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Homeless guy


RamNut

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On 04/11/2018 at 08:32, Paul71 said:

Supposed to be, was announced this year 30 million but i am too cynical in my old age and think a big % of that just ends up in someones back pocket as people look to profit from others misfortune.

I am sure cleverer people than me know the answer but relative prosperity may not be the only answer, there were significantly more homeless people back at the beginning of the century in what was considered quite prosperous times with a fairly healthy economy, But then I dont always trust stats, they can be fudged to make them look good or bad.

One person living on the streets is too many, im sure there is something that says 90% of us or something like that are only 2 months away from being homeless.

 

Always telling the wife this when she is subbing  our kids because they can't pay their bills or buy their kids new shoes ,but they have the money for sky tv and mobiles.I consider myself fortunate ,nice car (bentley) nice home in a reasonable area and my own business. But would financially be up Sh#t creek within 8-10 weeks of bad luck ,illness or the business doing poorly. 

when I was 23 i was homeless lived in a multi storey car park for 6 weeks and know how demeaning and difficult it is  to get back on track.I can understand how drunk and drugs become an escape for some of these people . A quick fix for many.I would always suggest purchasing food  or a hot drink rather than giving money.But until Local authorities and government give this matter serious attention I don't see a solution.

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  • 2 weeks later...
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I'm literally pooping myself at the thought of what kind of reaction I'm going to get here... but unsurprisingly I've got a view and a story.

I think it's wrong to question how people give. If they give at all then fair play to them. As individuals all we can do unfortunately is offer a short term boost, or a series of short term boosts. Every single nice and tingly video you ever see on youtube or elsewhere demonstrates the effect of a short term boost, every success story starts with a short term boost.

Most of the people on the street are there because they've taken a series of kicks, we can all recover from kicks, we're incredibly resilient, I dare say 99% of us have recovered from one, two, three. It's what we do. Sometimes though we suffer from one kick too many and it's impossible to get back up from.

You need a short term boost, then another short term boost, then another then maybe you start to think hang on, maybe there is a chance. maybe things aren't totally over, maybe I can get up one more time.

I was staying at he Hilton in Manchester last years challenge cup final weekend, there was a glitzy boxing match going on as well, the place was absolutely packed with hundreds of dinner jacket, fur coat and no nickers types. So many handsome and beautiful looking people all over the place. People walking around with bottles of Moet in reception. £195.00 a night for the room.

Outside a young homeless guy. He's getting shouted at, he's getting spat at and yes there are some who give him a couple of quid. but the majority don't even notice him. It's been normalised.

It costs him 12.50 a night to stay in a shelter (is that ********, I don't know, don't really care)

I sit down next to him and just talk. Within two minutes he's burst into tears. Now he's either a brilliant actor or he's genuine when he tells me no-one ever speaks to him normally anymore. No-one look's him in the eye.

I can see from his eyes and his face in general that he's not a druggy. I get him some room service, he can order what he wants, he orders hot chocolate and a chicken sandwich, nowt else. I tell him I'm happy to let him stay in my room, while I sleep in the car for one nigh and ask the hotel manager if he's ok with that. He is as long as I take responsibility for any damage or theft.

The lad wouldn't take the room but did agree to sleep in my car. I asked him how I could help him, . We end up talking till nearly four in the morning, he doesn't need my car after all.

What would be the best thing I could do for him short term, where could he go to get help

He'd wanted to go to Devon to see his aunty but had never raised enough in day to pay for both his shelter and a bus ticket. The thing he wanted most in the whole world wasn't food, it wasn't my cash, it was a frigging bus ticket. Now again I'm not so naiive to think maybe that was ******** as well, but I don't care. If that's the story he needs to tell, then let him tell it.

Do what you can, when you can. Sometimes even just stopping for a chat and not judging.

Don't make people feel guilty for giving money, don't make people feel guilty for giving food, christ especially don't make people feel guilty for not giving anything at all. All that does is piss people off.

