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.
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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.
Kinda puts things into perspective for me. inspirational :clap:
I definately agreeQuote:
Originally Posted by Rick
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.
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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.
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.
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?
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.
(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.
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.
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.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by crashdive123
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.
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?
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?
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.
This strike me as a "Sunshine fluff piece".....We have stories like this once in a while.Quote:
Originally Posted by 7whitewolf7
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.
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)
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.
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.
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.
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)
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, 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.
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.
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!Quote:
Originally Posted by crashdive123
I have to go back and reread. Did he say buy or rent?
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
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.
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.
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...Quote:
Originally Posted by highlo
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick
I suspected he wasn't long for this world, just wondered how long it would take.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonesy
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?
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by tonester
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?
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!
Do they have this level of homelessness in the Netherlands?