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Thread: Gems from the Gutter - part 1

  1. #141

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    There's a city in Arizona called Tuscon and one of the locals told me it is one of the most populated cities in the state. We went there to go to a co-op food market
    and there were quite a few people milling aimlessly about. But they just blended right into the city as if it was only natural, it was a very weird to see.
    Be the change you wish to see in the world. - Mahatma Ghandi
    Individually we are a drop, together, we are an ocean. - Ryunosuke Satoro


  2. #142

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    3/4 of the food I got at food banks was canned. Once a month, you got your pick of 25 items, sometimes more, altho limited in each category (meat/fish was one, fruits was another,, etc. There was lots of long term stuff, but quite a bit of pastry and produce. Homeless rarely have a way to cook (dont want to haul around pots and pans, or risk leaving them anyplace) beyond using the microwave at the college and convenience stores and no refrigeration. I had a van, so I could use an alcohol stove, but I never needed to. I did use an icebox for a couple of summers.. I rarely took produce, cause it "cost" too much for no more food value than it offers. I'd rather have the canned stuff, or at least, big bags of rice, beans, pasta. Mostly, you ride your bicycle to the church for lunch, and to the Salvation Army mission for supper, and have powdered milk, cereal and dried fruit for breakfast (or do without)

  3. #143
    Senior Member randyt's Avatar
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    cooking is my weak link. How did you prepare the beans and rice? soak them over night and then microwave them? I'm curious, I've cooked them by leaving them on the corner of a wood cookstove and let them slow cook all day or by using a beanhole. Or in a modern environment, a electric crockpot.
    so the definition of a criminal is someone who breaks the law and you want me to believe that somehow more laws make less criminals?

  4. #144
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    So, although (that's really how you spell it) you were not destitute (socking away the money for college) you decided that it would be OK to take food from the food bank that others truly needed? That says a lot. Thanks for letting us know.
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  5. #145
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    I have to think that loading up on carbohydrates and protein with no vegetable/roughage has to be pretty bad on the body. Not having a balanced diet for a couple of years had to take a toll on you. What sort of physical ailments did you incur? Rickets? Scurvy? Those would be common ailments with that sort of diet.

  6. #146
    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by crashdive123 View Post
    So, although (that's really how you spell it) you were not destitute (socking away the money for college) you decided that it would be OK to take food from the food bank that others truly needed? That says a lot. Thanks for letting us know.
    Come on Crash, don't you think he was ENTITLED to that free food. After all, he was saving up the taxpayers' cash to buy a woman!
    If you didn't bring jerky what did I just eat?

  7. #147
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    I have to go back and reread. Did he say buy or rent?

  8. #148
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    I should spend more time reading stickies.

    I've never been homeless, but not for lack of trying...

    When I grew up, I had to make some hard decisions with folks I love, and as a result, they became homeless for a while. Tough love and not enabling is not as easy as it is to say. Fortunately, those people pulled themselves up by their own boot straps and are now leading clean, sober, productive lives.

    That "World" is as foreign to most of us as is life on Mars, and it is in our own back yards, literally. I was coming home today and saw a young man that I knew (former student) riding his bicycle down the middle of the highway (turning lane). He had grocery bags hanging from the handle bars and he cut across behind me as I passed. I thought it odd because there were no houses where he had stopped. So, I turned around and drove back by. He was gone. Now I'm really curious. Then I realize the place is at the edge of a small bridge. I didn't stop.

    I see him in town periodically and say hello. I never really thought about where he was living. In school he was relatively bright and made reasonable good grades and actually went to contest in Math. And yet circumstances exist, I suppose, which have made his existence what it is.

    I don't know what the answer to this problem is. I suppose each person in that situation has to find his/her own answer, AND, there has to be people who can give them a hand up when they start solving their own problems. From all that I've read, and form reading this thread, my observation is that those who make the decision to leave that World, generally do so. Those who do not make the decision or who choose to stay, do that as well.

    In the schools we had (have) children who are, for all purposes, homeless. They'd come to school without their homework. After listening to some of my teachers talk about how lazy they were and why they weren't getting the work done, I invited them to ride the child's bus one afternoon and watch where the kids got off.... Didn't take too long for the attitudes to begin to change about missing homework. One kid and his family lived in what could only be described as a pile of boards. She wasn't doing her homework. That girl could not answer a "fill in the blank", "listing", or "multiple choice" question to save her life. But ask her to write everything she knows about something discussed in class and you'll get five pages. And it will be right. But, if you live in a pile of boards, you probably don't have a desk or a kitchen table to do you busywork homework at...

