Homeless man called a bum, maybe this will change your perspective

Too many people are quick to judge a book by its cover.

Not all homeless/bums are drug or alcohol addicts, yes there are some that choose to live that way. There are even a few that are quite wealthy yet live the life of a bum. Does this mean that we should not show kindness and generosity to those that are in such a position because they may be a drug/alcohol addict or may have wealth? Of course not, we simply do not know which is which.

Was it the choice of the homeless person that their job was made redundant when the company had to down size due to lack of sales and they lost everything or the soldier that suffers PTSD and can not work and finds themselves on the street because the gov refuses to provide care? To set there and point your finger at them without knowing their story is a direct reflection upon yourself and your heartless condition.

You never know when you may find yourself in that situation. I know from personal experience what it's like to have no food to eat and no home. It wasn't because of drugs or alcohol or PTSD or my choice. In fact I was in a foreign country helping the poor and had plenty of money in the bank until I found myself on the street penniless because the soon to be ex cleaned out the bank account and left a negative balance.

No where to go, no one would help not even so called friends. Yet in the end a person I didn't even know helped. Was it my fault all my money was stolen? Was it my fault I ended up on the street without means in a foreign country? No! Notice, I was a man of means and had provided for my every need along with my wife's while doing aid to others but became as one of them due to things beyond my control.

There are those in this thread that would have left me in that position because they would think I was there because of "poor" choices. Was it a poor choice to allow my wife access too the accounts as there was no hint she would do what she did and absolutely no thought of her becoming an ex? Was it a poor choice to help others?

As I am sure you can tell, I'm no longer on the street and have not been for many years. Yes, I still help those that are on the street and homeless, it's not always their fault.

When the economy was better my wife and I would buy bottles of water and the little travel sizes of tooth brushes & paste, and take crackers and other small treats and put them in a 1 gallon freezer bag and keep them in our cars so that when we'd see a homeless person at a stoplight we could give it to them and hand them some essentials. Wasn't much, but we were never turned down and always thanked and told some form of "God Bless You!" Sure was a great feeling to drive away knowing we helped them if even in a small way.

Sure would be nice to see someone start a non-profit collecting goods like these and putting together in bags to be handed out. Unfortunately I'm apparently too dumb and have too few resources to start something like that.

reply to post by Hopechest


Glad someone makes enough money to do those things.Others are not so fortunate,they're pay has lagged severely behind inflation.Most employers don't want to offer health care,and they live paycheck to paycheck.A year ago I read that the highest number of people in shelters right now is families, not homeless drunks or drug addicts.You have a whole generation growing up in homeless shelters due to the economy tanking and taking they're jobs.The jobs left don't pay even half of what the old one did.And they are stuck trying to struggle they're way through.
People with personality disorders don't care what happens to others.Its not they're problem.To be HUMAN is to care.If we can let illegal immigrants in let them get free medical care,school they're kids,let them have welfare and food stamps,what does it say about us as a country when we leave our own people to starve on the streets?Nothing good for sure.Call off the stupid wars that were none of our business to begin with and stop the black budget spending and invest in this country.There will always be those that are homeless,but the numbers now are staggering,and the police just keep moving them on.To where?This country suddenly isn't big enough to deal with our own people.What a shame.

Originally posted by Hopechest
Most of the homeless people are there because of poor decisions they decided to make in their lives. Many are alcohol and drug abuse victims, but it was still their choice to partake in that.

I have little sympathy for them because they chose to give up.

I see no hope here Hopechest, when you have no empathy for others who are homeless and hurting, but just judge them based on a few ignorant sentences it makes me wonder why people like you are like this.

Everyone has a different path and story to tell but here is one for you. I saw on the news today about a homeless girl who graduated from High School as a Valedictorian. As for I yes I have seen the streets with out a shower, toilet nor kitchen and I tell you life smells after a week with out a shower and people are quite mean. I suffer from a mental illness called Manic Depression or What the modern shrinks label it as Bipolar 1; its not fun stuff. I wish you well Hopechest and that you never see the streets and as to what I have been through I don't wish that on any enemy that is human.

