My Recent Experience with a Transient

Me and Nikki have a tradition where we go to Denny's on the 12th of every month because that's our "monthly anniversary." I know that sounds lame, but it's nothing big, just a tradition of ours.

Anyway, this past 12th, we went to Denny's at night rather than in the morning like we usually do. When we got there, there was a homeless man standing outside asking people who went by if they could buy him a cup of coffee. It's probably important to note that at the time, it was probably 45-50 degrees outside. The man really didn't care so much about the coffee than he did about the fact that he would be able to sit inside if he were a customer.

He wasn't asking for money, he wasn't asking for anything big, just a simple cup of coffee so he could sit inside away from the cold.

Well, when me and Nikki were going in, he asked us, and Nikki gave me a "you better not" look, most likely because it was interfering with our monthly tradition. I did anyway. Normally I wouldn't have given a homeless person money or anything. I never have been one to do that. But the man simply wanted to come inside and be warm. I was quite amazed that the people wouldn't just let him come inside anyway.

Anyway, he came inside with us and sat near us after he got his coffee and minded his own business. He was writing in this notepad he had and he wasn't bothering anybody. I was pretty amazed at the looks people were giving him and it was just disgusting. There was this family of 3 sitting right next to us and him, a father and two daughters, all incredibly obese, pigging out and making jokes through whispers about the guy. When we had first walked in the door with him, the Denny's employees gave us this "why did you do this?" look. Well, they ended up not really saying anything about it and letting him stay, probably because they knew we would not be staying if he couldn't.

A little before we got our food, I went and sat with him for about a minute and asked him if he'd like some soup, chicken noodle that day. At first he seemed like he didn't want it because we had already been nice to him in the first place, but I reassured him that it was absolutely no bother and that we had no problem at all doing it, so I had our waitress bring him soup. You should have seen her face when I asked her.

Anyway, she brought our food out and brought him his soup. Unfortunately, she had only gotten him like half a bowl of soup, and hadn't brought the bread that was supposed to come with it. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to embarass the guy any more than I'm sure he was already. He attacked the soup and it was gone in like a minute, and then he went on writing in his notepad.

My meal was pretty big, I got the all-star slam or whatever, comes with coffee, juice, bacon/sausage, eggs, hash browns, and pancakes. I had finished all but the pancakes and felt pretty satisfied, and decided I would give him my pancakes, partially to make up for the fact that the lady didn't bring him all of what I asked her to(I even had to pay full price for it, not that that really mattered.) So, as we were leaving, I gave him my pancakes and wished him well, and he thanked us, and off we went.

One thing that I haven't mentioned yet was the fact that the man was very clearly mentally ill. When I sat by him, I looked at his notebook to see what he was writing, and it was just complete randomness, a lot of it having to do with chickens and other birds. It made no sense at all. Also, when she brought his soup, he started making jokes about the soup being scared because it's chicken soup, which does make sense but it didn't seem completely like a joke.

Something a lot of people don't seem to know is that a pretty large number of homeless people are mentally ill. About 25%, in most places. This is because a lot of homeless people originate from mental hospitals, and when they get "released," they get released onto the streets.

I understand that most people think that homeless people just want money to buy alcohol and drugs, and I'm very willing to admit that this is, for the most part, true. I would say about 9 times out of 10, if you give a homeless person money, they will buy alcohol or drugs with it. This is partially why I don't give homeless people money, but I'm not completely against the idea, and I probably would if I could afford to.

See, my logic behind this, is that even if I know that the guy is going to buy drugs or alcohol with the money I give them, I know at least that they will be doing so in a safe way. I would much rather them take my offered money to buy drugs or alcohol than them rob someone or do something to endanger themselves, which most likely they will. Most likely, regardless of whether or not I give them money, they will get their drugs or alcohol somehow. At least this way they will be safer doing so.

Anyway, back to the homeless guy. The entire thing cost me a whole 3-4 dollars. His coffee was a buck, and his soup was like 2-3 bucks. This is not a lot of money. It's not even a problem for me, and I'm a poor college student. 3-4 bucks to this guy was a lot more than it would have been to me. It kept him out of the cold and got him some food in his stomach.

