Subject: A $50 Lesson

[Pandora]

A $50 Lesson

I recently asked my friends little girl what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said she wanted to be President someday. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked her, If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?

She replied, I' d give food and houses to all the homeless people.

Her parents beamed with pride.

Wow what a worthy goal, I told her, but you don't have to wait until you're President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I'll pay you $50. Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house.

She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?

I said, Welcome to the Republican Party.

Her parents still aren't speaking to me

 

[dahermit]

A $50 Lesson

I recently asked my friends little girl what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said she wanted to be President someday. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked her, If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?

She replied, I' d give food and houses to all the homeless people.

Her parents beamed with pride.

Wow what a worthy goal, I told her, but you don't have to wait until you're President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I'll pay you $50. Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house.

She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?

I said, Welcome to the Republican Party.

Her parents still aren't speaking to me

When a few thousand homeless people show up to do the work for $50, you will, no doubt figure out that you could offer only $40 and some would still do the work. And if you only offered $30, some would still offer to do the work. At some point, the amount you offered to pay would not make the payments for a house or buy enough food to sustain anyone. Welcome to reality...and yes, the Republican Party.

 

[Pandora]

When a few thousand homeless people show up to do the work for $50, you will, no doubt figure out that you could offer only $40 and some would still do the work. And if you only offered $30, some would still offer to do the work. At some point, the amount you offered to pay would not make the payments for a house or buy enough food to sustain anyone. Welcome to reality...and yes, the Republican Party.

Do you think there is only one person in the USA needs their lawn mowed or weeds pulled? Why do you assume all the homeless will come to one persons door where there are tens of thousands of doors with grass and weeds?

Are there no barns that need shoveling? Are there no fields that need their fruit and veggies picked?

Any homeless person (with few exceptions) could do any or all of these things to get themselves back on their feet

 

[AgainstTheMachine]

When a few thousand homeless people show up to do the work for $50, you will, no doubt figure out that you could offer only $40 and some would still do the work. And if you only offered $30, some would still offer to do the work. At some point, the amount you offered to pay would not make the payments for a house or buy enough food to sustain anyone. Welcome to reality...and yes, the Republican Party.

I see you don't have the whole answer about homeless people ...

• You will also find those who will take the job and ask for a $20.00 advance to get a pack of smokes and a bite for breakfast who will then take off because another free hand out was scammed ...
• Then there are those who will barely pull any weeds and let YOU point out the ones that bother you the most so they won't have to preform like expected so they can get out and hang with their friends, throw back a few swallows and talk up the job they barely did.
• Then there are the ones who want you to give them a few buck because they have to catch the bus to get to a REAL job (the real job is separating the money from another sucker who buys their B.S. story)

If you have NEVER been a LONG TERM homeless person you will NEVER KNOW their cat & mouse games

 

[AgainstTheMachine]

by the way Pandora - excellent post!

 

[Pandora]

Right now the homeless situation is a bit different than it was 2 years ago. Two years ago a homeless person could show up every day if they wanted to day labor and be sent out to do work and get paid. Because of the economy there is not much happening with day labor and because of more being homeless not all can find shelter at the mission.

And even this little story that started the thread is not as realistic as it was 2 years ago, we can’t all afford for someone to mow for us because our money is tight these days too.

I have a brother who is homeless and has been for almost 5 years and things are not as easy as they were. Its heartbreakingly sad and though I am still a bit mad at him for letting himself get in this situation in the first place I know that right now it would be very hard for him to pull out of it, I wish he did it back when it was not as hard to do a couple of years ago.

Not everyone homeless is out to scam you or do as little work as possible, some are hard workers if you can catch them sober but its hard to maintain a life when your main goal is to get the next bottle of Old English 800

 

[Pandora]

by the way Pandora - excellent post!

Thanks

It wasn’t mine though; it was from a friend of mine, though it rang a bell with me since I do have a brother who is homeless.

I think we sometimes lose sight of the fact people can and should be self sufficient and its not our presidents job to solve all of our problems.

 

[AgainstTheMachine]

Right now the homeless situation is a bit different than it was 2 years ago. Two years ago a homeless person could show up every day if they wanted to day labor and be sent out to do work and get paid. Because of the economy there is not much happening with day labor and because of more being homeless not all can find shelter at the mission.