Just to stick this in your backward thinking even with the many times I have been homeless I did manage to publish a cipher for the Voynich Manuscript! Cya Hopechest and Merry Christmas!

[gratuitous link removed]

I would imagine homeless people live a life full of experiences and hardened to most of what the world has to offer.

Who I feel sorry for are those who live in a prison of a home, forced to work as a debt slave every day to pay back their loans to banks etc. Those who work day in and day out, hoping and waiting for something to change for the better, while not having the power to change their life to what they really want.

A homeless person has the power to change anytime.

Originally posted by Hopechest

Originally posted by Starwise

Originally posted by Hopechest
Most of the homeless people are there because of poor decisions they decided to make in their lives. Many are alcohol and drug abuse victims, but it was still their choice to partake in that.

I have little sympathy for them because they chose to give up.

To me you sound like you have no sympathy for anyone, homeless or not.
You can't tell me in this economy and society is all because of poor decisions and drug addiction.

This man in the video hasn't given up. He is trying to survive...Literally.
Many people are laid off from work...no fault of their own. They lose their entire livelihood, homes, cars and families.

Oh I know, maybe if we had a PURGE night you could just go burn down all the cities that they live in...you cant tell me you have never said that!

If your buying homes and cars and don't realize that losing your job will put you on the street than frankly your an idiot.

Perhaps you should live cheaply and save your money instead of buying those things.

Well, that's cute and all but not everyone has parents to live off of in the meantime while they save.

Each situation for homelessness is different, claiming to have worked with homeless people but yet still very biased? Wow...

Perhaps... with that view on life when one is older, have more experience in life one may fall into a situation that is not in your favor, chances are with downright nasty karma projections, it's likely in their forecast.

At one time I worked in an emergency department. Sometimes once a week, sometimes every other day, I would see the same individual come in so drunk they couldn't stand. One day, when they had spent the night in the ED and sobered up, I asked him how he got into the situation he was in...

He said that he was not always a "piece of crap" (his words), that at one time he had taught highschool english and had a nice life with his family. One evening, when he was out doing errands, there was a home invasion. The perp had murdered his family during the episode. He said that he was so traumatized that nothing helped him recover. He felt so guilty about leaveing his family that night that it broke him as a man. He lost everything, his family, later his job, and worldly possessions. He said that alcohol was the only thing that helped him to sooth the mental anguish, if just for the moment. That was about 15 years ago. I later found out that he had passed away.

You see you can't know all the reasons why people turn to substances and in turn become indigent. There is a lot of suffering out on the streets. A lot of vets who have fallen through the cracks are out there. I know what substance abuse looks like, as well as, homelessness. It was my duty as a health worker to care for these people (this was years ago), so I understand the frustrations. I also know that there is more to the story than meets the eye. Regardless if they drink and do drugs, you never know what placed them there.

It doesn't take much to have compassion for a fellow person. It doesn't take much to ask if they have eaten. We all need to eat. In a sense, I admire the ability of survival of these people. The strain a human body can endure. If the economy were to callapse tomorrow, who do you think would be better equiped to survive?
You or them?

reply to post by Hopechest


Hopechest, If a foster kid who had horrible drug addicts for parents, shuffled around to different foster homes where no one really cares about them, then they turn 18 and are "out of the system" and lucky to work at fast food or somewhere - but not lucky enough to earn a living wage -- they can end up homeless easily through no fault of their own. So, where's the logic there? Their poor choices? They were born.

If a man or woman comes back from the war and has PSTD, can't find work, doesn't have a loving family or stable friends from before they enlisted -- and the economy sucks -- good for them that they end of homeless?

Even those who get addicted to drugs -- they are likely started as a way to self-medicate, not understanding that they had a mental issue - depression, bipolar, etc.

ADHD - hard to concentrate, hard to do well in school, hard to follow directions and remember things, hard to find, get, keep a decent first job, stuck doing minimum wage with no hope for college -- parents or family die or are not able to help - and whoops, you're homeless at 23.

