it's all yours.
Bum: Nah man can you take me to Subway?
Me: Dumb look....but this whole bag is full of food??!

I simply walked away with a new perspective on bums. (they truly don't care, and love crack, lol) I will never forget what some crazy bum lady said as I was sitting the next day at a cafe reading...she was walking by asking everyone for money in a crazy rude way...everyone was talking about how crazy she was...she walked ten feet past everyone...turned around and said..."Yeah, but I get PAID to be crazy..."
She knows what she is doing, it's her crazy bum choice and they don't care what anyone thinks.

reply to post by xxcalbier


Don't get me wrong, I feel bad that you didn't get paid for your hard work, but everyone knows the chance they take when answering ads....(Sorry, the words I'm looking for just aren't coming to me)
Why don't you try a job bank or a temp agency? Wouldn't they be a little bit more reliable than craigslist? Don't people get raped, murdered and scammed sometimes after answering ads on craigstlist? You knew the dangers and you chose to do the work anyway.

I hope no one sees me as heartless because I am far from that. It's just that in this case It seems he is trying to gain sympathy in the wrong way....

reply to post by onehuman


I'm confused. Why do you care if he gets handouts? He's not collecting welfare. He's standing there asking for money. You are not required to give him money. If he can make 20 bucks an hour standing there, why would he agree to go to some strangers house to work HARDER for less money?