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Thread: Gems from the Gutter - part 1

  1. #121
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    As near as I can tell I held 4 stars coming and going. That's pretty good isn't it? I mean, I could have gotten 5 but this way I have something to shoot for.
    Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.


  2. #122

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    Kinda puts things into perspective for me. inspirational

  3. #123

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick View Post
    Well, you certainly didn't waste my time. I enjoyed reading it. It's easy to think thoughts such as, "get a job" or "sober up" or some other justifiable reason for not liking someone different than ourselves. Not only do you offer insight into how to survive but you give homelessness a face, a name, a persona that I doubt many, if any, of us had before. For that, I thank you.
    I definately agree
    One thing that ive come to learn is that youd be very surprised what soldiers and businesses throw away. You could actually thrive off of some of the things they throw away. I have a few 100$ knives from what people have thrown away. As well as a supply of unopen unspoiled food and mre's.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

  4. #124

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    Down this way, it's rare to be completely 'homeless'. The Socialist government pretty much looks after the absolute lower classes of society way more than middle class people in financial difficulties. If you own your own home, have a car etc, and lose your job, you are completely screwed getting any help, unless you sell stuff first, or until you run out of money. It sucks big time.

    Governments should take a note out of Switzerlands book. 15% Income tax no matter what you earn (ours is almost 50% tax if you earn over about $75,000 a year, gotta love socialism……..NOT) and a mandatory PERSONAL unemployment tax, FOR YOURSELF, so if you lose your job, no matter what you earn, you get paid for 12 months, until you find another job.

    Forget trying to claim unemployment benefits down this way, unless you're a drug f#$ked skank, or an unmarried mother with 6 kids. Socialism sucks big time.

  5. #125

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    I have a story to tell as well, though it's not like most of yours and I can't remember it. My mother was homeless for awhile after my dad threw her out because he wanted custody of me, though not my half-brother. I actually remember going around and all day we would just be on the metro because we had nothing elese to do, I was always thirsty and bored and for awhile that lasted. My mother had to find something to do since she had 2 kids both very young and nowhere to go since other family members were estranged and frankly full of their own phycological problems. I don't remember this part but she found a homeless womans shelter after a while and was able to get into some programs since she was a single mom. To this day I think those experiences have left a mark on her....
    I however was left only with memories of the people who traveled on the bus (I saw some things... some people are in bad conditions when they ride those buses) and a wise opinion over the state of the world. She went through a hard time, her family turning their back on her and even before that there were hard times. shes one of the strongest people I know.
    Just wanted to share a little bit of a kid's experience of being homeless! It was enlightening.

  6. #126
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    He threw her out but not you and yet you experienced all this. You are trying way too hard. Why not try reading some posts and learning something?

  7. #127

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    i too (hayshaker) was homeless but i always thought of my self as a camper.
    i guess that helped whih the psycholgy of things. many things i,ll leave out as they are too painful
    to say here there were good times bad times had jobs so i ate many times i dumpster dived at mc donalds.
    even remember one time scrapping the ciggertte ashes off a pizza hut mini pan pizza so i could eat it.
    been hungry once so bad all i could poop was what looked like snot cause my belly was that empty.
    can,t remember how many other homeless i,ve met were NAM vets 1st gulf war vets like that.i,ve slept
    in more places than one could imagine.i think everyone should do a year on the skids teach people true humanity
    and see also the lack of it as well. anyone can become homless at any time everyone has their own story.
    many times i often wonder if it happend again could i do it, i pray i never have to find out. it would have tobe Hawaii
    cause the weather is good although at present Hawaii is a homeless encampment and too much compition for resources
    and stuff. would have to go outer island. life on the road is real hard when your in your fifties, can,t hump like you once could
    when your back has seen better days.soon there will be no soup lines,missions,and the like it trully will be a life of survival
    if one is on the road.