I think something I would really like to emphasize is how people reacted to him and such. I found it quite unpleasant. It really made me lose some faith in humanity (not that I had much or any to begin with.) I know that a lot of people just passed by this guy disregarding him, when all he wanted was to be out of the cold. We had watched for a few minutes as one person after another would just ignore the guy, not even wishing him good luck or anything. It seemed like people treated him as less than human, as if he was worth nothing and he should just go away and disappear. It seems like people just assume the worst when it comes to homeless people. "They're where they are for a reason." They must have screwed up in life, or done a lot of drugs, or what have you. Even if these things are true, does that mean someone deserves to be in that situation? Do they deserve to be treated as less-than-human? It took a whole 3 dollars to give this guy a bit of comfort that he very much appreciated.

Anyway, I guess this is my second rant of the day. Just like last time, hope it makes sense.

Well you did a great thing, K_A. When we feed at the homeless shelter here in Jacksonville it's a great feeling, but about 60% of them are assholes, they feel like they are great shit and are rude about it, then you have the other 35% that are very grateful and appreciate your doings in helping a fellow-man out, then 5% or so that don't reall ycare either way, they just want a bite to eat, and to bail.

Nice writeup though,.. really makes me think about how I see it.

I want to say, first of all, I'm really proud of you. That's a very kind thing on your end. Once in a while I like to give a little if I can. Personally, if I see a person on the streets asking for money for food, I'll offer to buy them food. Usually they'll just tell me no and go beg someone else to give money, but only once did they take up my offer.

As for the mentally ill thing, yes, it IS quite a good number (25% is probably a little less than accurate). I learned that fact in a Psych class I had taken, which kinda surprised me, but if you think about it, even if people get on the streets with a completely healthy mental state of mind, they can still develop a slew of nasty problems because of the harshness of being a homeless person.

As for some people, a lot of people I argue with say that homeless people can just go to shelters and try to get help, etc. I dunno, some people are too prideful or just unable to get to there, etc.

But all in all, good on you, K_A.

I interact with homeless people on pretty much a daily basis. I get sick and tired of being asked for money. When I first started working in downtown Indianapolis, I'd give the random homeless person money 70% of the time. Now, there's no way I'm shelling out my hard-earned money so he/she can get his/her fix for the day. I'm sorry, but those are my beliefs.

I went to the CVS across the street today and there was this homeless old black dude with hair that hadn't been cut/shaved in years and he was asking for money for gloves as his were old and battered. Now, I gave him money because he had the gloves in his posession and you could tell he needed new gloves. I obliged because it was cold outside. Sometimes you can obviously tell they're just going to spend it on drugs and/or booze, but this guy was different. But, most times I just try and ignore them.

I actually had this homeless dude talk shit to me the other day because I passed him without putting money in his cup. Fuck that.

Well, I've actually heard numbers much higher than 25%. In class we learned that it's more like 75%+, but I couldn't quickly find any source on google to verify that, so I stuck with 25% which is what I saw most on google.

Anyway, as far as people being able to get help, that's pretty debateable. Most places that feed homeless people just feed until they run out, and quite often not everyone gets fed. Homeless shelters are also usually filled to the brim and that's usually not really available due to that fact.

I don't claim to know how homeless people feel, because I've never been in the situation, but I would assume it isn't as easy to get out of as some people make it out to be. It's not as simple as "go get a job," because getting a job is pretty hard if you don't have transportation, clean clothes, a place to live, etc, and getting all of those things is pretty hard without a job. Also, pair that stuff with the fact that a lot of homeless people are mentally ill, and they really just don't have much of a chance of getting out of it. I would guess a very large majority of homeless people don't have family to help them out.

I think it's kinda wrong to judge unless you've been on their side of the fence, I guess.

Not that I think it is the best policy to be a dick to someone if you're begging, but from their point of view, I'm sure knowing that the hundreds or thousands of people that walk by could give less than 1% of their paycheck to you and you'd be able to live off of it, but they won't, is enough to drive you to angry desperation.

