Homeless people break my heart

[tiedye]

I've come across many like that, but more so, I suppose, the ones I'm speaking of are ones without regret. Not all of them chose to be there, but they definitely don't see it as a bad thing.

[lildonkey]

Originally Posted by Courtney

^I've talked to a lot who say they never imagined their life would turn out that way, they want help etc.
and actually never ran into anyone who wants to be there.......
personal experiences i guess

Yeah, they say a lot.... and it usually ends with "do you have a few spare bucks?"

I feel absolutely NO sympathy for people who are homeless in canada. There are SO many fucking resources here, it just blows my mind. There are seriously SOOOOOOO many programs and the like for underprivileged people.

You have nowhere to sleep? Boo fucking hoo... enlist in the army. They will bed you / feed you / educate you...

You're on drugs? Go to detox or one of the other 3000000 programs available to you.

Some people have just become accustomed to that lifestyle... all their friends are junkies, so how do they expect to clean up themselves? They are going to go to rehab... get off the drugs... then go hang out with their junky friends and relapse right away.


the people fucking up the downtown eastside should have the option of cleaning up or being exchanged with another person in a 3rd world country who would actually appreciate being here... instead of just living off of the other people that live here...



(that being said... this is directed to people who enjoy being bums... i understand people fuck up sometimes.. and their lives get hectic and they end up on the streets or whatever... thats all cool.. it happens... but to stay in that lifestyle is when i lose respect for you as a person... everyone has the ability to change)

it just comes down to how bad you want it.

[Lush]

Tiedye I disagree with you as well.

I don't think anyone voluntarily chooses that lifestyle, perhaps they say they do but it's only because they're in denial.

My boyfriend lives in Gastown so I've been exposed to a lot of what goes on in the downtown eastside and I don't know if you've taken a good walk in that area but if you have you'd realize that none of those people are happy living that life.
I think it becomes really apparent on those cold winter nights where there's snow everywhere and/or it's freezing and you see these people pushing shopping carts and shaking profusely but so consumed by their drug addiction that they disacknowledge everything else.

It's a downward spiral, there isn't much being done to help the situation and it only appears to be getting worse. I think the people you've spoken have told you that they're happy with their lifestyle because they realize that they would never be able to maintain a stable job and their addiction - it's much easier to convince themselves otherwise (exempt some longshoremen and people who work in the oil rigs).

It's heartbreaking, society needs to look at these people as individuals rather than a problem.

[tiedye]

You people grow so narrow-minded in your small, comfortable city worlds. Can you understand why someone would want to live isolated in a cabin in the woods surviving solely on the land around them without a single person within miles and miles of them? I've met several.

It's not like the willingly homeless are saying, "I want to go live on the street in poverty." They're saying, "I don't want to hold a steady job and live by the standards of others. I want to be free to live my life as I see fit." It's cause and effect. You choose the cause and therefore willingly choose the effect.

[tiedye]

Perhaps it's because they see ridicule and pity in your eyes and they think a sob story will get a few more dimes out of you than just saying "hey, it could be worse. I could be working in a cubicle hating my life right now." Vancouver isn't exactly known for its friendly, open-minded populace.

[Lush]

Tiedye, you've obviously never seen taken a stroll past Pigeon Park have you?
I think you're being exceptionally narrow-minded, you're talking about a whole different kind of homelessness.
Yes, you're glorified 'nomadic' lifestyle sounds great but you're addressing a backpacker type 'homelessness' not the one that's being discussed in this thread.

^^^ Yes, there are a lot of resources but a lot of those people are mentally ill and I can't even imagine what it must be like to battle a heroin or crack addiction.

Plus, when the city decides to start getting rid of low income housing or hotels where a lot of these people were residing it doesn't exactly give these people hope. They have so little and even that is being taken away. There's also plenty of talk about Vancouvers safe injection site closing, which will only contribute to more Hep C and HIV being spread.

Yes, if a person wants to quit bad enough they will, but I think people need to start being more compassionate and trying to help the situation rather than ignoring it.

[lildonkey]

Originally Posted by Lush

It's a downward spiral, there isn't much being done to help the situation and it only appears to be getting worse.

You can't help people who don't want to be helped. How much more "help" do they need? How many programs out there are government funded, to take care of their every need?

[tiedye]

Originally Posted by Lush

Tiedye, you've obviously never seen taken a stroll past Pigeon Park have you?
I think you're being exceptionally narrow-minded, you're talking about a whole different kind of homelessness.
Yes, you're glorified 'nomadic' lifestyle sounds great but you're addressing a backpacker type 'homelessness' not the one that's being discussed in this thread.