And even this little story that started the thread is not as realistic as it was 2 years ago, we can’t all afford for someone to mow for us because our money is tight these days too.

I have a brother who is homeless and has been for almost 5 years and things are not as easy as they were. Its heartbreakingly sad and though I am still a bit mad at him for letting himself get in this situation in the first place I know that right now it would be very hard for him to pull out of it, I wish he did it back when it was not as hard to do a couple of years ago.

Not everyone homeless is out to scam you or do as little work as possible, some are hard workers if you can catch them sober but its hard to maintain a life when your main goal is to get the next bottle of Old English 800

the new homeless is still at fault as even you said:

I am still a bit mad at him for letting himself get in this situation

5 years? Why should he try?
Obviously other issue's are at hand or you would be there trying to pull him up!
... that's what family does! Don't they?

Do you realize how much a homeless person has at hand to support their needs? Do you know what has been laid out to give them for free so the system has more fingers in the pockets of those who dole out supporting funds.

HOMELESSNESS is a game - if people fixed the problem homelessness would not be attractive to the beggars ...

Look at it at a different angle ...

Who is the REAL BEGGAR?​

It's not the homeless - they are the tool to suck off the system.
Without them - these non profits have less ways to mooch money, material, and services ... which would make them UNEMPLOYED!!

consider who much funding is spent on the poor - what if all the funds where just divided up and distributed to the homeless without the back up system in place (sucking off the profits) to offer the so called help to the needy.

 

[Pandora]

5 years? Why should he try?
Obviously other issue's are at hand or you would be there trying to pull him up!
... that's what family does! Don't they?

I don’t know how much his case is like other homeless people but he has always had a drinking problem and he learned how to "milk" the system pretty young. He was able to get SSI in Washington State in his mid twenty's, met a woman who was doing the same. Together they had 4 kids; he did not claim them as to keep from owing child support and the woman got welfare for them. So, between both of their SSI and welfare for 4 kids, that’s how they kept in a house. The state eventually took the kids away from them. They were not very good parents. They were usually drunk, often using the money from welfare for beer and smokes instead of food for the kids.

I took 3 of the kid’s full time and the oldest one part time for about 2 1/2 years. The second to oldest girl is really messed up and heading down her parents road, the boy is so damaged that he has been in and out (mostly in) mental institutions... he is currently in Oregon state mental institution for youth. I don’t know if he will ever be ok. The youngest one I adopted.

Since the kids were taken away my brother has been homeless. It was always the welfare money that kept them in housing. He did get an apartment for about 2 months when he stopped drinking but once he started again he lost the job he had and was homeless again.

I give him money sometimes but it always goes to more beer, I bought him a guitar because he said he can make money singing that way. He still has the guitar (I find that amazing) I have brought him clothes, food, sleeping gear, paid for hair cuts gave him tips on who is hiring and got him phone cards so he can call family.

You can only do so much to help someone. He is like Daryl Strawberry... he just isn’t going to change because he really doesn’t want to. But you love them so you try.

I am sure especially right now there really are homeless people who are in that predicament because of the economy not their own stupidity or laziness. But those people are like you and I, they will bounce back because it’s in their blood.

I got to thinking about my brother and how the economy is going and some of the (over the top) predictions for chaos and disaster we are in store for... if it really came to that, my brother would be more able to succeed than you or I, they already know how to live with nothing. That at least comforts me when I feel totally hopeless on how to help him.


The last time I saw him he was as depressed as I have ever seen him, literally starving and full of despair. His voice doesn’t usually choke up but it did that day, he said things just are not as easy as they were before.

He was talking about how it’s harder to find food, harder to find a dry place to sleep harder to get a day labor job even harder to find pop cans. It made me feel very sad for him and especially sad for people who have no idea what it means to be homeless but are about to get there due to loss of their job or eviction from their house.

 

[AgainstTheMachine]

I don’t know how much his case is like other homeless people but he has always had a drinking problem and he learned how to "milk" the system pretty young. He was able to get SSI in Washington State in his mid twenty's, met a woman who was doing the same. Together they had 4 kids; he did not claim them as to keep from owing child support and the woman got welfare for them. So, between both of their SSI and welfare for 4 kids, that’s how they kept in a house. The state eventually took the kids away from them. They were not very good parents. They were usually drunk, often using the money from welfare for beer and smokes instead of food for the kids.

