# What are these metal things on concrete benches **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 7, 2025, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-metal-things-on-concrete-benches/1025500 "2025-12-07T20:05:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-metal-things-on-concrete-benches/1025500/81 "2025-12-10T02:52:02Z")
The America I grew up in, of course we care about others in our community. I’m sorry. If I see someone in a schizophrenic episode, I’m not gonna offer them a coffee and $4. I’m pretty sure I’m walking away. But if you’re down on your luck and just need a sandwich I’m happy to oblige and I may ask your story. There is a deep well of volunteerism in the US. Have you noticed an uptick in food donation opportunities this year. That is for one reason. People are seeing a need as things get less affordable. Organizations are stepping up. Behind them are legions who wanna help. No government needed. Some is faith based, that bothers some people. But there are others. I donate every month. Not crap food I don’t want. I either buy canned goods or donate cash. There’s a group near here who make soup and sandwiches and have folks to deliver it to the streets. To the poor, sick homeless. The political climate may make it difficult. But it gets done. Just like every Angel on an angel tree gets filled every year. We not barbarians. We are thinking feeling human beings with hearts. A continent doesn’t define us. A toddler in the Whitehouse doesn’t define us. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-metal-things-on-concrete-benches/1025500/82 "2025-12-10T04:49:18Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > > [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > > > Huh, I thought that was the central message of Buddhism > > I thought the central message of Buddhism had to do with suffering because you want things and learning to let go of the desires that cause suffering in order to achieve Nirvana, or something along those lines. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-metal-things-on-concrete-benches/1025500/83 "2025-12-10T04:55:39Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Part of the issue, as I understand it, is that many of the “homes” were pretty terrible. Absolutely, and AIUI, many people were institutionalized against their wills. My understanding is that the “de-institutionalization” in the 1970s and 1980s was supposed to be accompanied by a greater investment by governments in developing community mental health support systems – however, funding for those never really materialized, or was redirected into other priorities. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-metal-things-on-concrete-benches/1025500/84 "2025-12-10T05:58:54Z")
I never been in a mental institution so I wouldn’t know what they’re like. They must be somewhat better than they were. I used to go to the VA with my Daddy to visit his friend they were grim, at best, in my little kids eyes. Daddy always said his friend would not be indoors if it weren’t for the VA. He also said he haunt me if I ever left him there. So, that was not a ringing endorsement. I wouldn’t want my mentally ill loved one institutionalized unless it was for safety reasons. I’d have worked like a dog to keep them home. I’m a sucker for hard luck cases. Not everyone can or could do that. Understood. But dang it I’d try. We need better places for them. If they must be in. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-metal-things-on-concrete-benches/1025500/85 "2025-12-10T14:32:19Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > In many ways we are just an economy, not a society. Well, as societies and “nations” (in the sense of a cultural nation) go, we’re extremely young, and kind of thrown together. So some of this is almost certainly new ground in a sense; we’re still figuring out what our national values are and which ones to emphasize and how much. I feel like that’s something people kind of overlook; in many ways what we’re fighting about politically and socially is exactly this sort of “What defines us?” and “What do we collectively feel is important?” question that other cultural nations/ethnic groups like say… the French people have had a thousand years to figure out. We’ve had just shy of 250 years. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-metal-things-on-concrete-benches/1025500/86 "2025-12-10T14:36:30Z")
> [@bump](#): > > the French people have had a thousand years to figure out. We’ve had just shy of 250 years. More like 400 years for us. The French polity has been organized multiple ways. The fact that Americans became independent didn’t undo the cultural development before then. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-metal-things-on-concrete-benches/1025500/87 "2025-12-10T16:16:49Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Largly agree but there’s a popular intermediate case of: “Compassion must be earned. It doesn’t come _gratis_ simply by being human.” If it has to be earned, it’s not really “compassion”. It’s just any other capitalist transaction. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-metal-things-on-concrete-benches/1025500/88 "2025-12-10T16:35:55Z")