I've passed Pigeon Park many a time. I've strolled past Main and Hastings at 2am a handful of times. I've seen the degradation and poverty that you are referring to. All I'm saying is, not every person who is on the street is a crackhead and most could have found a good job had they tried.

Realizing and understanding the fact that your actions in life determine where you end up makes me narrow-minded? The people I feel pity for are the ones who look at someone as weak and helpless, when really.. even the mentally ill are completely in control of their outcome. As I said, many of these people chose to be on the street in one way or another and are completely content with their lifestyle.

My glorified 'nomadic' lifestyle that I held so dearly for a large portion of my teenage years is not what I'm referring to. It was simply a similar example showing that not everyone is happy living in a $1000/month one bedroom apartment working retail in some mall or answering douchebag questions in a call centre only to come home to their four walls and precious belongings that do nothing but further their ego. That's not life to me, and it's not life to a large portion of our society.

[LLaaUUrrYYn]

Originally Posted by lildonkey

Yeah, they say a lot.... and it usually ends with "do you have a few spare bucks?"

I feel absolutely NO sympathy for people who are homeless in canada. There are SO many fucking resources here, it just blows my mind. There are seriously SOOOOOOO many programs and the like for underprivileged people.

You have nowhere to sleep? Boo fucking hoo... enlist in the army. They will bed you / feed you / educate you...

You're on drugs? Go to detox or one of the other 3000000 programs available to you.

Some people have just become accustomed to that lifestyle... all their friends are junkies, so how do they expect to clean up themselves? They are going to go to rehab... get off the drugs... then go hang out with their junky friends and relapse right away.


the people fucking up the downtown eastside should have the option of cleaning up or being exchanged with another person in a 3rd world country who would actually appreciate being here... instead of just living off of the other people that live here...



(that being said... this is directed to people who enjoy being bums... i understand people fuck up sometimes.. and their lives get hectic and they end up on the streets or whatever... thats all cool.. it happens... but to stay in that lifestyle is when i lose respect for you as a person... everyone has the ability to change)

it just comes down to how bad you want it.

Getting a bed in a detox center for one week DOES NOTHING. Believe me. The waiting lists across BC are insane. You have to have money to get help around here..believe me..we have been trying to get my sister in a government funded rehibilitation centre for almost a year. (if you cant make it there exactly when they tell you to be - your fucked, they will give the bed to someone else) Sure she can go in detox for a week, she meets a bunch more druggy friends and she is right back at it.

You really should get your facts right =)

I dont believe for a second that ANYONE is happy living on the street..I believe thats just something you tell yourselves to feel better about the situation. There might be alot of resources out there, but that doesn't mean theres enough for everyone.

[LLaaUUrrYYn]

Originally Posted by tiedye

Realizing and understanding the fact that your actions in life determine where you end up makes me narrow-minded? The people I feel pity for are the ones who look at someone as weak and helpless, when really.. even the mentally ill are completely in control of their outcome. As I said, many of these people chose to be on the street in one way or another and are completely content with their lifestyle.

Are you saying that a mentally challenged drug addict or just a mentally challenged homeless man/women is in control of their life? Do you know anyone with severe mental disease? Have you ever had a friend/loved one so addicted to drugs that they are litterally in another world??

Only we can make ourselves happy, but most mentally challenged/drug addicted people are not capable of even that.

[tiedye]

I'm saying that even a mentally ill person still had a choice when they began using drugs.

[LLaaUUrrYYn]

Originally Posted by tiedye

I'm saying that even a mentally ill person still had a choice when they began using drugs.

Not always..

[b0ld]

one of the first things you are taught as a child is the difference between right and wrong. The fact of the matter is homelessness is a way of life.

[tiedye]

Originally Posted by LLaaUUrrYYn

Not always..

You're right. I forgot about the recent craze of holding a gun and a light bulb to a schizophrenic person's head. It's all the rage in Europe.

[Gunter S]

whata bunch of haterz you people are

[Jonny Dubbs]

I think every human has a choice, no matter how dire the circumstance we all have a choice and are responsible for our own existence. Therefore i find it difficult not to be apathetic towards many of the street people i see. Ive been faced with adversity - the kind that would make many a statistic, I made choices that lead me to overcome those, and did it with little or no support. Why cant they? We have it real easy in this country and i think most take it for granted.

