Here's something you might be interested in.
The other day my girlfriend and I decided to go to Pat & Oscar's. Because hey...that's how we roll. We both hate the lobster bisque at Marine Room, but we love the bread sticks at Pat & Oscar's. What can I say? I have the palate of a 10-year-old. To me, pizza and burgers rule (On a side note: I have yet to have a bad hamburger downtown; Neighborhood has great burgers and amazing fries; Burger Lounge has great burgers and cupcakes; too many to list. And I'm getting hungry now).
One time at Pat & Oscar's in Mission Valley, we saw a homeless guy ask some Dungeons & Dragons players on the patio for their breadsticks. I loved the fact that he asked for food they weren't going to eat, and not money.
We then drove around looking for him, to give him our left-over pasta. We never found him.
Since we had so much left over salad, breadsticks and pasta the other day...we decided to box it up, and find the next homeless person. I told my girlfriend it should be no problem, as we're near the river.
Well, we didn't see any. And she started driving downtown. I asked why and she said "To find a homeless person." I laughed and explained, "Look...I'm all for doing a nice thing for a homeless person. But that means IF we see one. That doesn't mean I want to waste time and gas, going out of our way, to find one."
We ran into our first problem within minutes.
We saw a lot of people that looked like they could've been homeless. But we weren't sure. I'd look at someone and say, "He might just have a long, funky beard. I don't want to offer him the food, only to find out he's a professor at SDSU."
We'd see a few kids in their teens. They are either homeless runaways, or they're trying to be hip with their ripped up jeans and piercings, and hair that hasn't been washed in days.
We saw a woman in her 40s, sitting on a few suitcases and smoking. We pulled up next to her. We couldn't decide...is she someone traveling, or a homeless person with her belongings in two neatly packed suitcases? It wasn't worth the risk in asking.
And as we drove down the next one-way street, we saw five homeless guys. Jackpot!
But my girlfriend drove by. I said, "What are you doing? There's no doubt in my mind they are homeless." She said, "Yeah, but there's so many of them. We can't just give the food to one of them. We need to find one by himself."
We turned down another street, and see one side with tents, shopping carts, and homeless people all over the place. The same problem arose.
But on the other side of the street, there were just a few homeless people. We drove over there.
A tall guy, with a long blonde pony tail and a limp in his walk, was moving slowly. As were we, right next to him in the car. I rolled down the window and offered him the food. He said, "Oh, thank you so much for offering. But I just had a meal recently. There are so many others on this street that could use it a lot more than I."
As I rolled up the window I said, "That is the most polite and well-spoken homeless man ever. If I'm homeless, and I had a meal an hour ago...and someone drove up offering me more food, I'm going to force it down. You might not know where your next meal is coming from."
About 50 feet up the street, we see a black guy sitting down. We pull up to ask him if he wants the food. He's too far for me to roll down the window and yell to him. But, we don't doubt he's homeless, as he has a small grill there and a few other belongings. I ask my girlfriend to go give the food to him. She replied, "You're going to make me approach some homeless guy?" I said, "Look...it's still light outside. I wouldn't make you do this at night. And besides, a tall guy approaching him, might just freak him out. And the dogs on my lap, I..."
Just then, the guy appears at the window. I got startled, and the dog barked a bit.
He had a gold chain dangling down. And my first thought was -- a homeless guy with bling. That's interesting.
I could smell and see his chicken cooking. And we asked if he wanted some breadsticks and salad to go along with it. He thanked us profusely.
As we drove off, we wondered about him. He had three chicken breasts going on that grill. Maybe he was the wrong person to offer the food to.
My girlfriend said, "Maybe he approached the car because he thought we were looking for drugs. It could've been a drug dealer we just gave our food to."
I didn't think drug dealers just cooked up chicken out on the sidewalks. But with as many breadsticks as we hooked him up with...I did picture him going up to some of the other guys on the street, opening up an army jacket to show the various bread sticks and chicken in different pockets and offering to sell them like they were fake Rolex watches.
