It doesn't happen when I'm gassing up the '96 Accord station wagon, but whenever I'm in an oldie I get this. "Hey, what year that is?" "It's nice." "I need 60 cents for a bus ride." Can any of you relate?
The best is when asked for "spare change" replie with "no thanks I've got plenty" half the time it will trip them up long enough to get away
I wish I had it that easy, I get the town derilects wanting rides downtown or to the plaza(next to the PJs). I don't nomally like to be rude but I have to put them in there place. I can't be****ociated with those drugie/retarded scumbags.They were scumbags in school & they're still the same 14+ years later. they must think they're gonna improve their image getting out of a sled near the PJs. NOT HERE. sorry for the rant but I know what you're talking about. Billy
Hahahaha very true,,I don't know why that is..But if you go to SF they ask you no matter what you drive!
bums love my hot rod, it somehow just pulls them out of the depths of their desparate lives. the last time I had my car out I stopped for gas and a bum came over, leaned over the motor and with one eye closed looked down at the four carbs and said "whatcha runnin, dual Webers?" I almost always give them money too, it's beer money whether I spend it or they do and now that I'm not drinking there's more to give. I had a friend in highschool who had some real***** happen to him and he never came out of it, and eventually became homeless. he was found frozen at a bus stop just a week ago. if not for a simple twist of fate there go I. here's a buck but sorry, no you can't have a ride. Paul
In Flint thaey all got a story... "hey man... my car broke down down the road, and I need to get some money for a tow truck..." "Oh... Really? I'm a mechanic and I got some tools right here. lets go take a look... I bet I can get it runnin for ya!" "Oh... no... that's ok..." and they walk away... OR " can I get a couple of buks to get somethin to eat?" "Heay, now that ya mention it, I'm kinda hungry too. I'll run down to McD's real quick and I'll grab ya a cheezeburg." " Oh... no... that's ok...can I just get the money?" "NO! Get the***** outta here ya*****in bum... I WORK for MY money... ever thought of tryin that!?!" Then there's the one guy that comes up and says "hey buddy... I wannna go get me a couple of 40's and I'm a buck short..." and If I can afford to, he gets a buck.
on the way home from work i pass under 694 going south on white bear ave, and every f***ing day there's another sorry son of a b**** standing at the exit ramp with a sign that usually reads "will work for food", i heard some people do it for a living, and i think theres a johny cash song with somethin to do with that! "hes in the jailhouse now" is ona the lines!
It's rad to hear what people ask, and how they ask sometimes... I don't ever give out cash, but I've bought food for the homeless before... (there are ALOT of homeless here in Santa Cruz...) Once when I was going into a grocery store a guy asked me if I'd buy him a can of V8... I did, plus a sandwich... I could tell he really needed it... another time a guy was sitting in the drizzling rain, by the Jack-in-the-Box drive-thru as I was pulling up to it... He asked me if I'd buy him a burger... I said yeah sure... I asked him if wanted fries with that, he said, "how about those potato wedges with cheese and bacon..?"..!!! I said, "geez, you're a picky*****er, how about fries..??" he said, "oh, ok, ok..it's cool man, fries are cool...!!" Hahahahaha..!! I met him up front just as he was getting asked to leave... he was stoked... you can generally weed out the truths from the lies...
[ QUOTE ] I had a friend in highschool who had some real***** happen to him and he never came out of it, and eventually became homeless. he was found frozen at a bus stop just a week ago. if not for a simple twist of fate there go I. [/ QUOTE ] Maybe the best perspective on the homeless that I've ever heard. Thanks for sharing a little wisdom Paul.
The last time I lived here in Humboldt County - before my year 'n half elsewhere, outside this cultural island - I got by without a car but a weekend job in Eureka (living in Arcata, when the bus doesn't operate on the weekends). Lots of hitchhiking goes on around here, it's more commonplace here than I've seen anywhere else in the state. It's just so common. I thumbed it myself, too. I never got picked up in a brand new vehicle. Not that it doesn't happen, but in my experience, it happens most often with people driving older cars, the beat up rides. I given hitchers rides in my '57 effie, and it's quite the conversation piece for them, even scuffed in primer. Interesting post. I think if you have a working-class/middle class lookin' rod, hitchers may feel more comfortable approaching you, hard to explain. But then, never got picked up in a brand new car, before, and most of them said, "Hey, I've been there, too."
