# If You Can Walk, You can Work Asshole! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 29, 2002, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-walk-you-can-work-asshole/100721 "2002-03-29T07:37:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Klaatu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Klaatu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klaatu)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-walk-you-can-work-asshole/100721/1 "2002-03-29T07:37:46Z")
I am a self-employed carpenter/computer tech. I have an above knee artificial leg. I work every day. I am doing a carpentry job in the “bad part of town”. I have people come by every hour bumming smokes, trying to sell shit, whatever. That’s fine, I know some people are down on their luck. But this dude came by the job today and said “Hey man, I am trying to get to wherever, and need a few bucks, can I do some clean up for you?” I said “Sure, I’ll give you twenty bucks to throw that pile of lumber scraps in the back of the truck”. This might have taken a half hour, and saved my one-legged ass some work. But the dude said, “Fuck man, I need money man, thats too much work!” I then told him to fuck off, and get the fuck away from me. He walked off cussin. So fuck him, and fuck these assholes that make a living begging on the side of the freeway, and all those worthless scumbags that scam cash off of working people. If I can get my “crippled” ass out there and work, you can too, you sorry lazy assholes! ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-walk-you-can-work-asshole/100721/2 "2002-03-29T07:43:41Z")
$20 for 30 minutes of throwing lumber scraps into the back of a pickup truck? Shit, I woulda done it! ---
**Author:** ![Klaatu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Klaatu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klaatu)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-walk-you-can-work-asshole/100721/3 "2002-03-29T07:47:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Astroboy14 \* > \*\*$20 for 30 minutes of throwing lumber scraps into the back of a pickup truck? > > Shit, I woulda done it! \*\* Well, it would have been worth it to me… but that ain’t the point ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-walk-you-can-work-asshole/100721/4 "2002-03-29T07:53:05Z")
Ya know, I’m a little short right now… That pile still there? ---
**Author:** ![Klaatu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Klaatu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klaatu)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-walk-you-can-work-asshole/100721/5 "2002-03-29T08:07:24Z")
Well, I see that my perfectly good rant is rapidly degenerating into a morass of inane blithering from people who are as broke as i am. 🙂 NOTE: I include crap like that into the bid for the job, so I don’t pay for it. But that’s still not the point! ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-walk-you-can-work-asshole/100721/6 "2002-03-29T08:09:14Z")
This exchange was pure capitalism. ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-walk-you-can-work-asshole/100721/7 "2002-03-29T08:12:53Z")
I understand the point. Maybe if those assholes who give the bucks stopped their giving, the begging assholes would stop. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-walk-you-can-work-asshole/100721/8 "2002-03-29T13:55:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Klaatu \* > \*\*I am a self-employed carpenter/computer tech. \*\* _Finally!_ I’ve been looking for someone to replace the shrubbery of my monitor. You wouldn’t **believe** how hard it is to find those two skills combined. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Billy\_Rubin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billy_rubin/32/3622_2.png) [@Billy\_Rubin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billy_Rubin)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-walk-you-can-work-asshole/100721/9 "2002-03-29T14:05:59Z")
Really great post, Klaatu. Myself, I don’t understand not working. I couldn’t “not work”, I can’t imagine retirement. Especially when you offer someone a chance to make $40 an hour, and he turns it down. Where the hell can you make $40 an hour cash just for showing up? Carpentry with an artificial leg. You, dude, are a total stud. I’m in awe. b. And Coldfire: Shouldn’t that be “the lintel over my monitor”? He didn’t say he was a computer tech/shrubber. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-walk-you-can-work-asshole/100721/10 "2002-03-29T14:31:44Z")
Yeah, yeah, mock the furrener. Huh. I always thought “shrubbery” was a cover-all term for small fences of any denomination. Turns out they have to be plants. OK. Come fix the baseboards on my printer already, then. ---
**Author:** ![Billy\_Rubin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billy_rubin/32/3622_2.png) [@Billy\_Rubin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billy_Rubin)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-walk-you-can-work-asshole/100721/11 "2002-03-29T14:35:25Z")
hehe! Nah, not mocking. And you’re not a furriner here. B. ---
**Author:** ![Billy\_Rubin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billy_rubin/32/3622_2.png) [@Billy\_Rubin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billy_Rubin)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-walk-you-can-work-asshole/100721/12 "2002-03-29T14:36:52Z")
Or for that matter, A **furrener**. Or a furrier. Or a farrier. Dang, my typing sucks. b. ---
**Author:** ![ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-walk-you-can-work-asshole/100721/13 "2002-03-29T14:40:10Z")
Good god! You mean you offered the guy $20 for 30 minutes of work and he passed it up? Who can afford to pass up an extra $20? Here’s a hint: No one. Even rich people don’t pass up $20 if they can get it…that’s why they’re rich. He must have been a blithering idiot. And even though it’s not really pit material, I have to give you a pat on the back. It was really nice of you to offer the guy a job in the first place. Had he been a REAL human being and not some slovenly toad of a man, he would have felt better knowing he had a purpose for a brief time…people always value money more when they have the pride of knowing they worked for it. You were great to offer him that opportunity. Some people can overcome any obstacle and some people can’t overcome anything. Sounds like two guys at opposite ends of the spectrum crossed paths. L ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-walk-you-can-work-asshole/100721/14 "2002-03-29T15:24:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Had he been a REAL human being. . . In spite of his lifestyle, this man is still a REAL human being. Also, I very much agree with the disgust of the OP, however, I would just like to remind everyone to NOT paint all beggers and homeless with the same scammer/lazy/addict brush. A large percent of these REAL humans suffer from mental illness. ---
**Author:** ![tadc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@tadc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tadc)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-walk-you-can-work-asshole/100721/15 "2002-03-29T22:19:06Z")
So was this particular real human lazy or mentally ill? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-walk-you-can-work-asshole/100721/16 "2002-03-30T01:21:11Z")
How dare you exploit the underclass with short-term economic dislocation! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-walk-you-can-work-asshole/100721/17 "2002-03-30T02:58:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tadc \* > \*\*So was this particular real human lazy or mentally ill? \*\* That’s just it-we don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-walk-you-can-work-asshole/100721/18 "2002-03-30T03:11:10Z")
I recently looked in to the definition, as per Social Security, of " disabled". Fascinating reading. [Social Security Disability Planner Site](http://www.ssa.gov/dibplan/dqualify5.htm) is very comprehensive, and clear. I broke my back. I am not disabled. I can be retrained into another career. I have no rights ( and , no interest ) in going on the permanent public dole. I do not qualify. The definitions of disabled are so intricate- and that is PHYSICAL disability. What of Mental??? I’m not awe struck that you lost part of a leg and still work. You work- THAT’S WHAT YOU DO. You get up, adjust the straps, and get crackin’. You’re physically challenged but it sounds like you’re mentally a bear ! That person who went off on you might not have those pleasures. They may have looked to be in good shape, but might have suffered any number of mental ills. Book , Cover, etc. Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Jurhael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@Jurhael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurhael)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-walk-you-can-work-asshole/100721/19 "2002-03-30T03:55:00Z")
Well, the government could always outlaw begging and that should solve the problem. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-walk-you-can-work-asshole/100721/20 "2002-03-30T04:42:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jurhael \* > \*\*Well, the government could always outlaw begging and that should solve the problem. 😉 \*\* Funny you should mention that, for that was proposed in Ontario in the recent campaigning for Conservative leader/Premier. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-walk-you-can-work-asshole/100721.md?page=2)