But at the end of the day, I really didn't care. It was food that was going to be thrown away anyway.
The other day my girlfriend and I decided to go to Pat & Oscar's. Because hey...that's how we roll. We both hate the lobster bisque at Marine Room, but we love the bread sticks at Pat & Oscar's. What can I say? I have the palate of a 10-year-old. To me, pizza and burgers rule (On a side note: I have yet to have a bad hamburger downtown; Neighborhood has great burgers and amazing fries; Burger Lounge has great burgers and cupcakes; too many to list. And I'm getting hungry now).
One time at Pat & Oscar's in Mission Valley, we saw a homeless guy ask some Dungeons & Dragons players on the patio for their breadsticks. I loved the fact that he asked for food they weren't going to eat, and not money.
We then drove around looking for him, to give him our left-over pasta. We never found him.
Since we had so much left over salad, breadsticks and pasta the other day...we decided to box it up, and find the next homeless person. I told my girlfriend it should be no problem, as we're near the river.
Well, we didn't see any. And she started driving downtown. I asked why and she said "To find a homeless person." I laughed and explained, "Look...I'm all for doing a nice thing for a homeless person. But that means IF we see one. That doesn't mean I want to waste time and gas, going out of our way, to find one."
We ran into our first problem within minutes.
We saw a lot of people that looked like they could've been homeless. But we weren't sure. I'd look at someone and say, "He might just have a long, funky beard. I don't want to offer him the food, only to find out he's a professor at SDSU."
We'd see a few kids in their teens. They are either homeless runaways, or they're trying to be hip with their ripped up jeans and piercings, and hair that hasn't been washed in days.
We saw a woman in her 40s, sitting on a few suitcases and smoking. We pulled up next to her. We couldn't decide...is she someone traveling, or a homeless person with her belongings in two neatly packed suitcases? It wasn't worth the risk in asking.
And as we drove down the next one-way street, we saw five homeless guys. Jackpot!
But my girlfriend drove by. I said, "What are you doing? There's no doubt in my mind they are homeless." She said, "Yeah, but there's so many of them. We can't just give the food to one of them. We need to find one by himself."
We turned down another street, and see one side with tents, shopping carts, and homeless people all over the place. The same problem arose.
But on the other side of the street, there were just a few homeless people. We drove over there.
A tall guy, with a long blonde pony tail and a limp in his walk, was moving slowly. As were we, right next to him in the car. I rolled down the window and offered him the food. He said, "Oh, thank you so much for offering. But I just had a meal recently. There are so many others on this street that could use it a lot more than I."
As I rolled up the window I said, "That is the most polite and well-spoken homeless man ever. If I'm homeless, and I had a meal an hour ago...and someone drove up offering me more food, I'm going to force it down. You might not know where your next meal is coming from."
About 50 feet up the street, we see a black guy sitting down. We pull up to ask him if he wants the food. He's too far for me to roll down the window and yell to him. But, we don't doubt he's homeless, as he has a small grill there and a few other belongings. I ask my girlfriend to go give the food to him. She replied, "You're going to make me approach some homeless guy?" I said, "Look...it's still light outside. I wouldn't make you do this at night. And besides, a tall guy approaching him, might just freak him out. And the dogs on my lap, I..."
Just then, the guy appears at the window. I got startled, and the dog barked a bit.
He had a gold chain dangling down. And my first thought was -- a homeless guy with bling. That's interesting.
I could smell and see his chicken cooking. And we asked if he wanted some breadsticks and salad to go along with it. He thanked us profusely.
As we drove off, we wondered about him. He had three chicken breasts going on that grill. Maybe he was the wrong person to offer the food to.
My girlfriend said, "Maybe he approached the car because he thought we were looking for drugs. It could've been a drug dealer we just gave our food to."
I didn't think drug dealers just cooked up chicken out on the sidewalks. But with as many breadsticks as we hooked him up with...I did picture him going up to some of the other guys on the street, opening up an army jacket to show the various bread sticks and chicken in different pockets and offering to sell them like they were fake Rolex watches.
