Why You Never Should Judge Homeless People

Discussion in 'The Cocktail Lounge' started by Rainman, May 19, 2015.

  1. Glcameron

    Glcameron Well-Known Member

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    I personally never pass judgement on anyone who is homeless because I had a time in my life when I experienced that myself. You never understand how firsthand you are trying to regain some type of composure when something extraordinary happens in your life. My boyfriend and I got to fight and he was verbally as well as physically abusive I did not have family in the area and I was pretty much out of the condo that we shared. It was going to take months in order to deal with him in court in until about time I had to pay for a hotel room until I had no money left as I was cold and homeless shelters every single day. Lucky enough I got accepted to one the last day I was able to pay for the hotel room and from that time I ended up having to get a hotel room after I left and pay for it with the job I had to secure while at the homeless shelter. No one really knows what it's like to live in a hotel that cost more than apartment for be so can't because you are trying to pay day to day or week to week and realise that you only have 15 dollars is your name at the end of your paycheck in order to get food. I never judge anyone was homeless I always ask them if they need any help and if its financial your advice food or finding a place to stay I always offer help.
     
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  2. Sunflogun

    Sunflogun Well-Known Member

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    I've see that too. When I was a kid there was a bump in my street talking to us and he told us how rich he was and so on and on. As kids we believe him of course, but now looking back I think he was just delusional.
     
  3. pwarbi

    pwarbi Senior Investor

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    How many people actually take the time time to stop and talk to homeless people? In the city where I live, there's quite a high amount of people living in the streets, and I used to work in the middle of this city. Everyday I'd see the same people sat on the same corners.

    It was only by chance I got speaking to one of them, his story didn't involve drink or substance abuse, nor anything like what people always assume.

    He was made homeless when he got divorced from his wife. He had no family of friends to stay with, she got the house and everything. He went to the authorities for help, and they refused to help because they said he made himself intentionally homeless by filing for divorce in the first place.

    With no home, he can't get any benefits, so he doesn't have any money. Without money, he can't look for work. So he's a now stuck in the system.

    I think if people took the time to actually speak to these people, you'd hear a lot of the same kind of stories.

    So don't judge or call them all bums, one day it might be you in the same position don't forget.
     
    Last edited: May 21, 2015
  4. dianethare

    dianethare Senior Investor

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    Many people out here are victims of a certain circumstance, they are out here because something along the way happened and couldn't turn or change the situation in their favor, its just sad that, that soldier's life had to turn out the way it did...i hope the sun shines on him once more and many others who've gone through worse situations...that life becomes better for them in the final end :)
     
  5. Fredrick Jones

    Fredrick Jones Well-Known Member

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    Probably Rainman should have said, don't make assumptions about homeless people. It is a situation that can happen to anyone. They make a series of bad decisions and eventually their life can start to unravel. I am not against welfare itself, but I am against the way welfare is implemented in most countries. Welfare seems to get these unfortunates hooked onto the system. Probably the current welfare system needs to be totally scrapped and rebuilt from scratch.
     
  6. CarpeNemo

    CarpeNemo Well-Known Member

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    If you knew how terrifyingly easy it was to become homeless without ever having done drugs or committed a crime, you'd have trouble sleeping at night. It's not just people who slip through legal cracks - it's the veterans who come home broken, and people who are homeless because the Recession destroyed their job. Homelessness is also a vicious cycle, just like poverty. It's almost designed to keep you homeless once you are. In many places, you're a criminal the moment you become homeless because of vagrancy laws. Some states will pack you on a bus and ship you off to God knows where to make you someone else's problem.

    You also need to have a proof of residence to get a job in many places, something that's nearly impossible to have being homeless. Because you're homeless. Can't have a residence if you're homeless. Then you'll need a phone to get job offers, and you're already squatting in the library half the day using the computers for job applications and to check your email praying that today of all days is the last time you shower in a gas station bathroom that looks more like Silence of the Lambs was filmed in it.
     
  7. gracer

    gracer Senior Investor

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    I remember the movie "The Pursuit for Happyness" with your story. Will Smith's character was definitely not a lazy bum, an addict or a crazy person but he and his son still ended up on the streets. This movie is a perfect example of a person who never gave up despite all the seemingly bad luck that happened to him. In the end he lived to tell his story of success amidst all the struggles. It's based on a true story so I got all the more inspired by it. That story actually made me consume a whole pack of napkins. :'(
     
  8. In the running

    In the running Well-Known Member

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    That's only true for the ones who cannot or do not work to get their way out of being homeless. A person really has to think outside the box, get creative and get more than one job in order to get off the streets and into an apartment or room share.

    Trust me. It can be done.

    ,
     
  9. Sunflogun

    Sunflogun Well-Known Member

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    That is one great movie gracer. That was fiction, but could happen and the case of war veterans sadly is more and more common too, they return and don't receive proper support and end up on the streets.
     
  10. pwarbi

    pwarbi Senior Investor

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    And also trust me when I tell you that it isn't that easy. It's not just a case of working a bit harder to get off the streets. That seems to be a comment off somebody that has never been in that position?

    If it was that easy why would there be so many homeless in all the major cities in the world? Because they're simply lazy? They like sleeping on the streets in the middle of winter?

    I think people need to get into the real world if the thinking is that homeless people just bring it on themselves.
     

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