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Coaster · Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2002 8:50 pm

The family of which I have been affiliated with wishes me to attend to a place of worship so I can prepare food stuffs for the homeless.

Hmm, I dunno.. going to a place filled with people who beleive in fiery tales and magic so I can help to reward the lazy and lathargic.

Don't we want society to go forward?

Of course, theres the people who are extremely smart and helpful that are homeless too for some reason or another. I'd like to reward them, but theres no way to reward only them.

I'm guessing the ratio of people who would have a positive effect on the world but are homeless vs. people who would have a negative effect but are homeless is about 1:10.

This is my moral dilema. What would you do?
Oh ya, and LET THE FLAMES COMMENCE

Freddio · Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2002 8:59 pm

it called compasion, and its something which many of those "fairy tale believing" people also believe

Coaster · Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2002 9:06 pm

Is this another one of those emotions?!
Damn, and I thought I knew how to fake them all!

turnip · Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2002 11:24 pm

If you're like any other normal person out there, it feels good deep down, trust me on that.

But then again, serving the homeless to make urself feel good is selfish in a way.

edraket · Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2002 12:02 am

Somehow helping homeless people doesn't make me feel good.
Because I know that deep down inside they are leeches.

I'm sorry to say this and I know this sounds strange from the person who behaves like a pro religion socialist hippie most of the time. : )

But I really hate how they always try to play on your compassion or downright bother you untill you give them something so they fuck off. They pretend you are a bastard when you don't give them something eventhough they really don't give a rats ass about what you are thinking or feeling. You are just a walking wallet to them that can be opened by applying the right tricks on your conscience.

Some are smart too. They are great talkers that if they where to get their act together could be quite successfull in society if you ask me.
Some are dumb and tell you the same lie day after day. (There is very few bums here so I know most of them by face and they still try to pull the same trick on me every time I see them)
Anyways..that all said I do give money to some of them. Just the ones that don't bother me in that obnixious bum way.
I guess what it comes down to is that I am always willing to help people and treat them as human beings. But I expect to be treated as I treat them and I don't want to be lied to without the slightest shred of respect.

What you need to do... Well just make up your mind. If you don't feel up to saying no just do it and do it for your family. You'll live through it and probably be a wiser person afterwards.
If you do feel up to saying no just say you don't want to help people that you don't respect. Thats your right you know.
I don't think it makes you a bad person.

strata · Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2002 12:46 am

If you're ever in Dublin and a well-dressed man comes up to you with a look of desperation on his face saying that someone stole his wallet over by Houston station, and is wondering if you could give him a little something for a hostel... don't. He's asked me twice... he's really polite and well spoken so the first time I gave him like 3 pounds or something (2.50 dollars), second time I said: You get your wallet stolen a lot don't you?
And he turned around and ran away. Cretin.

The government has actually asked the people here (from what I've heard) not to give money to the beggars... if they can't make a living from doing it, they'll have to find something better to do. It's not pro-active of any of us to give them money and let them carry on. So, these days I never give money to beggars.

It's annoying though, caus Dublin is literally overrun with them... on my 30 minute walk from work to my apartment I'll see around 15 beggars, get asked verbally for money by about 5 (see most of them are even too lazy to make an effort) But it's strange in a way (and scary), it's like you almost stop seeing them... I don't want to look into their eyes... I don't want to have to feel compassion with every person on the street... I know half of them are lying, and the other half is junkies... and if I did, I'd be as poor as them now...

The thing that pisses me off the most about them all is the women with little children though... I was talking to a taxi driver, and he told me that these women (no offense, but it's usually Indian/pakistani women), with their little infants on their arms make somewhere around 400 euros PER WEEK... and most of the time, the child is not even theirs... and that just pisses me off. they make more money then me, AND they drag a child out into the rain to make their begging easier... *sigh*

and that is why I never give money to beggars.

Freddio · Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2002 1:07 am

working in a soup kitchen for the homeless, is different to giving money to beggars. I would suggest you never do the latter.

klaivu · Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2002 2:15 am

When a shaggy looking fellow approaches me clearly intending to ask for money, I ask " Hey, got a buck ? I have to get to xxxx and don't have any money .. " before he can open his mouth. Usually works pretty well.

Freddio · Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2002 3:17 am

heh

Awetopsy · Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2002 8:47 am

Freddio: I agree.

Klaivu: thats funny

Steven Stahlberg · Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2002 10:07 am

I agree with edraket.
Personally I would rather die than grovel for small change like they do. I know at least one religion that forbids giving money to mendicants (beggars).

You see some very miserable beggars in Hong Kong, very old, very dirty people with limbs missing etc, and I can see how they might need to ask others for help in a society that has very little in the way of government aid, and furthermore at least some of them are 'working' for their money, by playing some instrument or something...

...but once I saw a young white man, seemingly healthy, dressed normally, begging on the street with a sign in english and a cup in front of him, just sitting there doing nothing. Weird. I almost felt like asking him what the hell he thought he was doing.

Coaster · Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2002 2:50 pm

Well, its tonight and I really don't want to go. I would really like to be helping the deserving homeless, and not the people who got off by tripping or pushing people like me into puddles, got addicted to crack, and whine for money.

It would be really nice though, I say again, if I could somehow sponser in someway the people that would provide a positive influence.

That and I just don't like churches.

I'll simply lock myself in a bathroom or refuse to go or something. That'll be my way of saving the world.

[ April 17, 2002: Message edited by: Coaster ]

Impaler · Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2002 7:26 pm

Giving food to homeless and giving money to homeless are two completely different things, genius.

You can't resell the food. If you need it, you get it. If you're a grifter, you go to McDonald's. It's as simple as that.

The only selfish thing I can see in this situation is you refusing to go help people because of some objection about going into a building. It's just a church, man. Big fucking deal. I'm not Christian by any means, but, I wouldn't have any problem going into a church if it meant my fellow man was going to benefit.

Rat · Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2002 8:16 pm

The only people who would say that are the people who don't know Coaster very well. He's not the sort who likes to interact with people face-to-face, even to help them, but from afar...sure. Unless they're people who beat on him.

edraket · Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2002 3:28 am

We had this streetpoet once. He would come up to you and improvise a poem. The guy was really good, he'd usually have really clever stuff about your mood and where you were going or who you were with. His stuff would actually make you feel better somehow. Well worth some money.

Now he's just a retard since whatever he was poisoning himself with has rotted his brain.

Gimbal8 · Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2002 5:50 am

Bag lady story.

Not every bum is a con artist. But here is a story of one that is.

Coaster · Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2002 7:32 am

ya, people like the poets and musicians I'd pay for, but not the people on vancouver's east side..

I only like to help people if I know who exactly I'm helping too.

Unsound · Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2002 9:52 am

I usually wander around Vancouver on boring days, so it seems that I am asked for money quite a bit. I find it interesting just watching people walk by someone asking for money. If you watch closely, sometimes a person walking past will jerk or have an awkward stride, it seems like they want to ignore them but they are having a bit of difficultly.

I very rarely like giving out money, because I doubt that it will be going towards anything very worth while, but I don’t mind buying them a coffee and a muffin, just because at least I know how the money has been spent.