What do you see?

[tanya]

It

[Felicia]

[quote=tanya]It

[Deathcricket]

Interesting viewpoint. I have little pity for beggars but zero pity for thieves. Although if I was pushed hard enough, I would steal too. I just wouldn't expect mercy if I was caught. When you remove the penalties for people's actions, society erodes, chaos ensues, and order is lost. You aren't doing that person any favors by allowing them to take advantage of you. They will just become more demanding in their needs and expect it time and time again. Their situation won't change, you're just feeding a vicious cycle IMO.

When I was around 19, I chased a kid who stole a sawzall blade ($2 item) 10-15 blocks. He ran into his house and barricaded himself inside. I just stood outside his house until the police showed up. He got arrested in front of his neighbors and family. Crying that he just wanted to build a skateboard ramp. Then released about 3 hours later (saw him walking up the street later that day). Not sure what charges or penalties he faced. I saw him about 3-4 years later and recognized him working at a gas station (he had a florida shaped birthmark on his nose) and he said that me chasing him down and getting penalized for his actions "scared him straight" and he never broke the law again. And he actually thanked me.

I like to think that if I thought "bah, it's a $2 item, I'm not chasing him over that", his life might have gone differently, but who knows I guess.
:2thumbs:

[devo_stevo]

All valid viewpoints. I think about this from time to time and my personal opinion is that giving money straight up to the guys on the street is generally a bad idea. They will likely just use that to buy more drugs or booze and the cycle continues.

On the other hand a plate of food and a warm blanket or something like that is the least I can do. I have been given too much not to give back. However little that may be.

When I was a new father (I think my oldest daughter was about 8 months old), I was on the way home from Lava Hot Springs in Idaho and stopped at a gas station for some gas and drinks. There was a guy their that saw the Utah plates on the car and immediately asked for a ride. He said that he was trying to get to Salt Lake and was stranded there. I didn't feel comfortable with the guy being in the car with my wife and daughter and told him that I couldn't give him a ride. I did buy him a burrito and a drink at the Taco Time that was in the gas station. Figured that if I couldn't give him a ride, I could do that for him.

All I know is that when the world runs out of love for the common good and our fellow man, we are on a slippery slope. Just keep on caring. :2thumbs:

[R]

I like the idea of giving to the needy, and I think the best thing you can give them is a job. Maybe if you see someone in your store shoplifting and you don't want him punished, tell him that the stuff under his jacket costs an hour of sweeping the store. I think that's a type of generosity that benefits everyone.

[erial]

I wouldn't want to be that skinny kid in the mall. On the other hand, the skinny kid I read about in Southwest Airlines' Spirit mag lives a life I could envy.



true story of nature, brotherly love, and living exactly the right life.
By Peter Heller

[uintahiker]

It's interesting what people need.

I never give to the homeless people who are out working the street corner with their cardboard signs. Giving instead to a charity helps me know that my money is going toward food & lodging instead of who knows where. I work hard for my money- I'm not going to just give it away to someone not working that asks for it.

If they are truly homeless- why did they just by the black marker to make their sign? Just the cynic in me.

Others are a bit more tricky. Like the family down the street who's dad just got laid off, or the ones who have a job and live frugally but just can't quite make ends meet. A lot of people bring food and clothes to try to help, but the truth is the family can't use most of what is given. Instead they could use an offer of afternoon employment. They'd rather earn something then just be given it, but most people find it easier to give away their castoffs.

[tanya]

http://www.todayindixie.com/view/full_story/5756932/article-What-do-you-see-?instance=lead_story_left_column


This got published. :nod: cool!

[Felicia]

http://www.todayindixie.com/view/full_story/5756932/article-What-do-you-see-?instance=lead_story_left_column


This got published. :nod: cool!

Congratulations Tanya! Nice accomplishment. :2thumbs:

[tanya]

Yeah, but looked closer and its just in the opinion section. The editor told me it was going to be an article. Bummer -- and she made me take a face shot for the editorial!

oh well. :cool2:

[Hnak]

oh well. :cool2:

It's good writing, regardless of where they put it.... :nod:

[tanya]

Would have helped if I put some effort into it. It was actually just a letter to a man that I was with at the Mall that day.