OMG, are we doing this again? Look, the choice isn’t between “let them run amuck in the streets” and “put them all in Mental Institutions”. Homeless mentally ill addicts have at least three major problems. Mental illness and addiction are difficult to treat, even with access to quality care. BUT YOU CAN JUST GIVE THEM HOMES! For much less than most of these people cost the taxpayers every year in police and emergency services, you can get them a studio apartment. Tell them they can stay there forever if they want, as long as they don’t assault their neighbors or vandalize the place. Give them easy access to health care and addiction treatment, but DON’T make “compliance with treatment” a requirement to stay housed. Depending on their level of functioning, either provide them with meals or give them access to a kitchen and point them to the local food pantry. I’ve worked in a program that did this, and it worked beautifully. Not in the sense that people became sober, symptom free and ready to engage in vocational training; most of their brains are just too broken for those goals to be realistic. But if you give people a sense of security that their basic needs will be met, and remove them from the incredibly stressful and dangerous circumstance of living on the streets, almost everyone will be able to pull themselves together to the point that they’re keeping up with basic personal hygiene and not shitting on the sidewalks. These sick people get as much freedom and dignity as they can handle, and the taxpayers get off easy and also don’t have to step in shit. Everyone wins. But nobody wants to pay for this model; I suspect because the only people advocating for homeless people politically tend to be social workers and treatment providers, and they’re reluctant to promote a model that makes getting treatment and talking to social workers optional. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-metal-things-on-concrete-benches/1025500/89 "2025-12-10T17:42:07Z")
I wonder if they’re new. I just noticed them yesterday here in downtown Corpus Christi. They don’t have them on benches, but they are present on the low concrete wall separating the sidewalk from the stairs that lead down to the bay. Maybe I just wasn’t looking for them before reading this thread, but I would swear that they weren’t there last week when I was out for my usual Tuesday night walk. > [@Thing.Fish](#): > > I’ve worked in a program that did this, and it worked beautifully. Not in the sense that people became sober, symptom free and ready to engage in vocational training; most of their brains are just too broken for those goals to be realistic. But if you give people a sense of security that their basic needs will be met, and remove them from the incredibly stressful and dangerous circumstance of living on the streets, almost everyone will be able to pull themselves together to the point that they’re keeping up with basic personal hygiene and not shitting on the sidewalks. These sick people get as much freedom and dignity as they can handle, and the taxpayers get off easy and also don’t have to step in shit. Everyone wins. But nobody wants to pay for this model; I suspect because the only people advocating for homeless people politically tend to be social workers and treatment providers, and they’re reluctant to promote a model that makes getting treatment and talking to social workers optional. It’s for more reasons than that. I think the biggest reason is because of this type of thinking among those at the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum. “I’ve worked really hard for what I have, which is the bare minimum or just a little more than that, and they want to take my money and give these people free stuff, some of it even better than what I have? There’s no way I’d support that!” Even among those that struggle with substance abuse problems and mental illness but aren’t destitute, that thinking might include “I have to pay to see my doctor, counselor, therapist, etc., pay for my medications, and so on, but these people get theirs for free? That’s not fair!” Even me, sitting comfortably in the upper middle class, understand where they are coming from when they think that. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-metal-things-on-concrete-benches/1025500/90 "2025-12-10T17:48:51Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > Largly agree but there’s a popular intermediate case of: “Compassion must be earned. It doesn’t come _gratis_ simply by being human.” > > If it has to be earned, it’s not really “compassion”. It’s just any other capitalist transaction. Agreed. Don’t confuse me choosing to discuss or explain something with me approving of that something. “Earned compassion” is very often earned only by being of the same ethnic group, political party, or church sect as the person so graciously granting access to their compassion. So not necessarily a capitalist transaction, but certainly a social ingroup / outgroup transaction. > [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > “I’ve worked really hard for what I have, which is the bare minimum or just a little more than that, and they want to take my money and give these people free stuff, some of it even better than what I have? There’s no way I’d support that!” > … > “I have to pay to see my doctor, counselor, therapist, etc., pay for my medications, and so on, but these people get theirs for free? That’s not fair!” With a "significant third factor being the belief that > "If we subsidize this, we’ll just get more of it. For every homeless person now, there are 10 more barely making ends meet being productive who’d instantly voluntarily join the ranks of the homeless to get a free apartment & care. No way in hell am I paying to increase the supply of somthing I’d sooner aggressively stamp out completely. It’s moochers all the way down, and I hate moochers. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-metal-things-on-concrete-benches/1025500/91 "2025-12-10T18:01:27Z")
