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| Coffee Lounge Talk amongst other community members. |
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Jan 28, 04
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I do feel sorry for many of you that have so much and one day might have all that taken away.
I lost it all twice and now do appreciate what I have and the value of a dollar. Do you? 
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Jan 28, 04
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such a difficult issue. i am not without compassion for homeless folks who have ended up that way because of abuse, poverty or illness, but apart from in the downtown east side, it appears that those are a minority amongst the street people. Of course it's wrong to judge anyone based on your reaction to their appearance, but it's not hard to figure that most of the supposedly homeless kids that populate the sidewalks of davie and robson are there by their own choice (to some extent). Vagrants and runaways like these, able bodied young people who don't feel like working for whatever reason, are undermining the plight of the homeless who really don't have any power over their situation, giving them a contemptable image in the eyes of the ignorant & uninformed masses (as evidenced by this thread). The vibe i get from these street kids is that they feel like their too good to work for 'the man', or what they percieve as an authoratarian society that will enslve them and take their soul. You can see it in their indignant attitude towards the working people who they harasss for change daily. Yet when it comes time to take handouts from that same society, ie welfare, they will be the first in line.
Unfortunately there's no real way of knowing how each street person got to where they are, so it's wrong to lump them all into one category...
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Jan 28, 04
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All the time... Every 4 people = $1 I often give out food, spare change and words of wisdom. If they straight up lie in my face about what it's for they get the lint in my pocket. If its for food...great. If it's for crack...beat it.
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Jan 28, 04
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all this "born into poverty" "vicious cycle" crap.
you know, i do empathize with homelessness/drug addiction, etc...i understand more than some. I do believe in things like social assistance, homeless shelters, make-work programs, even safe-injection sites. But I strongly disagree with the implication that these poor people are helpless...they were born into it...or whatever... I have lived in poverty much of my life, with an alcoholic mother...I've battled manic depression and drug addiction...and now I'm working my shitty fast food job just to get by. That's why I'm not giving away my hard-earned quarter to that fucking lady. I pay taxes and when I can afford it, donate to worthy organizations.
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Jan 28, 04
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Here's a quick one for you guys...
My Mom was on welfare after she divorced my Dad to support me and my sister for the better part of 3 years until we were both going to school and she could get a job to get by. Lets say the payment was $800/month (it was the early 80's) which is $9600 a year and $28,800 over the three years. She also got a student loan from the government after that for $40,000. So that's $68,000 they gave my Mom to help better ourselves. Now all these years later me and my Momj pays about $18,200 a year in income tax plus a lot more in sales tax and she's repayed the entire student loan. She's been paying about that much tax every year since about 98' I think so say about 7 years now. That's a return of $99,400 with out even looking at how much it would have cost society if she was forced into becoming a criminal. Now also consider that her staying home and taking care of her children probably had a lot to do with both of us turning out all right and not being criminals. I pay around $5000 a year in income tax's and so does my sister. You can't help someone that doesn't want to be helped but if people are willing to give it a shot anything is possible.
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Jan 28, 04
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but this is my pov...half my bestfriends are addicted to crystal, they all live at home, no job, and have not graduated from highschool its been a good 3 years+ and none of them have made a serious attempt at quitting i don't understand why they continue hurting themselves like this...they've got decent families, the oportunity for an education, ones got tons a money, and they all have friends that would help them if they need it they know how i feel bout their drug use, but there's really nothing i can do until they smarten up i hate it and it wouldn't surprise me if they end up on the streets....and to support them in the future when they go down is a slap on the face to me and the other people who've quit doing drugs and gotten an education/job, a life i know that not all bums are derived from that kinda situation, but for the ones that are...i have no sympathy for them Last edited by Kelster; Jan 28, 04 at 09:24 AM.
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Jan 28, 04
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What I want to know is, how do you know these people don't want help? Have you actually sat down and talked to street kids?? What are you basing this on? My guess would be the media. I hate it when a reporter finds ONE homeless person who's message is fuck you all I don't want a job, I'll take all the handouts I can get. Reporters these days rarely report facts, they sensationalize to sell papers. I think 99% of you on this board have NO FUCKING idea what it's like to be homeless, so how can you assume??
If you think the person is going spend the change you give them on drugs, don't give them change. Give them food, that's what I do. If I have a doggy bag after going out for dinner I will hand them that. And who in their right mind would be against safe injection sites?? Would you rather come across someone shooting up in a bathroom, or accidently get pricked by a needle left behind?? I could go on and on....but I'm just stunned by the pure ignorance in this world.
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