Two sides of society I'm desperate to help and I will and am changing my life around to try to do that. Homeless and young kids with nowhere to turn to. I'll do what I can, it won't be enough to fix things but it may just give someone the boost they need to get back up one more time.

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Again I'm aware I'll provoke a couple of oh ffs ronnie drop it, reactions.

Writing helps me get through days. Even garbage poems.

Put yourself in his Shoe

I see him sitting there with his cold and haggard face
Day after day he sits alone in the same unforgiving place.
I see him shivering with cold under his scruffy worn out coat
Asking strangers for cash using his scribbled cardboard note.
He’s ashamed to look up, I can hardly hear his voice
But I know why he does it, he has no other choice.

I’ll never avoid him by crossing the street
Or point and snigger ‘cos he only has one holey shoe on his feet.
So many people do that it’s not even funny
He’s not asking for the earth, just a tiny bit of your money.
So I always stop for a minute and ask for a chat
I’ll put whatever loose change I have in his hat.

I don’t do it for self gratification and certainly not out of pity.
It’s tough enough for him as it is to feel trapped in this uncaring City.
I do it ‘cos I know what it’s like to be where he’s been.
To feel humiliated and empty, to see what he’s seen.
To have nothing to eat, not even a slice of bread
To go day after day without getting fed. 

To have nowhere to call home and no place warm to sleep.
To feel so helpless and confused that you just want to weep.
But the fighter inside him makes him “beg” for his living.
He relies on the kindness of those who care enough to keep on giving.
It warms him up a little inside when they do it, in fact it fills him with hope
Especially on those freezing cold November mornings when he’s struggling to cope.

I don’t stay for long but we chat for a while
I ask about the real him and that makes him smile.
He’s not there by choice just some really tough circumstances
And it hurts him to have to watch all of those discerning glances.
So next time you see him out on the street, please put yourself in his shoe
Stop, say hello and give what you can, it’s happened to him and to me, it could happen to you.

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5 hours ago, ronnieronalde said:

I'm literally pooping myself at the thought of what kind of reaction I'm going to get here... but unsurprisingly I've got a view and a story.

I think it's wrong to question how people give. If they give at all then fair play to them. As individuals all we can do unfortunately is offer a short term boost, or a series of short term boosts. Every single nice and tingly video you ever see on youtube or elsewhere demonstrates the effect of a short term boost, every success story starts with a short term boost.

Most of the people on the street are there because they've taken a series of kicks, we can all recover from kicks, we're incredibly resilient, I dare say 99% of us have recovered from one, two, three. It's what we do. Sometimes though we suffer from one kick too many and it's impossible to get back up from.

You need a short term boost, then another short term boost, then another then maybe you start to think hang on, maybe there is a chance. maybe things aren't totally over, maybe I can get up one more time.

I was staying at he Hilton in Manchester last years challenge cup final weekend, there was a glitzy boxing match going on as well, the place was absolutely packed with hundreds of dinner jacket, fur coat and no nickers types. So many handsome and beautiful looking people all over the place. People walking around with bottles of Moet in reception. £195.00 a night for the room.

Outside a young homeless guy. He's getting shouted at, he's getting spat at and yes there are some who give him a couple of quid. but the majority don't even notice him. It's been normalised.

It costs him 12.50 a night to stay in a shelter (is that ********, I don't know, don't really care)

I sit down next to him and just talk. Within two minutes he's burst into tears. Now he's either a brilliant actor or he's genuine when he tells me no-one ever speaks to him normally anymore. No-one look's him in the eye.

I can see from his eyes and his face in general that he's not a druggy. I get him some room service, he can order what he wants, he orders hot chocolate and a chicken sandwich, nowt else. I tell him I'm happy to let him stay in my room, while I sleep in the car for one nigh and ask the hotel manager if he's ok with that. He is as long as I take responsibility for any damage or theft.

