I laughed at a homeless old woman after lunch today...

[mouthbreather]

*Originally posted by Salem *
And mouthbreather, what map exactly did you use to get from point a to point b. The one I have only shows a field of cow manure in between.

Color me stung and reeling from your “field of cow shit” jab. Zing!

Since we’ve now moved from discussion to insults, I think that you accusing me of making a bad leap of logic is hilarious considering the stupidity of what you posted.

Let me see if I follow…this lady has or once had a family and maybe some friends. This could be me if I came down with a mental illness or a drug habit or got sick or made some poor life decision. That has, what, exactly to do with laughing at an absurd request or a surreal situation?

If I, or my siter, or whoever was in that position I would fully expect to get laughed at if I made such a request as described by the OP.

It has absolutely zero to do with the fact that the lady was homeless. I promise you that if you ever ask me for $100 I would laugh in your face, too.

[fizzygoodmakefeelnice]

You people who are shocked at dorkus’s story must have iron self control. If a situation strikes me as funny or surreal I laugh, whether I mean to or not. For me it’s a natural reaction, not anything malicious and if I was dorkus I would have laughed too.

Malice, I don’t know why but your story really cheered me up.

[fessie]

In my experience, homeless people are just about as varied as the rest of the population. I’ve done some volunteer work with people who were lovely, kind, funny, intelligent, caring; people whose fate I cared about. A few of them even helped me a great deal.

Many times I’ve given food to beggers, sandwiches I went and bought for that express purpose. And they didn’t eat it, even though they’d just asked me for money for food. They simply kept standing there begging.

One night a homeless man tried to help us sell our extra ticket to “Blue Man Group”. He was so entertaining and such fun, we asked him if he’d just like to see the show with us and he replied “Nah, I’ve seen it 9 times already. I’ve got to get home to my wife.” We just tipped him and wished him well.

I’ve also spoken with homeless men who were clearly so deluded that they should be in institutions. Unfortunately it seems most of those facilities were closed down years ago.

But I’m not sure many of us can claim a homeless person within our own family. I can. My mother-in-law has been homeless off-and-on for over 10 years. One day she quit her job, loaded up her truck and drove away from a paid-for house to go live in the Grand Canyon. She’s had jobs and apartments, a dilapidated company-owned mobile home, bummed off friends, lived in her truck (with two cats), and lived with us. Twice. We’ve taken her for medical care, both physical and mental (much of which we paid for); we’ve given her money, clothes, food, transportation. Tried to enroll her in classes, helped her get jobs. Shared our friends with her, taken her on picnics. And when she gets mad at us, she ships our gifts back. She’s given back Christmas presents from years ago.

When she threatened suicide (& had a plan) and I called the police, she told them she was “just trying to get at her kids”. I kicked her out the last time she lived with us, I couldn’t take any more of her “the human race sucks” attitude so I told her she had to join a homeless program in our area. Which she did. They gave her subsidized housing, furniture, clothes, etc. Had social workers to help her get on her feet. She complained constantly about their techniques. When they told her after 2 years that it was time for her to move on, she replied “Well, I should have just stayed out West and died.”

She’s living in another state now, we don’t know where. It so happens I spoke with her last night, and told her how upset I was with her last phone call, in which she told my Hubby it was a shame I’m pregnant, that it’s a bad idea for us to have kids because “you’re too self-centered to be parents”. I asked her if she had anything different to say on this phone call, and she just repeated her latest demands so I hung up on her. Clearly she’s sick, but she’s not stupid. She’s just completely unwilling to take responsibility for herself. No one else can fix it. We’ve tried, and we can’t.

I wouldn’t put it past her to demand $100 from a total stranger. It is an absurd moment, and I think I would laugh as well. And I also know that there’s a million different stories behind homelessness; any assumptions we might make would likely be wrong.

[bluecanary]

I’m pretty sure I would laugh at the absurdity of the situation if someone off the street suddenly asked me for a HUNDRED POUNDS!!!