But at the end of the day, I really didn't care. It was food that was going to be thrown away anyway.
You should of had "Dang" check your AC. The Esco Chrysler dealer has tried to take me to the cleaners as well...avoid that shop.
SF..You hit the nail on the head!! Go to an unseemly place that spends their time working on cars, not cleaning the waiting area. If the place is spotless, then that means they have all the time in the world to clean....probably cause they have no repeat customers!
I agree with the name thing as well, and with the "christian" in the name even more so.
"...and the dogs on my lap,"
That's F--KING hilarious! Its OK, I'm a coward too when it comes to stuff like that. Better the girl does it, so you can carry on the family name.
I went to school up in Berkeley and what people often do is leave leftovers sitting out on a wall or by a trash can. Also, the homeless guys hang around the popular restaurants to scavenge.
There is a regular homeless population there but starting on about Thursdays, a bunch of kids sit on the street corner and ask for change. They usually travel in groups of 3 or 4 plus at least 1 dog. Sometimes, they're more aggressive and ask for more (like a dollar) than the other homeless guys. I guess they figure they can make more because most people don't have class on Friday.
Josh, they are absolutely "choosing" to live the life they're living, and personally, I don't like it. I don't like having to worry about the guy standing outside my window at the light, I don't like having to worry about the crazy guy on the sidewalk I have to walk past, I don't like having to see guys sleeping in doorways, camping on the sidewalk, and squating in the park, because they would rather live from bottle to bottle or pipe to pipe. Ask yourself, could they "choose" to live that life if no one enabled it?
sfmc: damn it...I knew the dog comment would come back to bite me in the a$$! So to speak. But, seriously...we have this thing. The person that's driving, if the other person has the dog on their lap, it's just more of a hassle to set the dog down, and then he starts spazzing, and wanting to come outside and run around. He's good in the car, sitting on your lap or just chillin' out. But when you take him off your lap, he thinks you're going to leave him, and all hell breaks loose! And, it's not a matter of being afraid of homeless dudes. It's really not. It's just a matter of, during daylight...a woman approaching with food is a much more, I dunno...nurturing site. They don't have a pride thing, where they are looking another guy in the eye, or whatever other BS might be going on in their head.
Your story about Berkley reminded me of the time I saw Spiderman 2 in Vegas. I bought one of those huge popcorns, simply because they said "free refills." It never occured to me, that me and the woman with me, wouldn't be able to finish even one of those. Yet, as we left, I got it refilled anyway.
As we went to a 7-11, I was going to throw it away. I saw a homeless person sitting there, and asked them if they wanted it. And they were stoked.
rickey...don't get me wrong. I hate the homeless. I've had horrible experiences. From one outside of the Corvette Diner throwing a bottle at me for not giving him any change (I always smile politely and say "sorry" when they ask for money, or something like "I don't have any, sorry about that." I never just ignore them, as I feel that's rude. I know, weird logic, but if someone addresses me, I can't ignore them, even if they are being rude to ask for money).
As I said...some of them are druggies. But many of them have mental problems. In high school, I dated a woman who had a mom that was a nurse. For a brief time, she worked at some mental hospital. She said when some insurances ran out, and various other things, the crazy people were just let out onto the streets.
It's one of the reasons, I felt like the CityBeat feature, although it was interesting to read their interviews with the homeless, they were still a piece of liberal BS crap that hardly told the whole story. An example would be the movie Robert Downey Jr. recently made with Jamie Foxx. They actually had to make up a lot of stuff, otherwise, we wouldn't really like the Foxx/homeless character or even care that that nut job was on the street.
Josh: CMR = Carmel Mountain Ranch. (I had to ask the same question myself. Somebody clued me.) I think now would be an appropriate time for Pete to tell us all where the best Mexican food is in San Diego County.
No, Josh, I want to hear it from Mr. Pete (may I call you Pis?).
Gracias, Pedro. I'm definitely gonna motorvate up that way to Jalapeno's sometime.