[lildonkey]

Originally Posted by Jonny Dubbs

I think every human has a choice, no matter how dire the circumstance we all have a choice and are responsible for our own existence. Therefore i find it difficult not to be apathetic towards many of the street people i see. Ive been faced with adversity - the kind that would make many a statistic, I made choices that lead me to overcome those, and did it with little or no support. Why cant they? We have it real easy in this country and i think most take it for granted.

quoted for truth.

[Gunter S]

Originally Posted by Jonny Dubbs

I think every human has a choice, no matter how dire the circumstance we all have a choice and are responsible for our own existence. Therefore i find it difficult not to be apathetic towards many of the street people i see. Ive been faced with adversity - the kind that would make many a statistic, I made choices that lead me to overcome those, and did it with little or no support. Why cant they? We have it real easy in this country and i think most take it for granted.

quit fucking talking

[tiedye]

Originally Posted by Gunter S

quit fucking talking

Why, because you can't articulate a meaningful rebuttal to his valid opinion? Thanks for playing.

[Courtney]

ok seriously
my dad has been an on and off drug addict for much of my life
and trust me I hate him, i dont even talk to him anymore and i think he's so selfish and has had so many chances....and people like him I hate because I do believe that they have fucked their own life .......but thats personally, speaking medically most of these people have severe depression, bi-polar depression, mental illnes, have come from severe abuse as children etc. etc. these are all medically proven to be illnesses!!!!!
A lot of these people have come from homes that were not privileged in any way and therefore they were born into a life some of us would never have to experience...
if you come from nothing it is often hard to believe you can become something.....
if you were abused as a child and told you were worthless..chances are you are going to grow up believing this...
and without confidence in yourself...most times you will not succeed

I get so pissed off coming from north van so many people talk shit about homeless.....we don't know where they came from and what got them there.....didn't you learn as a child not to judge?!
Vancouver is pretty good about anti-racism and open-mindeness but when it comes to homeless we are a bunch of pretentious snobs
pisses me off

[Courtney]

oh and fyi
i hate the "they tried drugs, they made the choice" line......

if that's true than anyone who has ever tried drug has no right to talk because drug addicts have something in t hem....once they try it...thats it,....they are hooked.
This doesn't make them any stupider than the next person who pops e at a rave...it just makes them unlucky in that the terrible addiction resides inside of them.....

[tiedye]

The "they tried drugs, they made the choice" line is completely valid. I say this from experience. I went through my own bout about 4 or 5 years ago and walked away from it cold turkey. Why? Because I didn't enjoy the lifestyle.

I have a friend who is bipolar and suffers from manic depression and, despite it, he has managed to try and use drugs somewhat regularly without succumbing to addiction. Whenever he noticed that he was using drugs as a crutch, he would come to me, a then heavy drug user, for help.

Everyone has the choice. For some, the choice is harder to make. For most, it's just easier to tell yourself that they had no choice and that's why they're addicted. It's hard to accept that the world is full of people with no regard for a healthy life.

[Gunter S]

for homeless people

[tiedye]

Originally Posted by Courtney

I get so pissed off coming from north van so many people talk shit about homeless.....we don't know where they came from and what got them there.....didn't you learn as a child not to judge?!
Vancouver is pretty good about anti-racism and open-mindeness but when it comes to homeless we are a bunch of pretentious snobs
pisses me off

Are you serious? We're taught all of our lives to judge. The image of a 'proper' lifestyle is shoved in our faces everywhere we turn. In our schools when they tell us you have to be successful, in the media when they portray a 110lbs woman with an exposed rib cage to be the epitome of beauty, in our home when our parents gossip about the going-ons of the neighbourhood. Think about it.

Oh, and Vancouver is actually more racist than you would think. Why do you think it is so segregated? Open-mindedness? Why is it so hard to meet people if you're not dressed the same as them? Don't get me wrong, I love the city... but it is no different than the rest of the world.

[Jonny Dubbs]

Originally Posted by Courtney

.......but thats personally, speaking medically most of these people have severe depression, bi-polar depression, mental illnes, have come from severe abuse as children etc. etc. these are all medically proven to be illnesses!!!!!
A lot of these people have come from homes that were not privileged in any way and therefore they were born into a life some of us would never have to experience...
if you come from nothing it is often hard to believe you can become something.....
if you were abused as a child and told you were worthless..chances are you are going to grow up believing this...
and without confidence in yourself...most times you will not succeed

These are all reasons why many people in our society end up making the decisions they do, it explains the environment and thought process involved. It does not invalidate the simple fact they still have a choice.