  8. #128

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    (rick) No, he wanted to keep me but my mother took both of us (my brother too). It's been years since and I have restablished contact.
    I've seen you get a fair amount of liars so I understand, I just rarely get on forums and much less share so I guess I could be trying to hard. I'm just excited.
    Be the change you wish to see in the world. - Mahatma Ghandi
    Individually we are a drop, together, we are an ocean. - Ryunosuke Satoro

  9. #129
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Your story rings hollow. If he had thrown your mother, your brother and you out you would have said, "He threw us out." Instead you said he threw your mother out. Your comments were entirely about how it affected her but not you. In fact, you called it enlightening. Something that traumatic is anything but "enlightening". And you are the one that mentioned liars. I didn't.

  10. #130

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    I do not remember any of it, I said all I remember are a lot of rides on the metro and seeing people on them. I don't want to cause trouble, and I call it enlightening because those were some of my first memories of being exposed to lifes harsher qualities. I could give you my life's story so you could understand how it all fits together but I don't think thats wise or that you are interested. Reading my posts I realise that perhaps throwing out all of those is suspicious, but I was just happy to find something relevent to me.
    But here's an overview of what happened just in case - my dad threw my mother out (I say it this way because she is the one who told me it happened, even though my father gives a different side of things) and for a while she was homeless until she finally went to a homeless shelter after giving up on getting help from other family members, and got into a program for single mothers. I know nothing around this part but my mother still has court documents over custody of me. I visited him every other weekend but after an issue with an uncle I dropped out of contact around 5 and a half years ago, and it is only within that half year that I was able to establish contact again. That's it.

    And I believe people deal with traumatic experiences differently but I can't remember enough t oreally call it traumatic, just surprising.
    yes, I mentioned liars because I had just gotten done reading 'why they call me blade', and it was on my mind.

    enough about me.... gutter gems!

    If it is necessary I'll gladly not mention anything personal since neither of us can really deny or approve it. I haven't posted anytihng since around the time I signed up and looking at how many I replied to since getting on it earily reminds me of spam. I apologize for that.
    I have not really been on many forums, so I hope you will be patient with me.
    Last edited by 7whitewolf7; 05-01-2015 at 03:57 PM. Reason: just because
    Be the change you wish to see in the world. - Mahatma Ghandi
    Individually we are a drop, together, we are an ocean. - Ryunosuke Satoro

  11. #131
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    We're a patient group. I know you said you were young. About how old were you when all of this happened?
    Can't Means Won't

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  12. #132

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    Quote Originally Posted by crashdive123 View Post
    We're a patient group. I know you said you were young. About how old were you when all of this happened?
    hmm, I would say for the first part (mother getting kicked out and taking me and my brother) I was about 4. I really don't know though. It's not something my mom likes to talk about.
    Be the change you wish to see in the world. - Mahatma Ghandi
    Individually we are a drop, together, we are an ocean. - Ryunosuke Satoro

  13. #133
    Future Senior Member? Rollicks's Avatar
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    Poco, I appreciate your post. When I was a kid I hung out with hobos. They had cool stories and they taught me their ways; like how to roll a cigarette with one hand, or how and when to obtain free food without stealing. Hobos in our area lived mainly in caves by the railroad or in the woods by parks. The ones that I met, did a service to the community, they cleaned stuff and picked up garbage throughout the day. They did it to remain anonymous and invisible so as to not be rousted from their spots. But they also did it because of pride. They silently made the world a better place while at the same time tried to give back to the community.

    When I was in my twenties, I became homeless temporarily. I slept at the train station, until a cop moved me along. I got food from the gas station right before they were about to throw it away.

    I went around looking for jobs every day to no avail. I spent a lot of time at the public library using their computers, printing resumes, reading the little nickel, using their bathroom to groom and what not. I found a place called worksource, a place that posts jobs to the needy before these jobs become open to the public. No luck there though. I did odd jobs for people around town until finally, I eventually landed a job as a night janitor at a restaurant.

    Right now, I guess I'm doing alright. I never forget why I'm here or how I got here though. Just like how those hobos gave back to their community, I give back to them. Not with money, but with teaching and helping. A long time ago I got a gal a bank account and a pay as you go phone, so that it would be a bit easier to get a job and be independent from the services at the mission.

