I know this is an inane thing to ask about, but I see it so much here, so…
Is there a legitimate reason why a homeless person would be clean, shaved, freshly shampooed/trimmed and wearing clean well cared for clothes? If one is truly homeless, doesn’t that mean lack of access to most of that?
(I am talking about those who are standing on the corner calling themselves homeless and asking for money and/or a job.)
When I lived in WA, most if not all of the homeless that I saw there were the shaggy dirty drugged out looking sort. Here in S Cal, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one that wasn’t wearing better clothes than mine and who looked as if they had just stepped out of the shower. Since we have had newspaper articles about non-homeless folks who make money preying on peoples’ good intentions, I have never given any of these clean cut folks anything because yeah, I’m suspicious. Do I have a reason to feel that way? Or can you actually be homeless and still well dressed and groomed?
Just because you’re homeless doesn’t mean that you literally sleep outside. You’re homeless if you’re crashing on a friend’s couch, or if you’re staying at a shelter- both places that would have facilities to bathe in. There are also day programs for the homeless, where they can drop in during the day and shower and wash clothes. Most of the dirty bums you see are also mentally ill, and I don’t believe their lack of hygiene stems from homelessness so much as being crazy.
I know of a nonprofit that does nothing but give homeless people a free place to shower, use the bathroom, do laundry, and pick up hygiene supplies, so it’s certainly possible.
Also there’s a homeless newspaper here that homeless people sell. I would assume they’re actually homeless to become involved in something like that, and they usually look fine.
Thing is, I don’t see any dirty bums here - they are all clean and well dressed.
Also, I guess I don’t consider one to be homeless if they have a friend that will let them live with them. I had to do that once in the distant past and didn’t consider myself homeless. Didn’t know about the day programs!
I guess I just don’t get how the can show up on their corners pretty much every day looking good, and I forgot, also well fed, and still be homeless. OTOH, my definition of homeless is “someone who doesn’t have an indoor place to sleep” so maybe it’s just a matter of degrees?
This is where you’re mistaken. Very few homeless people actually sleep outside. Where would they? You can’t sleep on the beach, in the park, or really anywhere without being hassled by the man. They’re sleeping inside somewhere. Have you led a very sheltered life that has caused you to have strict and stereotypical notions of what homeless people look (and smell) like?
Probably because of economic problems lately, there are more and more homeless people who are not mentally ill and/or addicted to drugs. People who would otherwise have jobs, but because of layoffs, are out of work. These people are used to showering and grooming themselves and presenting a proper appearance, and so they still do it even though they don’t have a place to live. They’re not the homeless guys who have been on the street for ten years and don’t care about their physical condition anymore.
I passed a chick with a cardboard HomelessPleaseHelp sign. She had on a Burberry backpack in very good shape, even while she was begging. I offered her $50 for it. No go. I guess she wasn’t that desperate. She didn’t even make a counteroffer.
While I don’t agree that just because someone’s well groomed means they’re not homeless, I’d be wary to give them money. When I was attending college in San Francisco, I knew more than a few students who would raise some extra money on the weekends by going to touristy locations and sitting down with a homeless sign and an upturned hat. They often made a pretty decent turn around if I remember correctly.
I don’t know - are they allowed to essentially live at the shelters?
I rather doubt that I have lived a sheltered life, it’s just that my experience with homeless people doesn’t match yours. In the Seattle area, this would be about 20 years ago, there would be reports of some homeless dying each winter due to exposure. Here in S Cal, that would happen rarely since it doesn’t get all that cold even in winter, except in the desert areas. However, there are those who do sleep outside - I have seen them on occasion and have also read newspaper articles about the homeless being “cleaned out of” this park or that overpass.
Regarding how the homeless look, that is why I am asking. The homeless in the Seattle area were obvious; here in S Cal, not so much. It is confusing.
In the case of the ones I am asking about, these folks have been on these same corners for years - one for as long as I have lived here. This time of year we get extras, but otherwise we seem to have the same ones year after year in the same places.
This. I am not kidding when I say that most of these guys are wearing better clothes than I am.
I remember one article on this quite clearly because it involved one of the “homeless” guys that had a corner near our house. A reporter with the Register followed him one evening and discovered that he stowed his gear behind the bus station behind our house and down a block, then took the bus home to his nice middle class house. I forget now why he was begging instead of working but apparently he made enough at it that he, wife and kids could live just fine (I don’t remember if the wife was working but the article indicated that his begging money paid more than half their bills if not all of them).
Different shelters have different policies, but from what I hear it’s typical for everyone to get kicked out every morning and have to be gone all day. A lot of shelters are not pleasant places and might not even be safe. It’s an indoors place to sleep at night, but would never be mistaken for actually having a home.
I’ve seen and known and worked with a LOT of homeless people here in my city over the last 15 years, and even though I hear this meme a lot, I’ve never experienced it. And Tucson is a Mecca for homeless people. I suspect the middle-class bum-for-hire exists on the same plane as the steak-and-lobster-buying, Cadillac-driving welfare queen.
Ah. Perhaps that is why we have folks who prefer to sleep in parks and underpasses rather than in shelters.
Shrug. I rather doubt that a reporter made up a story out of whole cloth. Exaggerate sure, but complete lie? OTOH, I’m quite sure that all things homeless in Tuscon must be the same as every where else, like it would be totally possible to sleep outside in Tuscon all winter without freezing to death.
Homeless people have no home. It does not mean they sleep on the corner. They can and do bunk out with others on a temporary basis. They may also sleep in their car or move around campgrounds.
I know of a homeless family of 6, this summer they lived at the campgrounds. Finally someone lent them an empty house. The kids go to school, they are considered homeless if they have no permanent address.
People hate to see the homeless when they’re dirty, smelly, and scary-looking.
People hate to see the homeless when they’re clean, non-smelling, and normal looking.
They can’t win.
I was once watching a story about a woman who was living out of her car. She said she spent an inordinate amount of time just trying to keep clean. Washing her clothes, keeping up hygiene, etc. It’s hard to do out of fast-food bathrooms, but she did it.
A guy who’s begging on the street might actually get a check of some type (disability, SS, veteran’s benefits). All that money may be going to pay for weekly rent at a flophouse somewhere, though. They can’t or won’t find work, relatives won’t or can’t help them out, and they still have to eat and do all the other things that cost money. So they beg. And this makes sense to me, even though I don’t know if I would beg if I were in their shoes.
I’m actually more annoyed when I see someone with those signs who ISN’T kinda-sorta put together. If you can write a sign like that and stand on a corner all day, you’re not profoundly mentally ill. You probably also know how to seek out services that can help you out, at least partially. So I would expect some basic maintenance out of such a person. A wino curled up in an alley…not so much.
Nope, actually that’s a myth about Tucson- it does get cold in the winter. It gets into the 20’s and 30’s at night- no clouds to hold in the heat of the day, you know. When it’s going to be below freezing, then Operation Deep Freeze goes into effect, wherein the homeless are transported to area churches at night so that they can sleep inside. You can totally die on the streets of Tucson at night, dude.
Another thing that homeless often do, especially if they are making a little money during the day, is get a hotel room for the night.