The best mechanic in the world is Tim at Viking Custom Works on Industrial, Esco. He is the nicest, most honest mechanic we've ever met and has really helped us out in a jam. Sometimes I pay him extra,'cause I don't think he's charged me enough.
rickeysays: "could they "choose" to live that life if no one enabled it?"
The answer is yes.
In a technical sense, I agree that many people "choose" to live on the street. But I also think that they don't have the capacity to choose. Living on the street is already an awful, horrendous existence. It can't get that much worse where a sane person is all of a sudden going to decide against it. Nobody is really enabling them, even by giving them food or spare change. They would just adapt if they stopped getting this stuff.
I'm not saying that they should be allowed to stay there, actually I think that they should be removed and treated for their illnesses. But you're misjudging the situation by assuming that creating another inconvenience for them would solve the problem.
Right now the city can't issue tickets for sleeping on the sidewalk until they have enough beds to house all of the homeless according to a court decision. However, nobody in East Village, where most of the homeless are, wants a shelter there. No other neighborhood wants it either. And even if they did, I don't think this would make a dent in the problem assuming the city even decided to enforce the laws. It would get rid of those who are consciously choosing to live there but that's a very small number. I think that many forget that the "homeless" are not a monolithic group. There isn't one solution to the problem.
Josh: A few questions--
How big is the dog? How often do you take it with you? Have you thought about putting it in the back seat? What percentage of the time does your girlfriend drive?
You guys have good intentions, but you'd be better off getting it out of your system volunteering at your neighborhood school, or doing a beach cleanup or charity walk on the weekend. I don't believe in doing anything that enables or encourages the homeless. You're doing more harm than good.
You should have come to Esco. There are a lot, of homeless here, but they aren't in groups. There is ALWAYS someone on the corner of Ninth and Valley Pkwy with a sign.
rickey...you are 0 for 2 today. First, with storyteller and her "claim" to the insurance company, and now with this. I would TOTALLY agree with you, regarding giving money to the homeless. But not food that is going to be thrown away! How does this "encourage" the homeless? They will decide not to work or not to get homes, because food is just "handed out to them" by a couple in a Toyota?
People on the streets either have mental problems, or they are druggies. They aren't people "choosing" to live a life of leisure and not work.
sf...this above post is the funniest thing I've read in a month. Awesome stuff, even with the starting intro on my guilt. I've already got my attorney working on an appeal.
When I was renting this house in San Marcos, I found this little Vietnamese mechanic I loved. He was recommended to me by a friend that has a car dealership, and he brings his cars to him and trusts him.
Although, a minor repair on my old Jag cost me almost four grand.
The funniest thing about him is...that his name is "Dang." And I wanted to say to him, "Is that your real name, or is it just what you thought Americans were calling you when you handed them the bill, and they immediately yelled 'Dang!'
I figured he wouldn't understand that, though. And besides, it was a little more than "dang" that I said upon hearing what my costs would be!!!
(in my best Homer Simpson voice) STUPID JAGUARS
Dang it. These are those questions that, much like a criminal getting on the stand knowing they're going to be nailed when they admit to the lawyers line of question, but they insist on taking the stand anyway.
The dog is tiny. About 7 pounds. We take it with us often. It was adopted from a shelter 8 months ago, and it has anxiety issues if left at home. And, even though it barks quietly, we don't think the neighbors should have to deal with hearing it. And, we don't want it freaking out, thinking we're leaving it, like it's previous owners. We put it in the back seat, and it jumps over the stick shift, and onto one of our laps.
And lastly...my girlfriend drives 80% of the time. And there's good reason for this. The air conditioning in my car went out a year ago. I took it to the dealership, spent $178 to fix it. Two weeks later, it went out again. Then, the fine folks at the Chrysler dealership in Escondido told me that it would be $450, to fix two hoses that were busted. I asked why they didn't fix them a few weeks ago, and they said "That was a different problem with your air conditioning, not the hoses." I didn't believe them, but what could I do? I didn't pay, and didn't have it fixed, on principle.
