"18 and kicked out" read the hand drawn cardboard sign I saw a young woman holding today. She was holding the sign, standing next to a stop light seeking, I assume, financial donations. With the sour, sullen look on her young face I have no doubt it was true. Just can't help but wonder if she missed the point of whatever lesson her parents intended for her to learn. At least it was refreshing to see an original cardboard sign and she didn't have any dogs or babies to envoke sympathy.

 

i carry dog cookies in my truck for my dogs when they ride. when there is someone with a sign wanting food or money that has a dog, i just give a doggie cookie to the dog. pisses off some of the beggers

 

I don't know about this particular situation...but...this kind of thing was not unusual in the past. There was a hard and fast rule in my fathers household as he grew up that at age 18 you were out and on your own. For the boys...4 of them...that meant the service. My father wound up in the Navy...his brothers wound up in the Army.

For the girls...it usually meant marriage. All 4 of them got married at age 18.

For perspective...my father was born in 1927...and...they lived in a 3 bedroom home. When my grandparents bought the house...there was no indoor bathroom!!!

 

haveing worked and volanteered at a food bank and a drop in center for street kids there is more then meets the eye,abuse,drugs, or just lack of understanding on both sides,leads to a lot of pain and hurting,my kids left at 19 my youngest,Kenny bought his own home at 21,so I must have done something right,Jay my oldest is working and supporting himself ( with a little help now an then)..the kid on the corner may just need a hand up .haven't you ever been thier?

 

Thanks. No I havn't. Guess I should be counting my own blessings instead. I left the house at 19 and got married. I've been fortunate to always have work. (knocking on wood)

 

I never ever help men by the street like that. I was at a stop light in Austin with my youngest and this man came up knocked on wndow, I felt bad got a five out of my console rolled window down and it is a one hit window goes all the way down fast well anyway the idiot grabbed my boob took the five and said nice **** and thank you for paying me to feel you up.
Filed police report they arrested him six weeks later when he reached in and grabbed a woman boob and she rolled window up on his arm and drug his nasty butt to a gas station and had them call police.
A woman I would help and I buy dogs a burger or something. Just depends anymore. But I do a lot of work like that through motel. I get homeless people brought to me and I have come to love most of them. A man who was here dug a piece of cable out of my dumpster to use for a belt. i went to wal Mart to get him a belt but he was gone to quickly. stuff like that is sad. lets me know any day it could be me. We do not know 100% what the cards hold. One homeless man the police found sleeping in some bushes was 75 years old and worked for an electric company and it went belly up and everyone retirement was gone. He lost his home, his wife passed away, his daughter is in a mental home. He just wanders. He liked my biscuits and gravy and that I gave him a hug. seems no one will hug a homeless person.

 

My brothers had to leave at 18. The were allowed to stay as long as they wanted if the went to school and or had a job and followed house rules. they decided life as doping, thieving, vandalizing, abusive criminals was better.

 

Well Im thankful I have a God that will always keep a roof over my head, and food in my belly.

 

I left at 18 and was glad to do so,would have left at sixteen if the job i had would have been good enough to support myself. Me and Dad didn't see eye to eye on very many issues at all,was pretty contentious when we were home together,so I left as soon as the funds allowed. Me and dad have since made amends,but we both agree the best thing i did was move out when I did.

 

the current economy is no respecter of religion.

 

Aggreed, but My God is no respector of the economy.

 

Moose, this WAS a young woman. I generally don't help people holding signs. But sometimes am a soft touch if approached and asked personally.

The worst I ever felt about not helping someone was when we were at the county fair viewing the children's art exibit. This old guy comes up behind me and gets in my face, pushing some stickers at me and asking to "give what you can." I was kind of offended to have my personal space invaded like that while I was in my own little world. Anyway I'll never forget the hopeless look on his face before he turned to leave. That was when I noticed that he had only one leg and was wearing a VFW flap cap. I felt so ashamed I stopped him and bought all the American flag stickers he had, took one and gave the rest back to him.

