First mistake - opening the door

[bbbass]

SA8 rocks.

Back in 1968, their laundry detergent was their best seller.

 

[titsonritz]

Back in 1968, their laundry detergent was their best seller.

And it was green before green was cool.

 

[ma96782]

Hmmmm.

I have a much bigger issue with the school system providing bkfst, lunch, dinner, weekend, and Holiday meals to kids whose families don't need the help.... the dot gov really trying to get more families hooked on the nanny state.

And my wife used to work for the Housing Authority, their outreach program was much the same; trying to get people that don't need it just so they can increase their domain and their budget/salaries/etc. Yet people would come in and DEMAND this that or the other, and be very unhappy with what they got. PEOPLE SUCK.

Tis the season. Bah. Humbug!

I'm waiting for the Govt to calculate all of the "help".

Then.....send those individuals and families a tax form of some sort for them to file on their income taxes.

You say that you don't file. Well........


Aloha, Mark

 

[Member 34319]

Used to live downtown just South of Providence Park. In the few years that my wife and I were there, there was 1 guy (looked in his 20's and definitely homeless...possibly on something but had all his mental faculties with him when I ran across him) who asked me for cash outside the McD's down there. I told him I didn't carry cash and he then became the second homeless guy who will (likely) ever stand out in my mind: he asked if I'd buy him a meal (I bought him what probably amounts to a week's worth of calories and wished him well. Never saw him again after that night). That experience also happened to me while on business in Detroit.

Everyone homeless is there for one reason or another - the ones with mental issues or who aren't completely lost in addiction seem mighty grateful for some food or supplies.

Portland has, now, what seems like a lot of intentionally vagrant people. Not addicted, not unstable to any degree...just living life off the charity of others because they can. I group these folks with con artists, hucksters, charlatans, and thieves in my mind...and their existence has definitely caused me to lessen my charity over the years.

Is that still a thing, though? With more and more people paying by card and more and more stores offering e-receipts...this seems like a thing of the past already.

I'd think so, but no. He showed me a picture of a box of receipts at one of the homeless camps. After hearing it from him, it sounds like there are some crazy amounts of work being done to acquire drufs.

 

[The Heretic]

Portland has, now, what seems like a lot of intentionally vagrant people. Not addicted, not unstable to any degree...just living life off the charity of others because they can. I group these folks with con artists, hucksters, charlatans, and thieves in my mind...and their existence has definitely caused me to lessen my charity over the years.

Is that still a thing, though? With more and more people paying by card and more and more stores offering e-receipts...this seems like a thing of the past already.

I still remember the guy I saw in Hillsboro at the exit of a fast food drive thru near the local Winco where I was grocery shopping. He was standing/leaning on crutches asking for handouts as people drove thru. Behind him, hidden behind bushes, not visible to the drive thru, but visible to me from a different angle, was his bicycle that he had ridden there.

We've all seen the exposés of people who beg for handouts, finish their day, and then walk off and get into a really nice car parked some blocks away. I see people standing for handouts who could work, who could do min wage jobs (if they can stand in the heat/cold all day, they can push a broom, swing a mop, etc.) or better.

I have put in my dues when I was their age; at back breaking work in worse conditions, for min wage, in 12 hour shifts 6-7 days a week. When I crushed my foot, and it required surgery, I was back at work a week later with a cast on my foot which had pins sticking out of it, and I was taking oxy to deal with the pain while I had my foot propped up on a chair in the office.

Today, I can't stand in one place for very long (more than 5-10 minutes), or work at physical labor for very long, but I managed - over a month or two - to cut/split/stack firewood, even with my bad back and heart condition, by taking frequent breaks, so that I can save a few hundred $ per month on electricity for heating, during the winter.

Now that I am retired (involuntarily) I live on a fixed income. I have a daughter to help support and any extra $s I have go to her to help out with medical and shelter expenses. She works but some things, like a $25K new roof to repair leaks, or $15K in dental bills, are beyond their capabilities to finance. Every $ I would give to someone else with their hand out (or that I pay in taxes) because they don't want to work (or even if they do), is a $ I don't have to help my daughter who does work, even when she is sick.

I am sorry for the people who can't work for very real and valid reasons, who need help, especially those people with children living in bad situations. But I have a daughter too, and she comes first - I can't do both.

 

[ma96782]

Standard disclaimer applies but..........

Consider what/who you're donating to. And to add to the problem. Just recently, I've been made aware that The Salvation Army has gone woke.