[Salem]

mouthbreather, I apologize for the sting. I was frustrated by your having missed my point, but should have expressed that in more tactful terms. And I promise to never ask you for $100. How about $1000?

dorkus, I don’t have a pony to give you, but would gladly lend you a two year old for a few days.

[Oy]

*Originally posted by Scotticher *
**I have to agree with this. Strongly.

So…the fact that the woman, clearly homeless and without the ability to understand that a person shouldn’t ask for $100.00…doesn’t lead you to understand that she is NOT capable of functioning in society in the “normal” or “accepted” way…so you should LAUGH at her? Yeah. THAT’S good. :rolleyes:

Ummm…could I just point out here that your granny was surrounded by people who LOVED her? She was NOT living on the street. So, although I understand where you are coming from here, I respectfully decline to agree that this is the same situation that is presented by the OP.

Once again, Salem, I am totally WITH you.

**

I think she understands all too well, as do I.

Hmmm…well, fine. You laughed because you thought it was funny. Say, would you have thought it was funny if it had turned out that it was your mom who was the homeless woman? Or your sister? Would it have been a funny joke then?

Yes, Salem…by all means let it go. The problems of the homeless in this country do not concern you if you have the means to connect to a computer, therefore it is not your problem. After all, they must have done something to PUT themselves there, on the streets. So it shouldn’t concern you.

You know, I guess I don’t think so. You think differently, that is obvious. And of course your opinion is just as valid as mine. But please think about it, okay? You live in a house, or a condo, or an apartment. They live under a bridge, or in the woods, or…in a shelter. If they are lucky. And in case you aren’t aware of this, shelters are mostly scary places. People KILL each other in shelters…for a few dollars. Now, there are shelters that prevent this kind of thing, but they are few and far between. Most of them are just trying to allow the maximum amount of people to have a bed and enough food to survive. They cannot afford security.

This is a national tragedy, and it has gotten a whole lot worse ever since President Reagen closed so many institutions that housed non-violent mentally ill people several years ago. They were not violent when they were housed and fed and kept on their meds, but now…they are on the streets. They DON’T stay on their meds, they have no real means to support themselves and they ARE the homeless.

I’m done here…I could keep going through that thread and commenting, but what is the point?

I would just like to say…there is a HUGE difference between laughing WITH someone and laughing AT someone. And I don’t think that there is any question that this whole scenario is about laughing AT someone.

If that feels good to you, then fine. If you can sleep nights. **

Could you possibly be any more self-righteous? If you read further, you noticed that dork gives to homeless shelters. It is entirely possible to be humane, caring, and deeply concerned about the welfare of others, in particular the poor, without losing your sense of humor and becoming some kind of holier-than-thou lecturer.

And consider this: when you set the homeless (or any minority, for that matter) in a class by themselves, who must be treated extra delicately in all situations, you separate them from the mainstream, make them less than adults. You make them into children, who must be cared for. You demean them. Granted, those of the homeless who are mentally ill DO need care, but many of those who are homeless are not. They are adults, and worthy of being treated as such. That includes being subject to the consequences of their actions, which may inspire laughter.

I am not saying that the homeless are homeless because they deserve it, and I am a staunch liberal who supports programs helping the poor, and vehemently despises the current climate of politics in the US. But some liberals do our own cause great harm when they get on their holier-than-thou high horses and lecture to the deluded and evil masses, especially about involuntarily laughing in the throes of a sudden, surreal experience.

Nothing in dork’s opening post suggested that he laughed at this woman because she was poor or homeless. He laughed because she was frankly funny looking (apparently by choice, if she applied blackface) and hit him with a ridiculous and incongruous demand. You don’t need to have found it funny yourself, but for heaven’s sake, pick your battles!

[dorkusmalorkusmafia]

Salem, if I had a 2 year old I would be the pony. Don’t your kids still like ponyback rides? I could see the fun in it there since I used to give my niece ponyback rides too.

[UncleBeer]

Moderator’s Notes:
All right. Let’s all settle down a bit. This thread is slowly spiraling outta control. The Pit is available to any who wish to sling insults and invective.