The lad wouldn't take the room but did agree to sleep in my car. I asked him how I could help him, . We end up talking till nearly four in the morning, he doesn't need my car after all.

What would be the best thing I could do for him short term, where could he go to get help

He'd wanted to go to Devon to see his aunty but had never raised enough in day to pay for both his shelter and a bus ticket. The thing he wanted most in the whole world wasn't food, it wasn't my cash, it was a frigging bus ticket. Now again I'm not so naiive to think maybe that was ******** as well, but I don't care. If that's the story he needs to tell, then let him tell it.

Do what you can, when you can. Sometimes even just stopping for a chat and not judging.

Don't make people feel guilty for giving money, don't make people feel guilty for giving food, christ especially don't make people feel guilty for not giving anything at all. All that does is piss people off.

Two sides of society I'm desperate to help and I will and am changing my life around to try to do that. Homeless and young kids with nowhere to turn to. I'll do what I can, it won't be enough to fix things but it may just give someone the boost they need to get back up one more time.

Did you get him his bus ticket?

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On ‎12‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 16:09, Wolfie said:

Wow, best of luck mate.

I've just seen where you're located & it's interesting because Mrs Wolfie used to manage the fostering & adoption Social Work team at Lincs local authority until a year or so ago (based out of North Hykeham).

Really hope it goes well for you. Well, us too, of course - we'll just be starting the process in the New Year.

Welcome to the world of fostering. Good Luck. After doing it for 5 years, I guarantee the adults will drive you mad more than the kids, 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Not going to post too much because I end up ranting but in my late teens I went through a bad stage of depression and ended up on the streets for a short time. My own undoing really. I was angry and deserved to be on everyone's poo list. 

But anyway, it was scary. Like proper scary. Do you know how the world looks when you're one of them? When you're on the outside? I can't explain it but it is ducking horrible. You think we live in a civilised country of vast majority of good people but that only if you're 'in'. It felt like you're stripped of any sort of status among the society. 

I tell you, I felt so angry and aggressive towards people that it's changed the way I view people for the rest of my life. 

I'll never forget going for help. I'd headed down towards London where I figured the chances would be better but I kind of stopped in Oxford for a week or so. I reached out for help and there wasn't much about. I probably could have found a way out but I can't explain how much angry I was. Young and dumb innit. 

Anyway, I ended up at this kitchen to get food and there was this guy making jacket potatoes. He was a black fella and had one of those smiley faces. The way he was with everyone made the room like an excitable classroom. The rough sleepers there were laughing out loud at the shittest jokes. Like the stuff you do to kids where you pull a pound out their ear type stuff. The atmosphere was great. I couldn't be angry in there. Just lots of giggling. Then the police came in and arrested some fella for fighting. He didn't exactly go peacefully until the black dude and his assistant had a word and he listened to them straight away. I guess because they saw him as a person.

Then this girl came and sat down with me and you should have seen her. She might have been pretty once but the heroin had done it's work. Sunken eyes, messed up teeth, weird rashes, yellow skin etc. Like a proper movie looking junkie. But she got a Mothers Day card out and started showing everyone. She cried her eyes out about how she'd had her daughter taken off her and how she wants her back. The black fella came and listened to her for a bit and then a copper dropped in (I guess they do that a lot?) and he listened to her. But nobody lectured her or patronized her. 

Anyway just made me think that if you read the first part of her life story that you'd think that she deserved to have her daughter taken off her. But I think I got a proper understanding of what despair is. And it made me do what I had to do to come back over to mankind and leave that poor girl in the leper camp. The dogshit of society that were only human for as long as they are in that room. 

That's the point I'm making. They're treated like a sub species. If you don't give money or food then it might be decent just to treat them like they're human. Like they still have social needs and boxes to tick. They're not feral! 

That's my reason for giving them money over food/drink. I am worried that a coffee, although I'm sure is appreciated more often than not, is kind of making that social abyss real. 