Sure, there’s that. It’s often hard to understand just how ill these people are. This can be especially true for people who deal with some mild form of mental illness or addiction, who may tend to assume that other people aren’t succeeding like them because they aren’t really trying, not because their illness is more severe. On a more practical level, the way to deal with that argument is to point out that we already _are_ giving them free stuff all the time: ambulance rides, ER services, public defenders, nights in jail cells and hospital beds. All those things are very expensive. If we made wiser choices about which free stuff to give them, we’d be spending less _and_ they’d be better off. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-metal-things-on-concrete-benches/1025500/92 "2025-12-10T18:20:07Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > The issue is that, decades ago, the U.S. largely got rid of the “put them in a home somewhere,” option…or, the “home” became either “living on the streets” or “become incarcerated.” Yep, I pointed this out a few posts ago, but that is a great cite, thank you. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > - Compassion is expensive. Not really, it is cheaper than emergency services. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > US society is extremely economically motivated and shortsightedly so. Shortsighted- yes. Rather than arrange for cheap “doc in a box” care for the homeless, they prefer to let the County call out fire and paramedic, then County General- which is ten- 1000 times more expensive. > [@filmore](#): > > Also, people in the US care much more about their own needs than those of their community. Humans all over the world do this. > [@Thing.Fish](#): > > Homeless mentally ill addicts have at least three major problems. Mental illness and addiction are difficult to treat, even with access to quality care. BUT YOU CAN JUST GIVE THEM HOMES! For most, but some will shit on the floors, have buddies stay their and starts fires that endanger the whole building. Those few who can not care for themselves need to be institutionalized. > [@Thing.Fish](#): > > For much less than most of these people cost the taxpayers every year in police and emergency services, you can get them a studio apartment. Tell them they can stay there forever if they want, as long as they don’t assault their neighbors or vandalize the place. Give them easy access to health care and addiction treatment, For many, but not all. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-metal-things-on-concrete-benches/1025500/93 "2025-12-10T18:24:43Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > For most, but some will shit on the floors, have buddies stay their and starts fires that endanger the whole building. Those few who can not care for themselves need to be institutionalized. Yes, that’s true, there needs to be a higher level of care available for those people. But I can say from personal experience that only a very small minority of our chronically homeless and severely mentally ill clients were actually unable to clear the “no assault or vandalism” bar. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-metal-things-on-concrete-benches/1025500/94 "2025-12-10T18:35:42Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > Yes, that’s true, there needs to be a higher level of care available for those people. But I can say from personal experience that only a very small minority of our chronically homeless and severely mentally ill clients were actually unable to clear the “no assault or vandalism” bar. Like i said- when i was on that Commission, we found the largest group to be single mothers (a couple dads) who had just lost their job then apartment. That program, to get them a job then an apartment, was hugely successful- Free Job training, resume and interview help, then help with deposits on the apartment. But they are not living on the streets- they live in their cars, couch surf, etc. Then yes, drugs and mental illness, but who- given a modicum of care- could live in a subsidized unit. Get them Social Security or Disability, some medical care, etc. Then a few that need care- lots of it. They wont be cheap, but really- cheaper than on the street. Then a few who prefer that lifestyle. Okay, let them know there is help, etc. But - and this is important- there is _no one “one size fits al solution” to “the homeless crisis” as there are several types of homeless._ ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-metal-things-on-concrete-benches/1025500/95 "2025-12-10T18:44:41Z")
