The Hustle
I'm not one to pontificate on this matter, seeing as how I have a home and the homeless don't, but, as far as I'm concerned, these folk need as many voices as they can get, so here goes.
What do most of us do about the homeless?
We ridicule and insult them for who they are, what they are,
and how they ended up where they are.
We tell them to pull themselves together,
then expect them to stumble upon
a shower, razor, suit, paper and print for a résumé,
and an address to stamp onto it before
we allow them to set foot through the door.
Where do they get the cash to cover all of that?
Those who don't beg you for mercy
will lie, cheat and hustle it from you.
Theirs is a different ladder they climb.
There are more ways than one to ascend to the top.
Their dream will be your nightmare.
Your dream has been theirs.
What's wrong with this picture?
posted by G. @ 18:03
2 comments
2 Comments:
I think a lot of the homeless people don't even want the help that is offered to them such as shelters and opportunities and the like. They CHOOSE to do what they do therefore remain in their state and expect people to pity them.
Sitting around asking people for change is pie compared to actually getting up off your feet, getting cleaned up and putting some effort into "getting their life back."
There was a newspaper article done a while back in the Globe and Mail - one of the writers actually went out and pretended to be a homeless person and in the end, he racked up a good $100-something dollars just from the ONE DAY!!!! $100 = for sitting around - now tell me why I should give THEM my hard earned cash. Their cash is TAX FREE!
Sarah:
While it is true that one can earn that sort of scratch in a day, I challenge that journalist, assuming he hasn't already done so, to spend every day for a month, a year living on the streets. One hundred dollars one day will be ten the next, all obtained through hours upon hours begging passers-by for spare change from their pockets that they'll only lose, anyway.
They do not choose to do as they do, they cannot overcome it. How many of us would choose a life of squalor? They fell on hard times before they ended up outside. One could lose a job and end up homeless. One could aspire to act or sing or dance for a living and end up homeless. Often, those who are abused at home end up homeless. How's that for "sitting around"?
Donald:
I, too, share a disdain for Socialist infrastructure for the sole reason that it is controlled by the State. The State collects our hard-earned dollars in the name of "the greater good", then decides how the money is to be spent. In our case, the system can't handle such an influx of needy because the system is badly underfunded and overloaded.
Before you call upon the private sector to the rescue, let's not be so quick to put our faith in Business. The Man, thinking he can save a few bucks and avoid having to deal with the Unions, outsources our services to "experts", who are experts in spending our money while taking their cut.
And how about the private citizen? How many of us give a hoot about the plight of these people? How dare they inconvenience us!
It's not as simple as crying, "Pull yourself up by the bootstraps, dust yourself off and find yourself some work", for, after spending that much time in the wilderness, most, if not all, will have tried to dull the pain somehow. Many will be crippled with addiction and in need of the proper care, many others will possess a mental "disorder", and the rest will simply not know how to function on the surface. Also, how many of us would be so willing to surrender a tax-free living? Whether legitimate or not, a hustle is still a hustle.
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