But the problem is...now it's hot as hell. And her brand new car, has brand new air conditioning!
josh: I don't think cliff brown or the other place on Park are that bad. Probably middle of the road. A dealership would probably have charged $70 just to look at it. Its certainly convenient. I could drop my car off and walk a half a block home. I love this neighborhood. I used to live in Carlsbad where you couldn't walk anywhere. I love the idea that if I'm out of milk, I can just run up to the store a block away.
Or walk to get fish tacos at El Zarape. Yum.
Hey sfm...you're in my next of the woods. I always wondered if those shops around there were any good.
I should've come here to reader.com 4 years ago. The responses from some of you a$$holes is comedy gold.
69 Jaguars
I thought I read once that you lived in CMR,Josh.
The defendant is guilty of non-manliness. I rest my case, your honor.
Dude, never take your car to a dealership to get it fixed. I guarantee you that the $178 was just to put in refrigerant that you can get at Pep Boys for $11 and you can do yourself. According to the law, they're supposed to put dye in the line first to find a leak before they add the "freon." You've gotta drive around for a week and bring it back. I bet they didn't do that and now they're covering for it.
The best place I ever had my car fixed (air conditioning, actually) was this place downtown called "Honest Honda." I have a theory that if a business has to claim something in its name that should otherwise be self evident, then its probably not true. Like "Authentic" Mexican Food. But I went for it anyway. I might have been their first customer in years. I'm pretty sure it was a chop shop or something like that. When I got there, there were about 4 old Japanese guys just sitting around. It kind of reminded me of a scene in a movie where some unwitting tourists wonder into a restaurant being used as a front and order a meal while the criminals amusingly scramble to serve their guests. I guess the Goonies comes to mind on that one, only nicer.
Anyway, they quoted me a price, and I was able to negotiate! It was very cheap. Imagine doing that in a dealership?
There wasn't even a waiting area. They took a bunch of crap off of a chair and let me sit in it right in the maintenance bay. I watched them work. They did a great job. The A/C has been fine since then.
But my experience with car repair places is the cleaner the shop and the friendlier the employees, the more they are going to rip you off. For some reason, the worst are the ones who claim to be christian. They all are going out of their way to con you into thinking they're honest. If you're already honest, you shouldn't need a gimmick. You need to find a grungy place no one has ever heard of with one pissed off mechanic.
I don't have a regular mechanic but according to Yelp, Griffin's auto repair in Little Italy has a good reputation. You can also sign up for Angie's List. I have to take mine in for an steering problem, so let me know if you find a good one.
I never give money to the homeless because I don't want to encourage them to hang out near my home. I've seen people on our corner with well-trained, purebred dogs wearing nicer collars than my dogs have. I've seen them begging in front of a "Help Wanted" sign in the window of Boston Market. I have little sympathy, but everyone's got to eat.
Yup. I went to my neighborhood shop--Cliff Browns on Park in University Heights and they charged me $20 just to look at it and said it would be $190 and I needed 2 new tires. I thought they fit my requirements but I guess even they are a little fancy. Now, this wasn't a ripoff, I don't think but just a thorough job. Instead, I just went down to Edie's on University in City Heights (I guess he couldn't afford the extra "d") and they charged me $40 for one tire, out the door. He said the other tire was fine.
I showed up at about 4:30 in the afternoon (I don't think they don't take appointments) and there is no waiting room so I stood on the sidewalk for 20 minutes. I've never really stood on the street like that in that part of town for a long time. Very interesting scenery. They literally take up part of the sidewalk to repair cars. No paperwork, no signature. They guy I paid my money to was the guy who fixed my car. That's my kind of place.
Everybody's broke down there (or dangerous) so they know they can't overcharge!
What does CMR stand for? El Zarape makes some good rolled tacos. Their beans have an interesting flavor. Not sure if I like 'em or not. I love that they have Coke Zero in the fountain. Most places don't.