There is a man around here who I see BUMMING at Interstate exits. Has a sign " Laid Off...will work ". He dresses the part. He lives in a nice house, drives a late model pickup and is a Professional Panhandler. He makes a good living it seems. He has been doing this for years. He moves around so as to not wear out his welcome and be new to the intersection. He is a fraud. I never give money BUT I have bought food. My wife and I bought a young man a suit so he could dress up when he was inducted into the National Honor Society ( the wife is a algebra, trig teacher )...he was smart....but on welfare. I try to help IF I think there is a true need....not just some slacker with his hand out.
It gets worse. Here they want a buck. Mad if you don't have one. Hell I didn't usually have a buck when I had a job. Going fast is my drug of choice. The worst is when thay want to wash my windows, pump my gas or take that nasty narly dirty ol rag and wipe the dust off my hood. Then I'm supposed to pay them. They expect to get paid to smudge my glass and screw up my paint. Granted the paint is usually already screwed up. I don't want anybody sticking anything in my tank, thank you very much. Well, forgive the rant. I did give a buck to a homeless gal once who was sick (really). I saw her a year later, I figured she had died. She gave me my buck back. Got herself into a halfway house, and had a job. I guess it aint all bad. But how do ya know.
Hot rods and cooler cars DO seem to attract them more! I worked as a security guard patrolling the parking lot of a local bowling alley a couple years ago, and soon noticed how many homeless folks were in the area. When I was driving my usual white patrol car with the company lettering and lights on it, they'd naturally tend to avoid me. However, on some occasions, I'd drive my Monte Carlo SS to work and just use a magnetic signal light. The first time I used the Monte, one of the homeless guys came up and started talking. He didn't ask for anything, we just talked cars in general. In the course of the conversation, I asked what he was doing now, and he told me that a divorce and a lay-off in rapid succession had left him flat broke and homeless. A guy living near the bowling alley was letting him sleep under a pickup bed cap in his back yard to get out of the wind and weather! After talking to him a while, some of the other homeless people started stopping to say "hi" when I was working. I got to know them, and I really felt for them. There being a White Castle burger joint right next door, I started bringing a few bucks with me to work when I could afford to, and I'd buy a sack or two of burgers and a few orders of fries and give them to these people. I'd also save up my pocket change to give them in case they wanted to get a coffee or something. If I was out of change, the food bar in the bowling alley provided the guards with free coffee, and I'd go fill up their thermos or cup for them. I know I may be a*****er at times, but I could easily be in their shoes someday. I wished many times that I could have afforded to do MORE, but I'm nearly broke myself! At least they got a hot meal once in a while...a thing we may take for granted, but they really seem to appreciate. Watch the movie "With Honors" sometime...it's one of my faves and I watch it often. It stars Joe Pesci and Brendan Fraser. Pesci plaus a bum, and I think he gives his best performance EVER! It'll open your eyes a little!
Funny this should come up ....I just had this happen Wednesday! I drove my (shop truck) to work, as I was getting ready to leave, a local "URBAN OUTDOORSMAN" comes hustling up to me. He say`s..Hey man I saw you in your 66 (its a 72) leaving the store yesterday, thats a nice truck man,who did your fire,(flames)can you get on it for me when you leave? He goes on to tell me he`s a hot rodder from way back and he used to have a Chevy with a 454 Old`s motor in it. When I left, I took the spare change out of my back tires for him!
on topic: yes they attract panhandlers, girls, kids, cops, thieves, old people...it does get annoying, huh? be nice to turn it off sometimes. what a relief it can be to get out of a nondescript vehicle unnoticed! off topic: its the young ones that bother me, the ones who can obviously be doing a real job. i'm talking panhandlers here, not just homeless. theres a difference. we are all a lot closer to being homeless than we think. i spent a time without a home, but never had to "live on the street" the off topic post that will get this thread deleted: ask those homeless people what got them there. nothing saddens me more than homeless veterans, there shouldn't be such a thing, should there?