I took 3 of the kid’s full time and the oldest one part time for about 2 1/2 years. The second to oldest girl is really messed up and heading down her parents road, the boy is so damaged that he has been in and out (mostly in) mental institutions... he is currently in Oregon state mental institution for youth. I don’t know if he will ever be ok. The youngest one I adopted.

Since the kids were taken away my brother has been homeless. It was always the welfare money that kept them in housing. He did get an apartment for about 2 months when he stopped drinking but once he started again he lost the job he had and was homeless again.

I give him money sometimes but it always goes to more beer, I bought him a guitar because he said he can make money singing that way. He still has the guitar (I find that amazing) I have brought him clothes, food, sleeping gear, paid for hair cuts gave him tips on who is hiring and got him phone cards so he can call family.

You can only do so much to help someone. He is like Daryl Strawberry... he just isn’t going to change because he really doesn’t want to. But you love them so you try.

I am sure especially right now there really are homeless people who are in that predicament because of the economy not their own stupidity or laziness. But those people are like you and I, they will bounce back because it’s in their blood.

I got to thinking about my brother and how the economy is going and some of the (over the top) predictions for chaos and disaster we are in store for... if it really came to that, my brother would be more able to succeed than you or I, they already know how to live with nothing. That at least comforts me when I feel totally hopeless on how to help him.


The last time I saw him he was as depressed as I have ever seen him, literally starving and full of despair. His voice doesn’t usually choke up but it did that day, he said things just are not as easy as they were before.

He was talking about how it’s harder to find food, harder to find a dry place to sleep harder to get a day labor job even harder to find pop cans. It made me feel very sad for him and especially sad for people who have no idea what it means to be homeless but are about to get there due to loss of their job or eviction from their house.

was he a graduate of Frontier facility or Cedar Hill's facility?

 

[Pandora]

was he a graduate of Frontier facility or Cedar Hill's facility?

I dont know for sure but that name Ceder Hills facility does sound familiar,
if its in Vancouver Washington then probably yes

 

[AgainstTheMachine]

I dont know for sure but that name Ceder Hills facility does sound familiar,
if its in Vancouver Washington then probably yes

Cedar Hill's is near Monroe Washington - it is a prominent facility for free rehab programs from 21 day spin dry to long term.
People are shipped there from all over!

Unfortunately; places like that have a very low success rate.

 

[Pandora]

Cedar Hill's is near Monroe Washington - it is a prominent facility for free rehab programs from 21 day spin dry to long term.
People are shipped there from all over!

Unfortunately; places like that have a very low success rate.

Ah I bet it was the place, he did go right from jail to rehab and I remember he said he was bussed to rehab and he was there about a month, when he got out he was drinking again the same day.

 

[TruthAboveAll]

When a few thousand homeless people show up to do the work for $50, you will, no doubt figure out that you could offer only $40 and some would still do the work. And if you only offered $30, some would still offer to do the work. At some point, the amount you offered to pay would not make the payments for a house or buy enough food to sustain anyone. Welcome to reality...and yes, the Republican Party.

Actually, the way you express this, you are exactly representing what the Democrat party is standing for these days. Only instead of having dozens (hundreds, thousands, whatever) show up to do the same work and diluting the earnings you are instead sending them all to the public trough.

In turn the public trough will be funded by the legal point-of-the-gun of asset relocation, taking from the productive and giving to those who too often aren't.

Your analogy is also flawed in the fact that by continually reducing the amount paid there would be "some point" when the pay would not be enough for their needs. Happily, I would much rather be grouped with those who are willing to generate the jobs which provide people with opportunity to work and earn their own support. There is nothing cold-hearted about wanted to help people stand on their own, instead of being subservient to the government programs you undoubtedly advocate.

 

[dahermit]

Do you think there is only one person in the USA needs their lawn mowed or weeds pulled? Why do you assume all the homeless will come to one persons door where there are tens of thousands of doors with grass and weeds?

Are there no barns that need shoveling? Are there no fields that need their fruit and veggies picked?

Any homeless person (with few exceptions) could do any or all of these things to get themselves back on their feet

Do you actually believe that a person can feed themselves and pay for a home on what they could make doing those jobs? You seem to live in an ideological dream world.