But THANKS! :five:

[tanya]

lead_story_left_column

Looking at the URL.. maybe it was an editorial :2thumbs:

[Bo_Beck]

Interesting. I got back from Albuquerque sunday night. When Kami came to work on monday she explained an episode that her and Pam had been confronted with here in the Desert Rat on the saturday that they had been working. An adult woman in her 40's, overweight, wreaking of cigarette smoke, booze and very unkempt had entered the store with 2 adolescents in their late teens or early 20's (boyfriend/girlfriend) maybe her children? The kids sat on the shoe try on bench eating a tube of pringles while "Mom" wandered the store. Kami kept a close eye on her. She saw the woman put something into her bra. Kami approached her and asked her "Do you intend to pay for what you put down your bra"? The woman said. "You caught me!" and put the Petzl headlamp back in it's place The woman began sobbing and walked out of the store. Kami warned the Ace Hardwear upstairs of the woman. I believe this woman and her kids subsist on thievery and if I see her again, I will kindly ask her to leave the premises. Both her and her kids are perfectly capable of getting a job and supporting themselves. Booze isn't cheap and pringles aren't a healthy food source. At least she could have tried to steal something with some nutrition in it such as a Luna Protein Bar?

[Felicia]

Interesting. I got back from Albuquerque sunday night. When Kami came to work on monday she explained an episode that her and Pam had been confronted with here in the Desert Rat.... and if I see her again, I will kindly ask her to leave the premises.....

Bo, there are so many fine lines and grey areas to this incident: legal, social, moral - thus such an individual challenge for each of us. So much can be said about each issue depending on each person's individual perspective; thus the difficulty in finding a resolution. :frustrated: And, it seems, that one would have to explain themselves in order to explain their perspective.

Tanya is successfully articulate.

[cachehiker]

Congrats on the publishing. I always try to live my life trying to look through other's eyes and walk in their shoes.

A couple of buddies and I spent all of last year trying to help out a mutual acquaintance who's been unable to find steady work in this economy. Now he's in the State Prison for a year and each and every one of us is out several hundred dollars overall.

Working in manufacturing and construction for 30 years but is still only semi-skilled and can't generally do unsupervised work. Drywall taper for three years and it never once dawned on him that he should learn to do it on his own. Painters helper for three years and it never once dawned on him that he should learn what tools and materials to buy for what job. Framers helper for two years and it never once dawned on him that he should learn to read the blueprints. Lumber yard supervisor for three years and it never once dawned on him that he should learn to do more than File -> Print. And on and on and on.

Meanwhile, being employed only part time, he can't afford a place of his own, won't cook more than toast to stretch a dollar, and doesn't seem to want to do what it takes to stay somebody's roommate. Honestly, you can share an apartment with two others for $200/month, live on basic staples for another $100, and pick up the rest of what you have to have to live for another $100. That's not a great life but it only takes 15 hours per week at minimum wage. Instead he tests every roommate with behavior that gets him thrown out and pays $5-$10 for every meal but is never without money enough for cigarettes and vodka. So he resorts to living in a tent, skipping meals, and complaining about it in spite of making $200 a week.

It was all very frustrating. An intelligent, college educated 50 year old man who just refuses to get it. I think he's literally brainwashed himself into believing all this common sense is beyond his capabilities and it's now like some sort of mental handicap. He exhausted all of our patience before getting picked up on a DUI trying to relocate his accommodations with a 125cc scooter. He didn't even have the sense to sign over the title for a few hundred bucks and let somebody pick the scooter up out of the impound lot. It was sold at auction.

And I'll probably do it again. It's part of being Christian and doing what you can for the less fortunate. Thou shalt break bread with them for they are your neighbors.

I only wish they were 501c3's so I could get a little back. :roll:

[tanya]

I love all the replies! Those have all made me think!