The great bum purge of '09?

[stephElf]

they are different here! other people agreed with me.

in seattle i gave a bum a dollar bc he was playing guitar and had a nice dog... he said thank you and god bless you.

in NYC they will say the same thing or just nod their head.

none of this - thats it? i dont want your food give me MONEY NOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

[hooplady]

One of the strangest things I've ever seen was while visiting Prague a few years ago.  The beggars literally prostrate themselves for hours at a time - kneeling/lying face down on the cobblestones with a cup in their outstretched hands.  It looked painful.  Apparently that is the "appropriate" way to beg; people just walked by and dropped coins in their cup, with no conversation whatsoever.  It was almost surreal, as if they were still in the Middle Ages asking for "alms for the poor."

Their posture made them seem reverent toward their anonymous benfactors.  It was as if each party knew his/her place and understood the rules of the game.  Nothing like the aggressive panhandlers we have here.

[David]

in seattle i gave a bum a dollar bc he was playing guitar and had a nice dog... he said thank you and god bless you.

that guy wasn't a bum he was a musician. It's a fine line.

[stephElf]

in seattle i gave a bum a dollar bc he was playing guitar and had a nice dog... he said thank you and god bless you.

that guy wasn't a bum he was a musician. It's a fine line.

no he was def a bum. he lived on the streets with a pack of them. a few had scrawny dogs.

[stephElf]

dave stop disagreeing with me or i'm gonna gouge your eyes out and get us both kicked off metrojax

[mandy6488]

I think Steph and Dave should fight it out.

[ChriswUfGator]

yeah but what if they say yes? haha

Where do I swipe the card? OH GOD!

ewwwwwwwww.....

You just HAD to go there, didn't you...now I can't get the image outta my head 

[David]

Just trying to get back on point, elf!

Either way, it’s good to see some action being taken against what I’d hate calling it a “problem” but it really does discourage most people from enjoying what an otherwise great area has to offer.

[RiversideLoki]

I guess my other point on this whole thing is "Where in the world are they taking them to?" Are they just dumping them in the jail for misc. misdemeanors? Or are they dropping them off at a shelter?

I know it sounds like we're all being callous buttholes when we talk about the homeless problem. But it is a "problem". As I stated in a previous thread, there are social services available to these people. But they frankly make more money panhandling to support their habits than they do if they had a low wage job.

There are a myriad of different solutions. But I know that (at least among the 5-points group of bums) they don't want help. They want to make their cash, get high, and go sleep in the park/under a house/in my back yard (which has happened several times.)

Quite a perplexing situation. One I plan on contemplating while I'm on "jorts watch" at steamworks tonight.

[Shwaz]

"jorts watch"

LMAO

[The Compound]

Back when I first moved into my house back in '01 or '02, I had a bum come to my door at 10pm or so, dont ask why I answered. I dont know.

He said, Im trying to get $5 to get some pants because Im starting work at the new store down the street. (the gay Publix). 

He said they were on layaway at a thrift store.

I called his bluff and asked, oh, what color. He said blue. I said what size? He said 32 waist. I said, oh hold on, I have some just like that I'll give them to you.

Then he said oh no i mean 34 waist and 32 length. I said oh, I have those too, hold on let me get them. 

He said oh no, I have to get those, they are holding them for me.  I said, well Im not giving you money for something that I can already give you, maybe you should just ask for what you really want next time.
He got all pissed and took off.

[Johnny]

I guess my other point on this whole thing is "Where in the world are they taking them to?" Are they just dumping them in the jail for misc. misdemeanors? Or are they dropping them off at a shelter?

They should take them to the beach, don't they send their bums downtown?

Actually, it would be nice to take them to St Johns County, Ponte Vedra or Queens Harbor. That's where the bleeding hearts live that feel it's necessary to come feed them with lots of stuff that litter or they pay to fund another shelter downtown. Move them to where these people live, they apparently "care" so much. Maybe they'll let them stay the night and give them a bath and a home made cookie.

[riverside_mail]

This is the main reason I don't carry cash anymore while working. I don't know how many times I have heard, "Mailman, [insert sob story here], got any change?"

[sheclown]

poverty is so inconvenient

[Karl_Pilkington]

had an interesting encounter with one of downtown's plethora of panhandlers today at lunch.  While walking on Forsyth street down near the bus station this guy comes up, he's got a full loaf of bread in a bag and then gives me the blah blah blah on his unfortunate situation and asks me to take him to Big Petes for pizza.  I ask him about the bread and he responds that its only bread, he wants something substantial and I ask 'like Pizza'?  I tell him that he's actually in luck, mere blocks from where we walking was this great place called Clara White and I tell him that lunch is in full effect there.  He then asked for me to just give him some money and I advised that I really wasn't an ATM.  I was then called a "cracker blankety blank"  yep, fun stuff!  Lpve those guys.