    Some others, I taught how to cook and preserve, especially important when most of the food you get at food banks rots the day after you get it. Quite recently, there was a man trying to get to a mission before they closed. He had a lot of crap to carry and out of the blue he just asked me if I'd help. I said yes. Then, while we're walking, his crappy paper bags fall apart and his stuff goes everywhere. I just stacked everything on the box I was carrying and ran with him. We almost missed the train he needed to catch. Surprisingly, we both ran pretty fast even though we were smoking tailor-mades.

  14. #134

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    Rollicks, that is a moving story. Where I live people have the mindset that the homeless are drunks who will spend any money you give them on whiskey. I honestly believe most people buy into it because it makes it easier not to do anything for them, or feel bad for ignoring them. But I live in a major city, so perhaps in most other places it is not so? I wish more people treated them like they do where you lived. I found some information that in south africa they have planted food in some road meridians, but I can't find trustworthy source so I don't know how accurate it is, but something to think about regardless.

    This seems to be the source other sites are pulling from ---> http://9gag.com/gag/aE1ZnOe/somebody...anity-restored

    What do you guys think?
    Be the change you wish to see in the world. - Mahatma Ghandi
    Individually we are a drop, together, we are an ocean. - Ryunosuke Satoro

  15. #135
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Do you know how many chemicals are in vehicle exhaust? I don't think I'd eat anything planted in the median of a street. After years of being exposed to vehicle exhaust I wonder how many carcinogens are in that soil?

  16. #136

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    spot on rick i,ve heard people plenty times recomending the harvesting of cattails and such from roadsides.
    gosh if i understand right cattails are the purifiers of the pond so to speak meaning they take in all the toxins
    theirby cleaning the water. i,ll pass on any cattails or anyother plant that grows on a roadside.

  17. #137
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 7whitewolf7 View Post
    Rollicks, that is a moving story. Where I live people have the mindset that the homeless are drunks who will spend any money you give them on whiskey. I honestly believe most people buy into it because it makes it easier not to do anything for them, or feel bad for ignoring them. But I live in a major city, so perhaps in most other places it is not so? I wish more people treated them like they do where you lived. I found some information that in south africa they have planted food in some road meridians, but I can't find trustworthy source so I don't know how accurate it is, but something to think about regardless.

    This seems to be the source other sites are pulling from ---> http://9gag.com/gag/aE1ZnOe/somebody...anity-restored

    What do you guys think?
    This strike me as a "Sunshine fluff piece".....We have stories like this once in a while.
    Kinda a "we can't really do anything for a problem, but we can pass out T shirts, collect money and have the media show everyone how we "helped".

    Spot on for exhaust, dropped oil, gas, other fluids accumulating in ditches and road sides.

    Not real practical.
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  18. #138

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    Thats probably why I can't find it on any serious sites. And thinking about exhaust now, it does seem like a terrible idea.
    (if only, if only)
    (the woodpecker cried)
    (the wood was as soft as the skies)
    (while the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely)
    (he cries to the mooooon.... if only, if only)
    Be the change you wish to see in the world. - Mahatma Ghandi
    Individually we are a drop, together, we are an ocean. - Ryunosuke Satoro

  19. #139
    Future Senior Member? Rollicks's Avatar
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    Plus, I don't see how that would be useful to homeless people if they're not gonna teach them how to do anything to maintain it. And yeah, that whole exhaust thing is why I don't use blackberries from the side of the road.

  20. #140
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    I'm thinking that many places would discourage this practice as crops, as it would take a while to grow.... meaning the population would still be there...hanging around.
    Most places/people would rather have them....move on down the road.

    There is a incident in Milwaukee that is pending right now involving the city council shutting down 3rd shift at a Dunkin' Donuts.......because of panhandlers.
    The building is located in the ground floor of a fancy apartment building....residents don't want to see the panhandlers, talked the city into pulling the permit of this business for overnight business.
    http://www.wisn.com/news/city-orders...night/32826962

    Being homeless is not as romantic in reality, as it may seem to some....and generally are shunned by a lot of people.
    Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
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    First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
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