Do any of you realize how much it cost to get off the street? Let me give you some typical expenditures
Storage - if you have any stuff to store as in my situation, you gonna need to keep that stuff somewhere. Let’s be generous and say $50/month
Eating - remember you have no stove and refridgerator, so you’ll have to eat out (or in soup kitchens if you’re lucky) figure that at around $15 per day/per person.
Working - This will vary, as your location will change periodicly, if if you stayed in a shelter one night is no guarantee you be ther the next. Lets say $5/day, got kids?, keep adding.
Bathing - this will require at leat one night per week i a hotel if you need to keep a job, lets say $30 per week
See where this is going? These are in addition to first, last and security for anyone trying to get back into a home. It aint that easy out there folks
goboy - You are obviously getting histerical over the subject of drug addiction to the point that you are not seeing straight. Again, you have your opinion, I have mine, and they aren’t changing.
:rolleyes:
If I were to take in every homeless client of mine, I would need an airplane hanger and win the lottery. Why didn’t I take Mr. Hart into my home? Number 1, his disability is such that he is afraid to be indoors for long periods of time. This is in part one of the reasons he never stayed at a shelter or received hospital care. He wanted to live the only life he knew, and that was on the streets. Second and most important, I am a single mother of three kids. I think that I knew Mr. Hart better than anyone, however, the fact is, is that he had some major mental problems. As much as I loved him as a friend, I would NEVER bring a client home to live me me and my children. NEVER EVER EVER.
So again, please take your attempts to discredit my belief that these people are not scum or parasites or deserve to die, and kindly stick them so far up your ass they tickle your throat.
Sincerely Yours,
The Fuzzy-Head Liberal (yeah, whatever) :rolleyes:
I think that instead of trying to categorize all homeless, Inky’s intent was to talk about the panhandlers. There are some very wonderful human beings who just have been down on their luck, but they are out trying to find jobs and live.
I think Inky was leaning more towards the kind of person with a sign that says “need money for booze”.
Before this evolves into a flame war, I just want to state a few things.
Categorizing the homeless doesn’t offend me. In fact, I found this thread to be pretty funny for the most part. I was even going to participate with a few definitions of my own. I learned long ago that working in this career field, things can get pretty depressing if you don’t joke about them. I am sure most people would think me and my coworkers were heartless assholes if they ever overheard our tasteless remarks. It’s a survival tactic.
What I found offensive was the “parasite” and “should die” and “scum of the earth” comments. Implications that somehow these people are not worthy of human compassion. I found the comments disgusting.
goboy - I was going to accuse you of not getting it, but I will be fair and accept that maybe it is me that isn’t catching your drift. However, I just read through the entire thread and I don’t think so. Just answer me a question:
Do you want to see addicts treated for their addictions or should they be killed?
If you say “treated”, you agree with me and there shouldn’t be an argument. If you say “they should die” as you stated in your thread, then I stand by my comment that you are seriously lacking in compassion and I thank God most people don’t fall by your same philosophy.
I am not hysterical, I’m angry. Your pro-drug addict posts seriously touched a nerve. You may act superior from your lofty perch as a caring professional, but you don’t have the first clue of what it’s like to live with addicts. You deal with them in your work, I deal with them in my life, and, honey, life is a hell of a lot tougher.
After reading your last post, I’ll tell you what I believe:
No sane person believes that addicts should be killed. If however, they OD’d, I wouldn’t cry. Yes, addicts need treatment, but how many addicts admit they’re helpless? None that I know. If it were up to me, I’d provide Federal funding to help anyone who wanted to kick drugs and get clean. Addiction, however, isn’t just a disease of the body, it’s a disease of the soul.
I have friends with AIDS who are taking care of themselves, working, and trying to enjoy life while they can. They have a serious disease that’s sapping their lives, but they are giving, loving people.
I have friends and family who are drug addicts. They are selfish, thoughtless people who have broken the hearts of those who love them, including mine. I have serious issues with the willfulness and selfishness of people who will lie and steal to get high.
So, yes, they need help, but making them get help is beyond me.
I apologize for the insulting tone of my previous posts.
Okay HONEY, why don’t you tell me just what the fuck my life has been?
Tell me my life experiences with drug addiction. Tell me how I got into the line of work I am in. Tell me who I had to bury because of an overdose. Tell me just how fuckin’ cush my life has been on account of drug addictions.
Until you can accurately respond to each and every statement made above, I suggest you shut your little bitch of a piehole.
Comprehende’?
No shit Sherlock, I read it the first time. I also read this little gem, for which I was responding too:
I just read your last thread. I too am sorry for my tone. I feel that you are on a tangent regarding drug addiction and I am on a tangent regarding homelessness. It is obvious that neither one of us is looking at the picture the other one is drawing. We are on different sheets of music.
I am backing out of this conversation before it turns even more ugly.
Again this is something I also have personal experience with. My oldest brother is a drug addict (currently serving time at San Quentin). The heartache, the stealing, lying and other trappings of the addict, I’ve experienced.
May I surmise that your anger not only comes from watching this self destructive behavior, but also from your own powerlessness to change the situation. There’s nothing wrong with that. It shows that you’re a caring person.
It would be nice if most people who got addicited to drugs had the ability to see from the POV of those they’re hurting. Unfortunately most don’t. Those that will at least listen, tend to view it as you trying to run there life or a personal disapproval of them. I’ve been there too.
Sometimes you have to learn to let go. I still love my brother, but in his current situation, I keep my distance. This is for me as well as for him. I truly hate to see him going through what he’s doing to himself, but I realized years ago, that I can’t change him only he can.
Sorry for the intrusion, oh and feel free to e-mail me
Actually RD, I AM trying to catagorize the homeless, that is to say; give humorous names and designations to the various types of homeless folks who inhabit the city I live in and, if possible, collecting and storing examples of each in formaldehide for future generations to study (preferably starting with the folks on my street).
Yeah, some folks read judgmentalness into my post. I think they missed the irony. Besides, if you read my original post you’ll notice apart from the odd “Ugh” I didn’t malign anyone.