G*dd*mned lousy, lazy STUPID PANHANDLERS!!

A *SPECIAL EDITION* of The Gripe Corner

To cut to the chase: How MANY of you concur that MOST of these wastrels of society are just nothing more than LEECHES that DON'T want to do ANYTHIKNG to BETTER themselves....much less contribute to society overall.:smt018

Bad enough that one has to contend with some smelly idunno sidling up to you and asking "Spare a quarter?"

"For WHAT?!?" I think to myself.. "You're not disabled or infirm.. Ever hear of 'having a job?'"

But three separate incidents....and mind you, this was back when the Economy was in its Salad Days...that I personally witnessed take...not only the cake...but the damned PIE, STRUEDEL, ECLAIRS, & MUFFINS AS WELL!!!




Item ONE: I was on my way to work at a Stateside studio to do some editing work (Circa 1999 or so) .. and I saw on the bus I was riding...this grey, bearded fella on his way to work. Apparfently a temporary labour personnel on his way to a construction/road renovation job..as he had the helmet, the STOP/SLOW sign, and reflective vest in his possesion.

All very well & good. I did a few temporary labour gigs myself, all in an effort to build up my savings to get my studio off the ground.

But a mere TWO DAYS LATER, as I am walking down the street towards our place, here comes the old grey guy...who has the NERVE to ask me: "Spare some change?"

My first thought was: WHAT DID YOU DO WITH YOUR PAY FROM THAT DAY? BL;OW IT ALL ON BOOZE OR DRUGS OR WHAT?!?

Needless to say, I just inored him, and chugged on towards the homestead.



Item TWO: A fairly able-bodied and younger fella on the median on a major thoroughfare that led to/from downtown (All city names &/or locales are not disclosed to protect the innocent). Younger than me, for sure...and rememeber, this was back in the Ecvonomy's "Salad Days"....in a suit and tie, and holding a cardboard sign that read "Please Help. Need A Hand. Anything Herlps. God Bless." Plus some quotes from The Scriptures or something like that.

But get a load of THIS: His sign was VERY NEATLY & PROFESSIONALLY PRINTED BY COMPUTER!!!!:smt119



Item THREE: On the sidewalk of a major suburban/city boundary intersection, another greying bloke with a cardboard sign. This one, with crude lettering, simply read: "Why lie? I need a beer.."

At least the fella had a sense of humour, if nothing else...:roll:



Item FOUR: And THIS is , perhaps, the MOST DISGUSTING OF ALL! Yesterday, on my way to the Boulder, Colorado (On my Stateside 'whistle-stop' tour) via public trtansportation...I make my way past a church, and on the steps of the church....sits another greying bearded fella with a cardboard sign reading: "Hungry. Need to buy food for my family. Anything helps. God Bless."

This whilst HE WAS SITTING ON THE STEPS OF THE CHURCH THAT WAS GIVING OUT FREE MEALS & TAKE-HOME FOOD TO THE DOWN & OUT THAT SELFSAME DAY!!!:smt103

So you KNOW DAMN WELL just WHERE *ANY MONIES* that *THAT* "person" received would go!!

He'd go and DRINK his lunch!

Hell, he'd SHOOT IT UP INTO HIS ARM for all *I* know!

And WHAT family? The way HE looked? and SMELLED? Next to HIM, DAN ("GRIZZLY ADAMS") HAGGERTY & BILL (The OAK RIDGE BOYS) GOLDEN look like CLEAN-CUT BRADY BUNCH-Prototypes!

NOT quite "'Nuff Said!!!!"....not YET!




....To Be Continued...













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Part II:

A colleague of mine - he works Stateside exclusively, never been outta the States - related to me that - since 2005 - in *his* downtown area he no longer hears requests for "some change" or " whatever you can spare". Since '05, they now ask for a coup,e of dollars, or 75 cents or a buck-fifty....some fixed amount. "Guess they're becoming proctive" he said.

He told me that once a fat guy, whose clean attire clearly indicated he was not some street person, staggered drunkenly out of a downtown bar and had the nervbe to ask him for 3.75 USD so he could get a cheeseburger, and then acted insulted when my pal told him to walk on!

And what's wrong with *this* picture? At a gas station, a woman approached said colleague, asking for some change so she could get some food for her kid, who was several paces behind her looking on. According to my pal, the broad weighed at least 300 lbs., and apparfently wasn't missing any of her feedings...yet her child was skinny....and looked quite embarrassed. My colleague shook his head in refusal & disapproval...but he said the child's mortified expression prevented him from telling her off. So he did give the female change...with the *explicit* admonition "This is for the kid, not you."



And Mellisa herself recalled that when she lived in the US Southwest, there were several able-bodied guys (near a friend's house) that take turns using a wheelchair and hang out on an intersection corner to try to make folks sympathise with them...She went by there and noticed that sometimes it was a youn gh guy...and sometiomes it was an old grey guy. Their signs both said the same thing...lettered the same way...and it was *definitely* the *same chair*.


Figures.


An acquaintance (*Not* a colleague in "the business"; Just a m8 of ours..) tells me he "Honestly just tells 'em to fuck off." He says he was homeless for a period of time, and - in his words - "brought myself out of the gutter and got my shiot together" through the Job Corps program. Spent 10 months in that place, I did. If I can do that why can't they? I feel *NO* pity for them.."

All well and good/ But I *did* cut him off when he mentioned that "in the gutter" part...and I *assured* him that....because of his diligence & integrity .. he was NEVER, EVER "in the gutter"....for HE obviously carriued himself to a far higher degree of standards than MOST (not ALL!) of those he was FORCED by circumstance (Evicted from his flat after a long illness & many medical bills) to be in the ranks with for a time.. (That's as in You Are IN The World, NOT "OF" It!)



...To Be Continued....















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Part III....

Omaha Telly station KETV TV-7 had a report several years ago about the panhandlers that infest society..

Something to SERIOUSLY consider....




My BIG gripe about this was - not too long ago - Both Mellisa & I were Stateside on our way to a convention gig.

We went to a 24-dining emporium at about 0500 or so to have a bit of breakfast..


Whilst we were there, in walks this raggedy, reeking (and high?) "something" going from table to table (There were three occupied, Me & Mrs Cartoon & some other clients).

Anyway, this...PIECE OF SHIT...interrupts our conversation....touching us on the shoulders and asking "Hey, Bruh....got you any change or a dollar to spare?"

I was polite on the outside, but raging on the inside....


I *do* believe that aggressive panhandling entails unwanted physical contact, yes?


Never mind me....to HELL with ME...


But if you ever lay one finger on my wife ever again...


I'll *kill* you dead, son.








On a mellower note...if such a thing can be said over this kinda subject that's been bothering me for a LONG time.....


if anybody in the WORLD out there happens to be reading this...and they **KNOW** that THIS applies to them:


Maybe *this* might help SOME of you out there?

http://www.whitewomenblackmen.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15449


It couldn't hurt.





End?















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