    You can spot the real homeless kids in the lunch room. They are eating their lunch and any that anyone will give them and putting anything wrapped or fruit in their pockets. They do it very clandestinely. They don't want anyone to know.

    As I read through the thread, I noticed that the OP and his significant other have not posted in a while. I hope they are continuing to be successful and to live this wonderful life we've been given to the fullest extent possible.

    Certainly a humbling read..

    Alan

  9. #149
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    Personally I have never been sympathetic to the homeless. Back in 2012, I was attacked by two homeless men intent on killing me. The ensuing confrontation, settled by my ax and a 9mm CZ pistol led to an immediate heart attack.

  10. #150
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    What a horrible experience that must have been. I can only suggest that we not judge all be the actions of the few. No more than we should blame all men because they were male or whatever their race, religion, etc. I am sorry you had to experience that. What a traumatic experience it must have been. I assume you experienced the heart attack and I'm thankful you survived through God's Grace.

  11. #151

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    If the short term help got the college guy out of his bind, good for him. It's the ones who STAY on food stamps and at the food bank that are the problem. BTW, I'm 66 she's 31, gorgeous, petite, and now has her 9 yo daughter here, who is also doing just fine.

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    Quote Originally Posted by highlo View Post
    If the short term help got the college guy out of his bind, good for him. It's the ones who STAY on food stamps and at the food bank that are the problem. BTW, I'm 66 she's 31, gorgeous, petite, and now has her 9 yo daughter here, who is also doing just fine.
    Huh? You lost me there, buddy...

  13. #153
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    Don't worry. Highlo is just Tigrate by another name. He was banned a few months back. He was a troll then and he's a troll now. He's gone...again.

  14. #154
    Senior Member BENESSE's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick View Post
    Don't worry. Highlo is just Tigrate by another name. He was banned a few months back. He was a troll then and he's a troll now. He's gone...again.

    I suspected he wasn't long for this world, just wondered how long it would take.

  15. #155

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jonesy View Post
    Thanks Poco.

    There is no manual for survival as a homeless person so I guess you are really doing us all a service because no one knows what life will bring tomorrow.

    Keep writing as much as you wantn Audacity Find My iPhone Origin. REAL life stories are very interesting to me and I appreciate you for sharing yours.
    Now I've entitled this "Gems from the Gutter part one" for a reason. There is some I'm sure I have forgotten that you will have questions about. I also want to give others the opportunity to contribute, therefore each can entitle their contributions part 2 part 3 and so on. This is not about me,although I have told you my story. This is about a type of Survival that I fervently hope none of you has to experience. I look back on my time as being homeless as being a sort of Spiritual Sojourn, a time I got to get to know my Creator as I understand my Creator. It helped me grow in ways that I never thought possible. I got closer to Mother Earth, I lived, I learned. Although It was a very sad and depressing time, it was also enjoyable to a degree. You see any survival situation,Urban or Wilderness is what you make it. The better your attitude the better your chances are. I hope you both Enjoy and learn from this. I'm sorry it is so long and takes so much of your valuable time. But this is one of the lessons you learn being homeless, Time is not important,you have no schedule except that dictated by survival and learning. Thank you for reading.
    Last edited by KAILIYAT; 06-04-2019 at 03:30 PM.

  16. #156
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    I would imagine being homeless in Algeria offers a whole new perspective on sand. Saida is not the largest city so that didn't give you many options did it? Did you just like hang out in the historic center?

  17. #157

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    Quote Originally Posted by tonester View Post
    wow poco, thanks for taking the time for writing this. man this is such a strong story! like rick said, you really did give the homelessness a face, and you really did change the way i think about this and i thank you for that. again thanks for taking your time to write your story and thank you for even sharing your story with us!
    You had better be prepared for the worst! Fortunately I was better prepared due to my gentle let down into homelessness. I had purchased some items and acquired others that were given away or thrown away. Due to my experience in the military and Boy Scouts and what I had seen thus far "on the streets", I chose a little different route than your typical homeless person. I spent my first TRULY homeless night as a "Street Person" in a discarded pup tent I was fortunate to "find" at the SA drop box.( Hey I felt they owed me anyway, they didn't follow their own rules.) First night was spent in a SMALL strip of woods next to the train tracks.

  18. #158
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    So, tell me, do they have the Salvation Army in Algeria? You took it out of the drop box and they "owed" you? Smells like a troll to me. Do you know Slide95 by any chance?

  19. #159

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    thanks for taking the time for writing this. man this is such a strong story! like rick said, you really did give the homelessness a face, and you really did change the way i think about this and i thank you for that. again thanks for taking your time to write your story and thank you for even sharing your story with us!

  20. #160
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    Do they have this level of homelessness in the Netherlands?
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