Woman leaves her abusive husband who seemed nice and sweet when she married him. After the baby is born, he turns into a real monster. She finally pulls it together and leaves - and ends up homeless.

I hope that you never get mentally ill (it can happen ANYTIME in YOUR LIFE), never have a loss that knocks you on your ass and leaves you less than whole, never lose your income/job/retirement funds, never have overwhelming medical bills that wipe out all that you worked for.

Compassion. Grace. Love. -- look them up.

reply to post by Hopechest

Everyone has been trolled by this person here. Don't even put bait on the hook people. These types do not even know that carrots grow in the dirt.

There are those that are truly down on their luck and I wouldnt mind giving them the shirt off my back.

Then there are those that choose not to work and drift, and I would call them a professional hobos, end up stealing or begging or whatever to survive.

Then there is their cousins the professional Panhandler, the person that has an apartment, furniture, food and beer in the fridge but just prefers not to work a legit job, but walks to a corner every day to beg.

Then there is the panhandling drug addict or alcoholic. Too wasted to work due to a substance abuse problem. They use their money for booze and or drugs. Do you give them Money ??

How do you know which one to give $ to.

Had a woman run up to my car tonight, that was apparently a whack job telling me "listen I am not some whack job", obviously coked up or meth'd out, talking a million miles a minute, lost this, phone that, daughter this. Then I realized I heard the same pitch about 2 years ago from her same place. She comes down here every year with two guys and they all move around and panhandle in large parking busy lots with sob stories until the cops run them off.

Should I give her $ ??

Point being who do you tell who is a legitimate needy homeless person ??

Answer you cant.

reply to post by Hopechest


I was homeless once. It was only for a few months but, it didn't happen because I was an alcoholic or a drug addict. It didn't happen because I gave up. It happened because I was in a bad situation (not by choice) and I knew if I didn't get out, I might very well wind up dead. It was the single hardest and most humbling thing that has ever happened to me and it certainly shaped the person I've become today. I know what it's like to struggle, and I never want to go through that again.

It's because of this experience that I always think twice before judging someone. It's easy to make assumptions as an outsider but, you really need to put yourself in that person's shoes. Sure, a good portion of homeless are drug addicts and alcoholics but, do you ever question what led them there? What were they trying to escape? Maybe they didn't have the strength at that time to get out of a bad situation.

reply to post by fishy6


You know in what? I always give them what I can spare anyway. I would rather take the chance that they didn't really need it than to say no when they really did. I never give more than I can afford to lose but I do what I can to help.

Yeah, that probably makes me a sucker but, I don't care. I am who I am.

reply to post by fishy6


It can be hard to tell if they really need the handouts. Most likely the majority do need.

I give to some of them but not all.
What they spend it on is their business.
I figure if they're asking , they need it. If they scammed me out of a few coins, its not a big loss, iI'll risk it.

A few years ago I was downtown Vancouver, outside GM Place, waiting around with a bunch of strangers. One homeless man in a wheelchair was panhandling. There was another man who kept yelling out " don't help him, he's faking. I've seen him asking for money before". No #. Nobody helped him and he was clearly distraught over the other mans comments. I gave him $5. The other man called me stupid, why did I help him. I said its none of your business. Was he really a fake? I don't think he was, I didn't care if he was. Its not like I can get him to sign an affidavit to prove it.

i help the homeless out when i can, not because i feel sorry for them
but because we are all connected and i would hope if i am ever in need
someone would help me.

reply to post by Hopechest


You seem to forget how many of the homeless individuals in both of our countries are vets. Some of us have a harder time than others readjusting to civilian life and get caught up in drugs/alcohol or just find themselves to be mentally unfit to hold down a job. As for the others who are not vets, we all make mistakes. Who are you to judge someone for being led astray from the right path? Sometimes all it takes is one wrong move or one run of bad luck (financial issues, drug/alcohol abuse, wrongful foreclosure, medical bills) to land someone on the streets. To live in these times without any empathy puts you on the wrong side of the line that demarcates the moral high ground. You may not empathize with their situation, but do not assume that a homeless person is as such because they are drug addicts. All it takes is one mistake. You also must understand that a vast portion of the homeless in Canada (I can only speak from experience where I am, I have no idea where it lies in the states, although I can only assume that it is similar) is comprised of youths who fell on hard times as well, so to pass a blanket judgement on an entire group of people like that just isn't right now is it? I am not asking you to empathize with every homeless person's situation, all I ask is that you try to understand without placing yourself up on a pedestal like you're so much better than them. All it would take is a run of bad luck and you, yourself would be homeless, so try to put the shoe on the other foot is what I am trying to say..