job related, I see a lot of it, and I see a lot of scams.Two that get on my nerves are..A guy will pretend to be broken down on the entrance ramp of a highway, he'll have the hood up and will be acting all dramatic, kicking the tire etc, as you drive by, when you stop to ask him if he's ok, he'll tell you his wife is having a kid in the hospitol and he's trying to get there, but the car broke down and he's ten bucks short for the tow, etc. I've watched guys work car after car getting money, then driving off. the other one is the raising money for football uniforms scam. Usually one adult and two kids in football outfits will work an intersection asking for donations for new team uniforms.Works like a charm except there is no team. P.T.Barnum was right.
on one hand, it's easy to look at the beggars, bums, and homeless as useless wastes of our time ....always trying to NOT work. on the other hand, it could be any of us had we been dealt a*****ty hand. i'd rather buy someone a burger so they can eat as opposed to giving them change to perpetuate their drinking habits. yesterday, our employee at the shop stopped on his way in to grab a snack at the convenience store...as he's walking out, he notices a lady getting into his van. he asks her what the hell she thinks she's doing...she tells him a long story and wants him to take her to the hospital...he ended up driving her there anyways despite the wierdness. the nerve and tenacity of some folks...jeez
My car is so*****ty that the homeless guy comes up and offers ME money. It's been -40° at night here lately. Pretty rough out there if you don't have a roof over your head. Not a lot of scammers willing to risk losing their fingers and toes to frostbite. As the song says, "when he asks you for a nickle, you give a dollar, cuz if he's out tonight he must be truly down".
Snacky... he wanted the V8 to make a******* Mary with... you should have bought pretzels with it... Or maybe he wanted your V8 for a project he's got going in the next alley over...
Yeah....some people are aggresive, and some people choose to be there...but I bet that not many of the old, crazy or disabled homelss people in your area ever thought they'd be where they are....just like you think you never can. Nobody needs to take***** from anybody, but someone just asking for a little change doesn't need a smartass remark or a glare...that doesn't mean you have to give anything to them, but have a little goddamn respect, I would hope that I would get a little if I were ever to get into an unfortunate situation like that. <font color="pink">~Molly </font>
Oh hell guys, ya gotta' have fun with this. Whenever a homeless person asks me for change I tell them if they can do 10 push ups I will give them a buck. I get a huge amount of entertainment out of this and they get $1. You'd be surprised how many people can't do 10 push ups though
I agree Molly; IF the person really needs the help. Here in Flint though there are a bunch of "professional bums". They do it for a living, not for a meal for the night.
The company I haul asphalt for was milling a street on the far east side of Cleveland.It's a nice suburban community.As we went under a six lane over pass,between the 800 hp mill doing 3in. cut and the 400 hp dump trucks ,we shook this guy out of the beams of the bridge.He had a nice place up there! Went past there a million times and never realized someone was up there.All of us passed the hat and he got over $20.00 bucks for the "inconvenience" we caused him.
I hit a homeless guy with my******* on hollywood blvd last night, he was fine and wouldnt accept food or a ride anywhere so I gave him 6 bucks for beer.
nads. that is presicely the reason for the welfare cadillac plate. you just need to get one for every car and mount them in very noticeable areas.
A homeless insane man gave my wife and I a channeled A coupe with a Caddy motor. He had bi polar really bad and when he was sane he was a great guitar player. We met him while he was planyin old Hank Williams songs on some street corner. We gave him a meal. Later saw him around and one night when it was cold let him couch it. He had some cool vehicles once in a while like a Geyhound Silversides. But he'd lose them when he got manic. Showed up at our door one night in 25 below weather in an ol 1940 Country singer suit, clutchin his guitar. We thawed him out and fed him and spent a couple days singin Roy Acuff, Hank Snow, he knew all them ol tunes. Gave us the hot rod when he knew he was going to be institutionalized, we gave it back when he got out. Never understood people who will kick at someone when they are down. Wonder how many people know the true meanin of the term, "Lost everything"? I will leave it at hat, too far off the cool old car topic.
Actually I have more to say, I have a sister in Flint who was a big exec at the Buick. 750,000 dollar house, 57 T bird, new Benz, GM SUV of her choice. Mexican maid, undocumentado I bet. She curses the homeless and raves about "cleaning up the streets" Has special curses for Michael Moore, Roger and Me. Really depressin to see She says her gains are due to intelligence and hard work, and her losses are bad luck or someone else's fault. Anyone here from Flint? A rough town and real hard to make it there. Can't stand people who abuse bums. Ryan you can cut this if you want, I just got pissed off
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