Gone 'woke': Salvation Army embraces CRT, asks white donors to apologize for their 'unconscious bias'

The Salvation Army, once as American as apple pie and baseball, has gone “woke” with a new guide calling on members to have "courageous conversations about racism" and asks "white Americans" to "stop trying to be ‘colorblind.’"

www.lawenforcementtoday.com

Aloha, Mark

 

[bbbass]

When I was in Rotary in Brookings, one of our members tried to help a guy in front of the grocery store carrying a sign "Will work for food". He stopped and offered the guy work, and the guy laughed at him and said nope, this is my job, and flashed a big roll of cash.

If I ever thought about giving beggars something after that, I had to think twice. Mostly I just gave an extra McD plain cheeseburger to someone with a dog. Tho it seems to me that somebody that is a beggar should not be supporting a dog.

 

[ma96782]

If I ever thought about giving beggars something after that, I had to think twice. Mostly I just gave an extra McD plain cheeseburger to someone with a dog. Tho it seems to me that somebody that is a beggar should not be supporting a dog.

I frequently get the twofer (two for the price of one deal) from the fast food joint. Yup....the 2nd one, is usually given away to/for someone else. Though I make it a point NOT to give it to "that guy" with the sign just sitting on his butt.

The "dog". I can remember that time when I was traveling to CA and the "beggar/homeless dude/whatever" had a better phone than me. It was placed, on the mat beside him. Rrrrrright.....waiting for the call back from that last job interview.

WAIT, Wait, wait.....actually....I had no cell phone at all (back then).

Back to the dog. Yup.....I don't own a dog. I don't really want one. But, the same question applies, about the beggar choosing to support a dog?

Aloha, Mark

 

[Pops1911]

Well, I will add my story for an additional 2 cents...
Years ago I lived in Grants Pass and commuted home to Merlin each day. I took the same exit every day and got really familiar with the surroundings. One day there appeared a "homeless" person holding a large-ish "help me sign". Over time I noticed a brand new Jeep Wagoneer parked behind some tall brush and one really had to look to see it. I also noticed that the Jeep was nowhere to be seen if the "homeless" person was not there. Long story short here promise. Got off later from work one day and while taking my exit I noticed the Wagoneer driven by the "homeless" person obviously finished with her shift and was driving away. Ruined me for ever giving $$$ to a vagrant. Way too many stories like these out there.

 

[AnimalOne]

Back in 1968, their laundry detergent was their best seller.

LOC was the stuff back then!

 

[Flopsweat]

There are plenty of programs out there giving money, food and needles to anyone who asks. I stopped giving to beggars a long time ago.

 

[Nosferatu]

So, can anyone spare a couple bucks?

I need some ammo for a hungry gun.

 

[Flopsweat]

So, can anyone spare a couple bucks?

I need some ammo for a hungry gun.

Maybe. What hotel are you in?

 

[Nosferatu]

Maybe. What hotel are you in?

California. Hurry, I have to pay by the hour.

 

[Flopsweat]

California. Hurry, I have to pay by the hour.

At least you can check out any time you want...

 

[Certaindeaf]

I for YEARS before Al invented the net used to regularly give money to a shelter here. I had heard good things about them. One day at work I see an article in the local paper about them. Down towards the end it mentions the guy who runs the place was making about 3 times as much as I did and was selling Amway My charity giving went to another place from that point on. For a long time I supported the Salvation Army. Now one of their top guys puts out a bunch of woke crap calling me a racists. So they will not see a dime from me now either.

I heard they walked that way back after that blunder.

 

[spookshack]

Answering a hotel room door at 2am is a good way to get shot.

Or laid……

 

[bbbass]

LOC was the stuff back then!

My wife was a Shaklee distributor. We used their vitamins, their detergent, and some liquid she mixed with water and used for her soap and for dishes because her skin is allergic to many soap products. They didn't have any "Free and Clear" type products in the grocery stores then.

 

[bbbass]

At least you can check out any time you want...

But you can never leave.

I heard they walked that way back after that blunder.

Well, I saw a fresh headline yesterday that they are doing a woke seminar on anti-racism. So I think they are still at it.

 

[Alexx1401]

I heard they walked that way back after that blunder.

I was so damn mad I quit paying any attention to anything they said after that. I suspect someone must have been telling some moron that was a poor way to go but, I am still just so sick of this "woke" crap. People telling me everything about my life is I am a racists.