Will they spend it on drugs? Drink? Maybe, maybe not. Is there some conceivable kind of butterfly effect where they hurt someone because they need drugs and you've helped their habit etc etc. Yeah. But I struggle to value the life of Mr Public after seeing it from the other side and there's plenty of vile behaviour and intentions between us civilised folk. We pretend a lot. Pretend to care and uphold our moral code. But you know theres so many parasites who hide in our society that will give themselves any excuse to turn a blind eye to something or wrong someone if nobody else noticed. 

Dunno if I'm explaining my thinking very well. Social media probably does a better job of showing our ugly face. 

But we wish each other good morning, hold doors open and then on the drive home behave like complete cnuts. And we walk past the homeless who aren't worthy of our time. Why not? Because "I'm too busy" or "I didn't hear him" or "he'll spend it on drugs" etc etc. 

Sometimes it's nice to just give someone without a house your attention. 

Proper preaching here. Lol. Starting pulling out the bible in a minute. 

But yeah, there is a barrier between us scumbag that live under a roof and those scumbags that don't. There really is. And being in that room in Oxford was a real eye opener to how kind of divided we are. 

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57 minutes ago, Zag zig said:

Fair do’s. Not sure I entirely agree(giving money over food). Each to their own is my way of looking at it but recognise your rant was truly heartfelt, good on ya.

I am sure different people will be able to get access to different things. Some more resourceful than others etc. But me personally I give money but I don't think anyone giving anything is wrong in the slightest. If you're trying to help then it should be appreciated. If it's not then it's possible the person is a knobber or maybe is just angry at the world 

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1 hour ago, Alpha said:

Ranted anyway. ?

Soz 

There are times when a rant is perfectly timed and perfectly placed and although we don't interact as much these days I'm not a proper rams fan, I think over the years I've been on here, you do that so much better than anyone else I can remember.

If there were more people like you and less people like this see you next Tuesday the world would be a better place. As long as there are people like this man and his friend doing the filiming, in the world, society and the human race will continue to make me not want to be part of it.

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/crime-caught-camera/police-hunt-drop-kicked-tent-containing-homeless/

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Its a weird world. 

I wanted to help our homeless guy, but i also understand that alchoholic homeless people can also be quite intimidating too. When i was a student in Leicester i used to spend the summer working in offices on New Walk. I used to hate going in and out of the building because you could guarantee that you'd be acosted by the homeless alchoholics from a nearby shelter who would confront you to demand(?) money. One day i was drawing some buildings and these two strode past. I knew something was going to happen. As they went by, one gobbed into his hand and smeared a huge snotty gobfull of tobacco stinking phelgm up the back of the clipboard i was holding. I think he was going to wipe it on me but i had momentarily used the used the clipboard to fend him off. Totally unprovoked and absolutely disgusting. So i understand that some people will cross the street to avoid a confontation. By stepping forward to help you do take a risk, but thank god there are people who take that risk and offer their assistance to vulnerable people and violent people on the street without prejudice.  

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8 hours ago, ronnieronalde said:

There are times when a rant is perfectly timed and perfectly placed and although we don't interact as much these days I'm not a proper rams fan, I think over the years I've been on here, you do that so much better than anyone else I can remember.

If there were more people like you and less people like this see you next Tuesday the world would be a better place. As long as there are people like this man and his friend doing the filiming, in the world, society and the human race will continue to make me not want to be part of it.

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/crime-caught-camera/police-hunt-drop-kicked-tent-containing-homeless/

Appalling. Yesterday i put a post on and then removed it about the actions of a couple of guys treating a homeless guy in Derby appallingly. 

Having read subsequent posts (not the ones taking the mick out me mind :-D)  about how we treat people i think its worth sharing.

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/derby-news/watch-cruel-moment-homeless-man-2314351

As alpha said we could all be better people at times, im guilty of head down walking past homeless people at times, but there are ways to behave and ways not.

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