I was eating there one afternoon, with my dog on my lap. My girlfriend and I were talking about a movie we just saw. And two women were sitting inside, looking at us (our dog is cute as hell). The next day, after racquetball in Kearny Mesa, I ran into a small deli to buy a Coke. And I end up buying these huge chocolate chip cookies, too. A woman in the back yells, "Were you at El Zarape yesterday?" I said, "Uh...yeah." She was one of the women in the window.
Not that that was much of a story. But, kind of a weird coincidence.
I haven't tried the new Zarape that opened up down Adams. A few friends tell me they didn't care for it, though.
(and story...I'd never pay a mechanic "more"...just continue to give them business and recommend people, they'll be thankful for that)
even if they buy booze or cigs with the money u give them, let them.
Your closed hearted response to life hurts you far more than them.
Americans are depressed due to the sheer amount of callous disregard for those around them.
We have become prisoners of our own selfishness.
Oh well, I can tell you where the best Mexican food is.
There's Chuey's...but, can't remember where that is. Somewhere downsouth.
Tio Leo's has a few great restaurants, one off of Morena Blvd.
El Indio, near the airport. The best chips.
For "fast food" style, too many to list. Albertos and Sombreros are always a good bet.
My favorite fajitas are at 'Canes in Mission Beach, which you wouldn't think of for Mexican food. They also have these amazing refried beans.
Usually, I have no problem with chain restaurants. But with Mexican food, I only like El Torrito. I don't care for Chevy's or On the Border. In fact, the salsa at Border is like hot sauce, not salsa!!!
Escondido has a lot of small Mexican places that are all pretty good.
Chula Vista has a lot that I didn't care much for.
Oh...and RADICALGOD: the reason I don't want homeless buying booze and cigarettes with money I give them, well...because it's the same reason if I smoked cigarettes, I wouldn't want to just give random stranges a cigarette. They cost me money!!! I don't need to give random people money to support their bad habits. There's a difference between helping someone get their next meal. Or helping someone support a drug habit.
But that reminds me of a bit George Carlin used to say. He would hand homeless people money and say, "I'll only give you this money, if you promise me you'll buy booze with it. I don't want to find out you went and bought soup or something like that."
You sure can russl. I've been called worse. :-D Mexican food is a food that's pretty hard to f--k up. With that said,my favorite is a place called Jalepeno's(inbetween the Rite-Aid and the DQ) at the corner of Stoney Peak Drive and Carmel Mountain Road here in CMR. My roommate is Mexican and takes me to a place down the road in the Home Depot parking lot near the Pat & Oscar's here in CMR. Yessina's is the name of it. Pretty good mexican there too. Now that I think about it,On The Border is more Tex-Mex than Mexican so it's always kind of disappointing when I go there. I guess it's a mind thing more than a bad food thing. Even a chain like Rubio's is pretty good.
I think you and your girlfriend sound like pretty compassionate people, offering your leftover food to the homeless. Perhaps one day you'll be rewarded, like my husband was. There was a homeless guy who he passed every day, and he frequently gave him some spare change. One day, when he walked by, the guy stopped him and said, "Hey, I've been looking for you! I've got something for you!" He reached into a bag and pulled out this badly wrinkled plaid sport coat. The homeless guy told my husband it was too small for him, and he thought it would fit my husband perfectly. My husband politely refused him, saying he really didn't need another sport coat, and besides, he didn't care for plaid. However, to this day, he is the only person I know that was ever offered something FROM a homeless person. So, the moral here is that maybe some day the guy with the gold chain that you gave your breadsticks to will offer you one of his chicken breasts! Or maybe one of his gold chains!
I just ignore them. I was brought up to help fellow humans but since moving out here,I'm more careful with the money I give away. I'll give you two examples:When I first moved out here,I was working at the Oggi's at North County Fair. I always saw this"homeless"guy on the median strips at the corner of Pomerado Road & Rancho Bernardo Road. Some people told me he was actually a rich guy from La Jolla. I was waiting on a settlement check to come and had worked about 16 days in a row at Oggi's. I cashed my check and on my way home through RB,this guy got on the bus. I glanced over and he had a wad of cash. More than I had. I was pi$$ed! He had 20's,50's & 100's.