Sometime after a bum spared changed me and the Mrs in a parking lot. He was memorable because he had some really horrible burn scars on his face. I gave him all the change in my pocket. A week later the Mrs shows me the newspaper with a photo of his face on the front page. He had killed someone with a knife at a doughnut shop for ridiculing him for bumming change. To this day I don't know whether to feel glad I helped him or lucky I wasn't his victim.

 

I had a guy ask for money from me one time and it turned out he hit up my buddy with the same story a couple days later and we called the cops on him and got him busted by the popo's

 

This is a hot button issue around here. I deal with vagrants on a daily basis. We have a homeless shelter in town that, if all beds are full, will get someone a bus ticket to their destination or a motel room in town for the night. Problem is that the bus station is about 15 miles away. I have, on occasion, paid a local cab service to get these folks to the Greyhound station. No one else, not even the shelter, local Social Services, or anyone else will help with this part of it. I could easily send them walking but in the cold of winter, it's not in their best interest to walk 15 miles on a deserted road.

That said, I have also seen the worst side of these people. I have caught them breaking into local businesses, vehicles, homes, you name it. Not all of them, but many. Getting them a cab kills two birds with one stone also. It gets them to the bus station without them getting hit by a car or freezing to death walking. It also gets them out of town and on their way and lessens our chances of repeat contact.

There also is a difference between a hand-up and a hand-out. Too many of those that I deal with are in their predicament by choice and I have had them tell me this. It's not always bad luck or being thrown out of their home. Lots of times, it's a life style that requires less responsibility than being a productive member of society. One specific transient came to town, called 911, and told the dispatcher he was going to jump off the interstate overpass and commit suicide. I got down there, talked to him, and took him to the mental health evaluator. They got him committed and I had to take him 50 miles north of here to the hospital that had accepted him. On the trip, he told me that he lives in a hobo camp in Florida from October to May each year. In May, he goes back to NY to live with his mother who is in her 70s. This was in February and he was going back early because his mother was ill. He told me that he had started hitching about three days prior and ran into a hobo buddy of his around Miami. The friend had just been through our town and told this guy if he got cold, hungry, or whatever, to call 911 and make up some pscyho babble. He told him how to answer the MH evaluation questions and even told him about the hospital I was taking him to because he'd just been there. He joked about it and told me all about his lifestyle and drinking and living it up with his fellow hobos.

I realize that not all are like this but it certainly speaks to the fact that not all of these folks are actually as destitute as they'd have you believe.

 

I agree that some of these people are just looking for a handout, and are on the streets as a result of a less than productive lifestyle. In fact, some of them deserve it because they take advantage of peoples kindness. However, going back to the young girl on the street, my girlfriend and her mother didn't see eye to eye either. She was an unwanted child and her mother always made her miserable for it her entire life. They never got along at all and she was cruel to her even as a young child. To this day her moms still a miserable b**ch. When we were seinors in high school, she got home and found all her possessions on the curb and the locks changed. Her mom kicked her out when she was 17. Her dad is a nice guy but spineless when it came to standing up against his wife and did nothing to stop it. I dont know what the girl that horsepuller saw went through at home, but i know what happens as a result of having bad parents can do to a young woman. Luckily my girlfriends grandparents took her in and took care of her untill she finished school and I was able to get her an apartment. If she didn't have me or her grandparents, she would have ended up just like that girl. Even though it was almost 10 years ago and my gf has put that all behind her, i still think about it and if we ever have kids i couldn't even fathom doing that to any of my kids! But now my gf has the last laugh. Shortly after she was kicked out, her folks divorced. Her mom lives in a tiny apt and has no money and a crappy old dodge pickup and a crappy job, her dad lives in a house thats about to collapse and currently recycles aluminum cans for spending money and even had the nerve to ask ME for a handout to fix his truck, and pay for all the parts, and is currently unemployed. I guess thats just karma taking care of them. Her mom tried to bring her down, but look whos suffering now....