Yeah, I've had them talk shit to me as well, it's very frustrating, not all of them are bad, it's a stereotype that you basically have a 50/50 chance with.

I interact with homeless people on pretty much a daily basis. I get sick and tired of being asked for money. When I first started working in downtown Indianapolis, I'd give the random homeless person money 70% of the time. Now, there's no way I'm shelling out my hard-earned money so he/she can get his/her fix for the day. I'm sorry, but those are my beliefs. I went to the CVS across the street today and there was this homeless old black dude with hair that hadn't been cut/shaved in years and he was asking for money for gloves as his were old and battered. Now, I gave him money because he had the gloves in his posession and you could tell he needed new gloves. I obliged because it was cold outside. Sometimes you can obviously tell they're just going to spend it on drugs and/or booze, but this guy was different. But, most times I just try and ignore them. I actually had this homeless dude talk shit to me the other day because I passed him without putting money in his cup. Fuck that.

There's no need to apologize for your beliefs. I'm not saying people who don't help homeless people are bad or anything.

I've also had homeless people talk shit to me or Nikki when we don't give them money. For instance, we were downtown a few months ago and this old guy asked us for some money, and Nikki said "sorry" to him and as we were walking off he called her a bitch.

As frustrating as that is, I do have to think that if I were in a similar situation it's very possible that I might be an asshole too. Like I said, homeless people are treated like they are less-than-human, most of the time. They get dirty looks, people act like they are just trash on their street and want them gone. They're like vermin, to most people. And these are the same people that the homeless people have to ask for money simply to survive.

I'm not saying it's right for them to be assholes, but you have to at least understand why they are being so. A lot of times, for instance, they might be looking for money for drugs. Well, I'm sure you've been around someone before when they don't get drugs that they are addicted to. People are real assholes in those situations.

Not that I think it is the best policy to be a dick to someone if you're begging, but from their point of view, I'm sure knowing that the hundreds or thousands of people that walk by could give less than 1% of their paycheck to you and you'd be able to live off of it, but they won't, is enough to drive you to angry desperation.

Yeah, that's kinda what I'm trying to say but I'm not being quite as eloquent about it.

I think it's kinda sad that we have people in this country who have insanely more money than they need, yet we have people who have to beg to survive.

Now, I'm not saying we should go communist or anything, and I'm not saying that rich people are evil either. I'm just saying, even if their money is very hard earned, there's no reason for there to be such a huge disparity between the rich and the poor. I understand that these people probably worked very hard to be where they are, but there should be a bit of a limit to it.

Had a feeling that would show up

Still, I wanna try to keep this serious. I think we have some good conversation going on here.

I have actually told one of the regulars off the highway on my way back that stands around with his sign that he could get a job for Model Homes (housing place around here that always has people standing aroudn holding signs on the side of the road) making 9 bucks an hour, and he told me to fuck off. Stupid lazy bitch, I reply to him saying that he could be making money standing around instead of being an ignorant asshole holding a sign saying he's disabled and can't do shit.

http://zelaron.com/forum/showpost.php?p=604587

I did it just for you.

Did WW make a funny and de-rail the conversataion at the same time?.. Wow

Yeah.

Now, back on topic.

Do you... write down everytime someone questions you, in the hopes you can stick it in their face later?

Like that one song by Everlast.

No, it isn't easy, even if there are places to help them get a job. Homeless people do have a lot of shit to go through, they really do.

Thanatos: I once had a guy ask for money and I gave him two dollars and he flipped out and yelled "What the hell, mang? You got $20 in there. Gimme dat instead." I got pissed and told him to fuck off and that he should be happy that someone actually cared enough to give money.

I've never heard the word 'transient' used in terms with a homeless person...

I can understand them getting bummed out that I can't give them any money at the moment, but that gives them no right to talk shit. Maybe I didn't have any change in my pocket because I just gave it to your fucking buddy down the street. And if I see the same person again there's no way in hell I'm giving them money, they just ruined it by getting snappy with me.

Like I said, when I first started working downtown and saw homeless people everyday I honestly tried to help out when I could. Now, I'm just so sick of it that I don't even bother. It's worn on me.

I think it's an evolution of the term 'drifter'.