Overheard
Conversation between a homeless man and a business man:
Homelessman: Let me tell you something I'm not a bum, I get a government check, but I need a couple of dollars for food.
Businessman: We'll let me tell you about this place that will give you shelter and help you get back on your feet and find a job.
Homelessman: I don't need no job, I get a check, I just need something to help me out til next friday.
What did the statement "I'm not a bum" followed immediately with "I get a government check" strike me as ironic. I almost started laughing because in my mind, at that moment, they both meant the same thing.
Please don't anyone start posting about how he may be disabled, etc. Anyone moving around as well as he did, and walking 4 miles as he said he had done that morning can do some form of work if they want. He clearly didn't, he just wants to live on what the government will give him. I'm not saying all homeless people are like this, because they are not. I know that there are desperate circumstances that cause people to live on the street, and I don't think enough is done to help them. But people like this sometimes make it hard for people to want to help, because they don't want to help themselves.
posted by MGal at 9:29 PM
4 Comments:
I suspect the government check can't be used to purchase alcohol or drugs.
Ian
Stop by and say hello
8:55 AM
I have a personal policy not to give bums money. I try to keep peanut butter cracker snack packs to give them instead. If I have leftover stuff from lunch, I give them that instead. The other day I gave a man my leftover nut mix, which in my mind was way better than eat-a-snack crackers. The looks I get from people really amuse me -- and they almost always take the food.
6:31 PM
I will often buy them food myself, and since I don't carry cash, I can't give any out. I figure if they turn down a meal, then they aren't all that needy.
6:33 PM
huh
this guy's going nowhere...
1:30 AM
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