Wherein I had to be the bad guy

[greek_jester]

Image courtesy of Pixie and Brutus / Instagram: @petfoolery )

So adorable!

[depechemodefan]

I remember one time when I worked at the library someone asked me for money for food outside. I gave her an apple. When I left worked that night I see she threw the apple in a decorative urn we had outside.

Friday me and my friend left the movies and I see a guy and his son outside and I had to walk around them. They of course saw me and my friend and asked for money for food for his son and hmself and he was sounding so pitiful. I had a package of peanut butter and crakers in my purse and handed to him, and my friend gave him $5 and the guy said we were the only ones to give him money. While we were walking away I said loud enough for him to hear "so he's going to use the money for drugs." My friend said "$5 doesn't buy drugs". And I tell my friend (and I already told him before) "My cousin asked me for $5 after rehab to get a haircut and I knew he bought drugs. Then his brother got out of rehab and asked his mom for money to payback a woman he owed money to. He left, then when he came back he wanted me to take him somewhere and asked if he can smoke the joint he bought in the car."

Also, it happened a few times at that theater people begging for money, the last 2 times they say "I'm about to be kicked out from the hotel today, i need money to keep me and my family we don't have anywhere to live."

Luckily for this movie theater maybe 1 out of 10 times I get accousted like this, or I would stop going there.

I think you had in mind what was best for your customers so I don't think you are a bad guy.

[Seanette]

I'm not sure how much good you could do anyone if your store closes down because customers don't feel safe going there. I know I've stopped going to some places because I felt unsafe due to aggressive panhandlers. Here, a lot of them seem to already be drunk/high when they get in your face (they really are that pushy here), or have psychiatric issues. Sympathy/compassion is a great thing, but I do place value on my personal safety. Being middle-aged with poor vision and mobility issues at times (the joys of arthritic hips), I do tend to feel more vulnerable than someone younger, healthier, and/or with better vision might.

You do need to consider your customers and whether they're spreading word that your store is not safe to come to.

[Kristev]

I happen to be homeless. If any of you want actual information about what it is to be homeless, feel free to PM me.

Honestly, most of us are there because of a combination of economic circumstances (such as loss of a job and betrayal by lovers or family) and mental illness. Even for those of us who have a limited measure of money, the nation's refusal to provide anywhere near enough low-income housing lately has set a trap it's impossible to escape from. And even when you do have a limited amount of money, more often than you think, it isn't enough. Food Stamps, for instance, are quickly expended even if you're careful, because you can't prepare food or save food in any refrigerator, let alone try to cook it. "Oh, but there's food at the soup kitchens," you say. Yes. Lesson number 3 about being homeless - don't ever go there. Disease and unhealthy, poor quality food are what you're most likely to get. Better off trying to handle matters on your own doing the best you can. Then there's the problem of the police . . .

For many, panhandling is the only way they can survive. I do something a bit different, and there are rules I play by, but that's my personal ethics.

I too tend to favor giving food over money, when I have it to spare, but that's because it separates the truly in need from the illicit-seeking. However, I need to point out that most people who are homeless and have addictions are not homeless because of the addictions. I know this because I asked several of them, wanting to understand. The addictions start because there is no relief from the stress, and eventually, most people succumb to the only relief they can find. Myself, Diet Dr. Pepper and Diet Pepsi are my drugs of choice, but that's again because of special personal rules I stick to. I have never even done pot, but I won't join in the condemnation of those who do.

So if you want any actual information about homeless people and how we see such matters, PM me.

[Dytchdoctir]

Here's a blast from my past (Heavens, almost 10 years ago!)

http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...ad.php?t=51358

[Slave to the Phone]

Kristev, I have so much sympathy and sorrow for you. Single people who become homeless through circumstances beyond their control tend to be forgotten.