Yes, that’s also very true. Your experience mirrors what researchers have known for a long time. At any given time, about half the homeless population are basically normal people who have hit a bad run of luck and can get back on their feet with a little help. There is a lot of turnover in this group, as those people don’t tend to remain homeless very long, but there are always new people falling into homelessness. The other about-half are people with serious mental illness and/or\* addictions, who rarely escape the cycle of going from the streets to some sort of institution and then back. They need very different things from the first group. \*but almost always “and” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-metal-things-on-concrete-benches/1025500/96 "2025-12-10T18:54:47Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > At any given time, about half the homeless population are basically normal people who have hit a bad run of luck and can get back on their feet with a little help. And with that group, you can get them a job, housing etc, without any long term payout. Training assistance, maybe some medical during the in-between time, etc. And then they become productive members of society. Every County and state needs to have this- it is cheap and pays off. And- it makes sure those people do not fall into hard core homelessness. Open a few Mental institutions, put the worst cases in there. Wont be many, but there are getting more and more and more slip into that status. Then- long term help for the rest. (Okay the few that like the lifestyle, let them do it) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-metal-things-on-concrete-benches/1025500/97 "2025-12-10T19:06:16Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > On a more practical level, the way to deal with that argument is to point out that we already _are_ giving them free stuff all the time: ambulance rides, ER services, public defenders, nights in jail cells and hospital beds. All those things are very expensive. If we made wiser choices about which free stuff to give them, we’d be spending less _and_ they’d be better off. Which of those would you cut? ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-metal-things-on-concrete-benches/1025500/98 "2025-12-10T19:10:01Z")
Of course we’re not going to cut off people’s access to any of those things, but we can make it much less likely that people will find themselves in situations where they need them. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-metal-things-on-concrete-benches/1025500/99 "2025-12-10T19:34:26Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > - Compassion is expensive. > > Not really, it is cheaper than emergency services. Quite right. But the people arguing that compassion is unaffordable think the correct response to homeless people is zero services of any kind. They are to be banished, not helped. That’s even cheaper in their minds. In that line of thinking the only thing the cops ought to do is whack them with a stick until they move to a different jurisdiction. That’s the homeless solution a lot of people would like to implement. Slowly sweep them all out into the wilderness to die of exposure alone, unnoticed, and most definitely unmissed. Again this is not _my_ preferred solution. But it’s popular with enough of the public that implementing the wise well-researched solutions that you and @Thing.Fish are advocating are political non-starters in most of the US. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2025, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-metal-things-on-concrete-benches/1025500/100 "2025-12-11T01:59:24Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Which of those would you cut? If you gave the homeless some sort of cheap healthcare, like “doc in the box” coupons you dont need to cut services. If we treated the homeless like humans, it would be cheaper and no services need to be cute. I think you totally misunderstood their point. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > But it’s popular with enough of the public that implementing the wise well-researched solutions that you and @Thing.Fish are advocating are political non-starters in most of the US. My City/County did do what i said- one year until the federal, etc funding got cut/ran out. So it is doable. I mean think what we did- free job training and help with Interview clothes and resumes- IIRC the Salvation Army and some others helped (schools lend us facilities during the summer)- cost was small. Doc in the box coupons (You want zoning for that, _sure_ but we need this…) the big cost was the rent deposits etc, which some arm twisting got some landlords to cooperate with. Basically we lent them first months rent (paid direct, we helped them find the housing) and guaranteed the deposits. IIRC a good % of the rent was repaid anyway. I think it cost like a Million $. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-metal-things-on-concrete-benches/1025500.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-metal-things-on-concrete-benches/1025500.md?page=6)