I'm Too Lazy....

[jamil]

Listening to radio show host Mike McConnell, he had two points that bear repeating regarding this particular type of person:
1) Real homeless advocates strongly advise not handing money over to these folks, because they more often than not just blow it on drugs/alcohol, because it encourages that the behavior continues, and because there are ample shelters willing to take care of them, so it's likely that they have burned a bridge if not allowed to stay in a given shelter for a justifiable reason.
2) Consider that people in these situations are often (but not always) people who have taken a **** on every person in their lives who ever loved or cared about them, and financing a continuation of their behavior is doing these people no favors, when they should instead be forced to confront their situation and make amends.

McConnell spoke from experience regarding the second point, having had twin sisters, one of whom had achieved much in life, while the other had taken a **** on her entire family repeatedly, with predictable results.

I just want to say something about homelessness. My brother was homeless for decades. Our family thought he was dead because we lost all contact with him, and hadn't heard from him in 40 years. He had PTSD from his service in Vietnam. Many homeless people have some kind of mental illness, such as severe PTSD, which prevents them from functioning in society.

No matter how compelling the panhandler's sign, if you feel compelled to help, consider instead donating to an organization that helps homeless people get back their lives.

I feel a great debt of gratitude for the charity that adopted my brother and helped him get his life back, and helped him find his family. He passed away last year, just 5 years after we were reunited. One of the greatest moments I've ever experienced, was to see the look of satisfaction on his face the last time I saw him. This could not have happened without the compassionate people who knew how to help him learn to function again.

 

[jgressley2003]

Contribute to the solution at a .gov website....

Hmmm

What, you don't trust the government?

 

[churchmouse]

I just want to say something about homelessness. My brother was homeless for decades. Our family thought he was dead because we lost all contact with him, and hadn't heard from him in 40 years. He had PTSD from his service in Vietnam. Many homeless people have some kind of mental illness, such as severe PTSD, which prevents them from functioning in society.

No matter how compelling the panhandler's sign, if you feel compelled to help, consider instead donating to an organization that helps homeless people get back their lives.

I feel a great debt of gratitude for the charity that adopted my brother and helped him get his life back, and helped him find his family. He passed away last year, just 5 years after we were reunited. One of the greatest moments I've ever experienced, was to see the look of satisfaction on his face the last time I saw him. This could not have happened without the compassionate people who knew how to help him learn to function again.

My brother ended his time being homeless. He had several stints being lost to the world. Drugs/alcohol etc. We attempted everything possible to set him on the right path and he dropped a turd on us every time.
Several groups had him attempting to help and he used them up as well. It was just who he was.
He had a short period towards the end being sober and with w woman but in the end his demons overwhelmed him and he literally drank himself to death.
Some folks will just never get it. Sad thing is he was a very talented musician. Such a terrible waste.

 

[jamil]

What, you don't trust the government?

Well, no, but especially not a Bloomington government.

 

[jamil]

My brother ended his time being homeless. He had several stints being lost to the world. Drugs/alcohol etc. We attempted everything possible to set him on the right path and he dropped a turd on us every time.
Several groups had him attempting to help and he used them up as well. It was just who he was.
He had a short period towards the end being sober and with w woman but in the end his demons overwhelmed him and he literally drank himself to death.
Some folks will just never get it. Sad thing is he was a very talented musician. Such a terrible waste.

I think we all develop our own cobwebs over time. Some people's just aren't wired for some experiences, and their cobwebs become debilitating. Your brother's cobwebs has some cause. Who knows that that is.

In my brother's case, it became pretty obvious the events that most impacted him. As is common with a lot of people who have PTSD, out of the blue they'll just start reciting memories. He often told the same stories, pretty much word for word what he had told many times before. Often we'd be talking about sports or politics or something, then he'd get quite and then start reciting some memory.

He was a gunner's mate on a river boat that took VIP's up and down a river where we weren't supposed to be. He often repeated a story about what a .45 does to a man's head point blank, as he recited the story of when he saw a "VIP" shoot some villager he was interrogating. He was the guy manning the 50 cal on the boat, and he told stories about having to shoot at the river banks whenever there was movement in the jungle. They couldn't take chances, so it was usually shoot first and see what it was after everything was dead. Sometimes it turned out to be NVA, sometimes it was just families. He often told stories about what people looked like after being napalmed, and how close he was to it, and how hot it felt.

When he returned home '66, there was no support network for vets other than other vets. When he got out in '66 he was told not to wear his uniform home because of anti-war protestors. He told me about one guy he knew who wore his uniform home and was shot on the tarmac by some woman who was against the war.

Some homeless stories end well, but maybe most do not. I'm thankful my brother's story ended as well as it did. But I'd rather that the **********s in Washington hadn't wasted American lives on that. That "war" was not worth even one American.

 

[churchmouse]

But I'd rather that the **********s in Washington hadn't wasted American lives on that. That "war" was not worth even one American.

Agreed. We proved nothing. We changed nothing. We wasted so much.

 

[Tyler-The-Piker]

My boyfriend and I went to a concert at the Chicago Theatre last spring. There was a guy with a sign that said "I'm just hungry" standing on the street (who happened to end up in our photo), and in the ten minutes we were messing around taking pictures, at least five people handed him a five or a ten.

Very. Cool. Snapdragon! I saw Van Morrison there in '04. I love that old theatre

 

[HubertGummer]

I'm surprised they don't have a smartphone with a square. They could triple their income of they could take plastic...

 

[Timjoebillybob]

Contribute to the solution at a .gov website....

Hmmm

Trust me I'm with the Gubment

I was thinking the same thing. Then I checked the website. It's links to nonprofits in Bloomington area. No donating to the govt.
Bloomington Gives

 

[OakRiver]

McDonalds restaurants serve beer over here.

See, now you're just bragging

 

[Tactically Fat]

I really thought that Indianapolis had an ordinance against panhandling not too long ago?

Was there never an ordinance? Was there and was it then repealed? Is there currently an ordinance and are LEO being instructed to not enforce it?

There's a homeless camp near my office. It's tucked up under the Interstate where it goes over north-bound Shadeland Ave. just north of 21st St. It / they have been there for MONTHS. They, the 2 or 3 of them, have been standing out at the Shadeland/70 Interchange for longer than they've made camp up there on the concrete. I figure that by now they're up there because they want to be.

 

[HubertGummer]

^^I thought it was a no no as well^^

 

[jamil]

I heard gunshots while visiting the inlaws/outlaws in Ft Wayne over the New Year's holiday. They told me the cops there just let it go for New Years, so everyone does it. Or maybe it's that everyone does it so the cops let it go.

 

[HubertGummer]

I heard gunshots while visiting the inlaws/outlaws in Ft Wayne over the New Year's holiday. They told me the cops there just let it go for New Years, so everyone does it. Or maybe it's that everyone does it so the cops let it go.

So the "homeless" can afford guns and extra ammo to fire randomly into the air but they can't afford a cheeseburger eh?

 

[indyjoe]

So the "homeless" can afford guns and extra ammo to fire randomly into the air but they can't afford a cheeseburger eh?

When you show someone your gun, they give you money for a cheeseburger. I think it is because the front of the pistol is really pretty. I don't know.

 

[HubertGummer]

When you show someone your gun, they give you money for a cheeseburger. I think it is because the front of the pistol is really pretty. I don't know.

I hears that works in banks as well...