After the fires when I moved to CMR,I got bored and got a job at the Shell near where I live. I had seen this woman and her BF in RB before. Here she is standing next to the exit of the car wash for weeks. Before I started at Shell,I had won $100 on a BINGO scratcher at Ralph's. It was right after the fires and I felt grateful for what I had so I gave her $20. Shortly after that I started working at Shell. Her BF came in and bought beer and lottery tickets. I thought to myself"F--k it. I'll never help one of these people again" and I haven't.
My friend and I were in downtown Sandy Eggo walking along Broadway. A homeless guy hit us up for spare change. All my $ was on my debit card so I politely said no. My friend said"No thanks. I've got plenty enough in my pocket" which was both cruel and funny.
I'm always polite when I turn them down for money...but one homeless guy sitting outside the old Corvette Diner, threw a jar at my head. I was ready to go over and kick the crap out of him.
Yeah, Pete, I've heard stories about people doing that, and they aren't really homeless. I hate when a driver will give the guy money, and the light turns green, and I'm stuck behind the two idiots as they're having a "thank you so much" type of conversation.
But sattin, I'll tell you a similar story to your own.
This guy Dan I played racquetball with, is one of those goof balls that bought a house cheap in Temecula, but worked in Poway and then complained about the drive! Anyway....he had a ritual of going to a McDonald's for breakfast in Temecula, and he said the homeless guy out front was very nice. He asked for money, and when you turned him down he just smiled and said, "Enjoy your weekend," or some such thing. No snide comments or anything.
So he decides one day to give him a dollar.
When he gets into McDonald's to pay for his breakfast, he realizes that he gave the guy a $10 bill, instead of a single. He still had enough to pay for his breakfast, but he was bummed.
The line was long, and by the time he got his food...he's walking to his car. The homeless guy yells and runs over. He had two bags of oranges and he said, "I bought you a bag. The Farmers Market across the street had a really good deal, and you gave me enough money to buy some vegetables and fruits at a good price. So I bought you a bag of oranges to take home."
My friend was so overwhelmed by this. And he also liked the fact that the guy didn't just go buy booze, but was really buying food that he could use.
Wow! That last comment brought tears to my eyes, Josh! And the purchase he made with your friend's $10 probably fed him for a few days at least!
I do feel that giving ANYTHING to the homeless is encouraging them to remain homeless. For example if you give only food or clothing, what you are doing is allowing them to spend 100% of any cash donations they have recieved on alcohol, drugs, whatever because now they don't have to spend it on food or clothing. I know a homeless man downtown that is quite intelligent and will just straight out admit that he would rather sit around doing nothing and taking handouts than get a job. He claims the free meal programs by the organizations and church groups are more than enough food, and he can get free clothing and bedding from these places also. Some people don't want to work and believe that they are better than others, and that others should work and support them. The price of laziness should be hunger but thanks to do-gooders trying to get a warm fuzzy feeling from helping them, they aren't hungry.
Coke Zero & George Carlin, 2 of my husbands favorite things. Oh and Mexican food of course!
Good point, ipay. I hadn't really thought about it like that.
verolica....Your husband's a keeper!
I just read a sad story about people that put water with artificial sweetener in the hummingbird feeder, and then watch the hummingbirds starve for lack of calories. While this is reprehensible, am I a terrible person for wondering if we could figure out the homeless guy version of this? Maybe put nearbeer in their 40's? Sugar free grape juice in their thunderbird?
I don't know whether to laugh or s--t....O_o
My friend hates the homeless so much, he's suggested we have buses, with free meals for the homeless. When they get on, the buses drive to Cleveland and let the homeless off there.
During movies, if a homeless person is killed in a scene, he cheers. I remember we were at one movie, where Gene Hackman is a doctor, who performs surgeries and experimental medical procedures on them. And he loved it.
It's really odd. But it also makes me laugh when he comes up with a different theory to get rid of the homeless.
I take it your friend doesn't believe in karma.