reply to post by U4ea82


That does not make you a sucker, it just proves to me that there is some hope for the human race. I can only hope that if I was ever that far down the path to destitution, that someone around here would be as kind to me as you were to that individual. Kudos to you, sir. Namaste.

reply to post by voynichman


Some people just have no ability to just see things from outside of the little box that they live their lives within. I see the same pattern in so-called "Christians" who can spout any line from any chapter in the bible and yet do not seem to live it, all the while looking down on others because they aren't Christian enough, in their eyes. Peoples' ability to empathize seems to have been eroded down to a dangerously low level over the course of the last 50 years or so to the point that, for example, a homeless man was stabbed in Toronto a few years back and died in front of a bank and people walked past his lifeless body for 2 weeks before anyone decided to do anything. Then there was an infamous murder (again, in Toronto) where dozens of people testified towards hearing this woman scream for help for over half an hour when asked by police when they were canvassing the area afterwards, and yet not one of these people had the decency to call 911. It honestly makes me sick to my stomach to think of what would happen if this broken system ground to a halt all of a sudden. You have all these people (especially in inner-city areas) with a total lack of empathy for their fellow human beings running around with blinders on thinking that they're so important just because of who they are. If you take away the "safety valve" of society, it's not such a stretch to think that things would go to hell most ricky-tick. Some preppers in the States do give me some hope for humanity in that they would at least attempt to help their fellow man in a WROL situation, but most people here just make me think that they would just climb over eachother just to get a crumb. Tis a sad state for human affairs. Without empathy, the human race is broken as far as I'm concerned.

Originally posted by fishy6
There are those that are truly down on their luck and I wouldnt mind giving them the shirt off my back.

Then there are those that choose not to work and drift, and I would call them a professional hobos, end up stealing or begging or whatever to survive.

Then there is their cousins the professional Panhandler, the person that has an apartment, furniture, food and beer in the fridge but just prefers not to work a legit job, but walks to a corner every day to beg.

Then there is the panhandling drug addict or alcoholic. Too wasted to work due to a substance abuse problem. They use their money for booze and or drugs. Do you give them Money ??

How do you know which one to give $ to.

Had a woman run up to my car tonight, that was apparently a whack job telling me "listen I am not some whack job", obviously coked up or meth'd out, talking a million miles a minute, lost this, phone that, daughter this. Then I realized I heard the same pitch about 2 years ago from her same place. She comes down here every year with two guys and they all move around and panhandle in large parking busy lots with sob stories until the cops run them off.

Should I give her $ ??

Point being who do you tell who is a legitimate needy homeless person ??

Answer you cant.

Don't give them money. Many have posted several suggestions. Food, clothing, blankets, or a little of your time to listen to their story. Sometimes just knowing someone out there cares is enough to turn things around.

Originally posted by Hopechest
Most of the homeless people are there because of poor decisions they decided to make in their lives. Many are alcohol and drug abuse victims, but it was still their choice to partake in that.

I have little sympathy for them because they chose to give up.

You clearly haven't a clue the devastating effects depression can have on a person, for shame.

To attempt and force modern society on everyone is a big mistake,
i honestly wonder how many of these homeless people would be
just fine on an old style small farm, outhouse, small fields with enough
to feed them and a small family, etc etc etc, funny thing is, if they
do not wish to be a part of modern society there is no real choice, they
cannot own land or even more likely would not be allowed to grow their
own food in most places, many times the choices posited to those
who are homeless seem to be, if they are not participating in modern
society the way we believe they should then they are unworthy of even
basic human rights.