My NBR Challenge - 'adopt' a homeless person

No, I dont mean taking one into your home. Obviously I could've phrased this better but I'm not in PR so you read between the personal lines.

So.

Since everyone seems to think I'm the resident asshole and all you fockers love to essentially pick on me from your high horse, assume I'm a degenerate tin foil eating racist mofo, I'd like you all to step up and help someone. Anyone really. We all run into people in our daily routine that need some help.

Like I said in another thread, I've run into two homeless men in the past few months who I help when I can. That means if I see them, I try to help them out with food. Like I'll pay for parking if I have to sometimes - its 25 cents for a few minutes. Since one of them seems to be consistently around the Starbux on Oak and 67th and is relatively the same size as me, I'm putting old clothes together for the winter as I grew up donating up old clothes with the family through various 'charities'. I do prefer the hands on approach as its honestly just rewarding and even community like. I also handed him a sammy, coffee and $5 for food later just before posting this.

The other disenchanted guy by Broadway Hemlock, his name is Toby. An older guy who you can tell isnt a druggie. I sat down with him in McDix one night in July when my car was in the shop and I was bus bound and hungry. He actually blew my mind in a sense that he said in order to get by, he had to be better. It was up to him to be different than the rest. He had to have no expectations as he shouldnt. I didnt ask how he ended up sitting on a sidewalk b/c realistically, it's not that hard to imagine (I've been laid of 4x in 7 months in one calendar year) so despite best intentions, it could be you. Oh yes, it could be. Unfortunately, I dont run into Toby that much.

Some of you donate time to trails. A lot of us donate time here with almost useless banter. And whether you know it or not, a lot of you are sort of whats wrong with the World. You guys tell me I'm intolerant of refugee's fleeing a crisis. I say "ok" b/c its the internet and you guys cant read an opening disclaimer. I'll openly admit both of them are older white males. Why? White people dont have a common community in my opinion. I think there's distinct reasons why the DTES is predominately white and first nations. But thats a whole other thread. I'll also openly say if I was homeless, I'd like someone to help me. Pretty simple.

I'm challenging you ALL, whether in Vancouver or Germany to help change someones life locally for the better. Homeless people get jack shit other than judgmental views and loose change. You dont even have to give them anything other than time. Talk with one. Give them a sense of worth again as its start from being ostracized.

Shall we do something NBR? Ok, WILL YOU do something because if I can and believe me I am, you certainly can. Right?

Dont let the Shogun be better than you (because you dont think thats possible do ya) ;)

If a homeless person asks you for money because they are hungry (or not), take them to a grocery/convenience store instead to do a little shopping for what they need. Inexpensive stuff like bread, peanutbutter, jam, milk is what they've asked for. I guarantee it will make your day.

I do this all the time and did it loads in China. Never felt a need to announce it to anyone though.

If a homeless person asks you for money because they are hungry (or not), …

I carry Subway gift cards loaded with $10 that I'll give to people if they ask me for money for food.

$10 will buy them a sandwich [HTML_REMOVED] coffee, and there are Subway stores everywhere.

Funny enough I used to give out more of them when I worked near Metrotown than working downtown. There they used to ask you for food money, downtown they hold up signs or a cup or hat.

I do this all the time and did it loads in China. Never felt a need to announce it to anyone though.

Your pseudo-humility is oddly ironic.

the first thing you should do , and it doesn't cost you anything , is to consider these folks as " people " first , and then consider their circumstance second .

some of them don't want your help or handouts , they just want to be acknowledged as just another citizen .

couple of stories . . .

i'm down in CA right now , and the cycling route i use a lot passes by a lot of folks with apparently no fixed address . i tried to give a guy some cash for a small favor he did for me , but he refused it . what meant more to him ( i think ) was that i approached him and honored him by asking him to do something for me that he was in a better position to do than i was ( keep an eye out for a key to a bike lock that i thought i'd dropped on his part of the bike path ) . when i found it later somewhere else , he was more happy that the problem was solved than by what he had ( maybe ) hoped to get out of my request .

another time , one of these guys showed me the back way ( unauthorized ) into a junkyard to find a common random part i needed for my van . he didn't expect anything , but took time out from whatever he was doing to help me out . he was genuinely happy that i laid a buck on him ( all i had on me at the time lol ) but i think he was more proud of the fact that he was able to help someone out through his knowledge of the 'hood .

lesson : these people often do have something to contribute .

https://www.facebook.com/TheHungerSite/photos/a.10150431291003366.356088.6126058365/10153194185168366/?type=3[HTML_REMOVED]theater

My buddy is an old hippy that works at the soup kitchen he told me they really need old socks and underwear to which I replied used underwear …really ?

he said ya man these guys have nothing so last year I ran out of space in my sock drawer so i took a bag of socks/underwear/clothes t opositive living and … they were estatic1

take yer old clothes to the shelter!

I do this all the time and did it loads in China. Never felt a need to announce it to anyone though.

Ya but thats more likely due to your guilt about your inherent white privilege which allowed you to earn more than 10x the local population does.

Not only that, I actually want to see how many people take this on and quit their incessant bickering online. First two replies in this thread show I most probably will be disappointed.

the first thing you should do , and it doesn't cost you anything , is to consider these folks as " people " first , and then consider their circumstance second .

some of them don't want your help or handouts , they just want to be acknowledged as just another citizen .

I'm not sure if this is directed at me but when you go to shake a mans hand that's been living on the street for any amount of time, whether it be to introduce yourself or just a more formal thank you/your welcome type thing, they will usually look at their hands and then yours almost as if, you sure about this? You can almost see the thought process of my hands are filthy and he doesnt care..? That's a humanizing aspect.

As for their circumstance, well shit son, if no one was homeless, would we need and want to do what I'm talking about?

As for those who dont want hand outs, I havent met the a-typical angry at the world hobo all too often or even in recent memory but I might enjoy conversating with one. It'd probably be similar to trying to tell a grown man who stands 6'5 that he cant have another drink while I'm only 5'11. As much I like handing food out, I'd much prefer to be offer a hand up.

lesson : these people often do have something to contribute .

Change that to everyone has something to contribute and then you're on to something. Well, maybe not Jim Beam.

Random question:

Anyone know if such a thing exists as anti bacterial under garments? I've had work jerseys in the past that were anti everything (wrinkles to bacteria). Ideally, I'm interested in finding some long johns and under shirts that are relatively somehow cheap. I'd like to set both the aforementioned gentleman up for the winter.

wool?

dunno aboot cheap, though.

If you adopt one,make sure you have it spayed or neutered.

not directed at you . . .