While low income housing for single people is available, the waiting list is very long and single parents with 1 child could easily jump into the front of the line. There is no federal/state funded cash assistance for single people. The maximum amount of food stamps this fiscal year is 192 per month for a single person with no income. With no way to cook or store food, that goes away very quickly.

While I was able to battle myself out of homelessness, but I am female and people tend to trust/take advantage of single women more than they do single men.

I wish I had any resources to share with you, but even if we were in the same state, all I could say is "Good Luck".

[Kittykat]

I happen to be homeless. If any of you want actual information about what it is to be homeless, feel free to PM me.

Please don't misunderstand, I have absolutely no problem helping out someone who actually needs help. I have no problem buying someone food, or giving them money for food. What I have issue with, is when certain homeless people get money and immediately purchase alcohol and/or cigarettes as soon as they get it, instead of food.

[Kristev]

Honestly, my situation is a bit different than most of the others, this time. I've been newly approved for disability because of my autism spectrum disorder, P. T. S. D., and several other mental disorders that make getting interviews, let alone jobs, downright impossible. So I'm not as bad off as so many others are. And yet . . . it's infuriating.

See when I got approved, I began looking for places to live to get off the streets . . . and found that what low-income housing there is in the area where I live is all jammed up with waiting lists over two years long. New apartments are being made fairly often - for rich people, not for us. Leave for somewhere cheaper? No, my payee won't allow it. Partner up with someone? Who? I made a point of not getting to know most people in the shelter. I have my reasons, which I will not explain here.

And yeah, 192 has been the most a non-parent can get on Food Stamps for a while now.

Before I got approved for disability, which I've been fighting for on and off since I was seventeen, in periods of homelessness, I used my tarot cards as a means of raising money. It meant I usually got treated like a street performer rather than a mere panhandler by the police while I was in Portland. Usually.

I still have to turn to them for money sometimes, when my payee won't answer the phone. Still, with tarot cards, you don't go up to people and expect money from them. You can't be aggressive, either. Instead, the clients have to come to you. To be honest, though, it's unreliable. Not the card readings, the money. Not that I'm knocking it. I am not. It's just . . . you can't control where the winds will send money. Sometimes it's blessing, sometimes it's bane. And people get desperate when there's nothing left to try.

Of course, it also helps that I know a few other tricks to survive. Even before I was homeless the first time, in Portland (this is my second and hopefully last time) I'd learned how to make little amounts of money for survival because I was out of work for six years. Being fired several times mixed with being crazy will do that to you.

Aside from the tarot cards, my story is not that unusual. No doubt a quarter of the other homeless could sing the same tune I just did. Even disability doesn't save you when the average rent is 700-900 for a one-bedroom and studios are both no better and already booked up.

One more thing I forgot. Always remember that any one of you could end up homeless at any time. Being fired at-will, betrayed by lovers or family. Get sick and lose everything. It's actually easy to do. It's getting back out that's damned near impossible.

[csquared]

Thank you for sharing that information Kristev. It is also a good reminder that most of us are just one bad turn away from joining you.

[greek_jester]

My late stepdad was homeless for a while when he was younger. I've always made it a point to buy the Big Issue and offer to buy a meal for people who are begging; I've got sworn at most times, but on one occasion I ended up buying a meal for a nice chap who thanked me and got a 12" meatball sub loaded with veggies and some tea. I gave him some money afterwards, but I haven't seen him again so I'm hoping that he managed to make it out.

[Mr Hero]

You are the Bad Guy, but that does not make you bad guy.

[Mental_Mouse]

You are the Bad Guy, but that does not make you bad guy.

Thanks, Satan.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Thanks, Satan.

It's Sateen, actually.

[Monterey Jack]

You two aren't Going Turbo, are you...?

[Mental_Mouse]

Oh, I have got to get out to see the new movie. I'm not a big movie-theatre person these days (no-one to go with since the nephrons got busy) but for a year there's been a succession of Stuff and I've been missing even the ones I would have made the effort for.