Giving money to the homeless

[taff]

I can't remember where I heard it but it's something like we're all about 3 paychecks from homelessness. If you haven't got savings, or a backup network, then thinking about it logically, I reckon I'm about that.
Scary really.
Gallows humour can often take your mind off something that's scary but real.I found Janeyo's comment quite funny in that way.
I don't think everyone has the capacity to be compasisonate 24/7, I know I don't,but neither do I need to get on my high horse about someone else's thoughts, whether I agree or not.They're not the same as everyone elses, so why bother trying to change someone's mind or attack them for their thoughts?

[di]

I agree with your doubts that anyone has the capacity to be compassionate 24/7 and yes,we're all entitled to our own thoughts.
However,I also feel that sometimes those thoughts are better off as just that...thoughts.

I lost a special friend to a combination of heroin and alcohol...her parents lost a beautiful daughter and her daughter lost a wonderful Mum.I think I have the right to be offended by a comment that implies that an addict dying from a heroin overdose is a good thing.

[taff]

If I were to be offended by every generalised comment someone made referring to a disease suffered by someone I know or knew personally,I could conceivably spend my entire life feeling offended.
I don't think they said 'I'm glad your friend is dead', I think they said 'I'm fed up to the back teeth of addicts'
I could be wrong though.

[janeyo]

My nanna is 90 in June. She recently was terrified out of her wits to find to addicts sharing a needle in the private passage way at the side of her house, late at night. I had the pleasure of disposing of the needle when I visited as she is unable to bend to pick things up.
So no I do not really have much compassion.

My cousin got in with a rough crowd, chose to start taking drugs. Eventually he could no longer fund his habit so he tried to kill himself on his dad's birthday in his dad's car. It failed. He has been left with permanent brain damage and will never be able to work and needs constant care, which is NHS finded.
So no I do not really have much compassion.

If you have been through it and managed to sucessfully turn your life around then that is great.

I don't thinkall homeless people are on drugs though.

[Paulottie]

I (and apparently others ) think it is a fairly prejudiced, bigoted and insensitive thing to publish. Apart from anything else not all folk in hard times are there because of addiction, or their own fault. It can be the smallest thing that triggers events to conspire to destroy a life. I certainly wish no harm to anyone however distasteful I find their choices.

I am not offended, (I rarely am) I am just not so self satisfied as to think I am beyond the possibility that I could lose hope or see my life, (or that of others' I love) fall apart.

It is not compulsory to help anybody but then one should be careful walking around with one's nose in the air judging others .... pride often comes before a fall.

Addiction affects nearly all people and takes many forms (including greed for wealth). Just as all beggars are not addicts; not all addicts are either beggars or thieves. Neither are they necessarily the cause of societies ills.


PS. I am sure your grandmother has seen many horrors in her life.

PPS The NHS is largely funded by the taxes from tobacco and alcohol that the government peddles.

[piskieinboots]

My son is a recovering heroin addict - life is cruel at times

[Bigmallly]

Both my Daughter & Son are recovering addicts. I almost lost my grandson at birth. Janeys comments do not offend me at all, I understand why she feels that way. My kids were in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong crowd.

[piskieinboots]

....Jaynes comments do not offend me at all, I understand why she feels that way. My kids were in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong crowd.

Ditto that

[janeyo]

And I can only imagine what that must be like as a parent and hope I never ever have to deal with it. I have a son who is very easily swayed and it worries me already even though he is only 5.
I do howver have to deal with the fallout of other people's addictions when they encroach on my family's life, and I would prefer not to have to do this.

Like I said before if someone has turned their life around then that is great and I applaude them.

[Bigmallly]

I think this thread has gone off at a tangent...........

[matthew2riches]

Exactly my line....

If you feel guilty, give to a homeless charity.

[SueA]

Going back to the original topics of begging & selling the Big Issue I don't generally give to beggars but did used to regularly buy the Big Issue which isn't sold only by the homeless but also by people who are struggling to maintain a home etc. & they do have a code of conduct which they are supposed to uphold.
Big Issue - Home
The problem is that nowadays often people selling the B.I. are not 'official', especially the ones saying 'buy my last copy' which they've taken from a bin, from a registered seller or found. Regular vendors with badges around here are usually very polite & I admire this in the light of what they have to put up with, if I don't want one I smile & say 'no thank you' rather than ignoring them or worse.
There used to be a lovely older Irish guy selling the B.I. in the city centre who would have a chat & tell us what he'd been up to, he loved it when someone gave him a ticket to the nearby theatre as a tip. His pitch was near the Royal Exchange Theatre which was badly damaged in the Manchester bombing & I never saw him again ( I assume he was O.K. as nobody was killed) & often wonder if he just moved on.

[Brengirl]

I think this thread has gone off at a tangent...........

Maybe this was the author's intent. A train of thought often leads us down a path we fear to tread. I have real sadness for those of us who have experienced venturing into the unknown with dire consequences.

My opinion only........The very fact that fortunes are being made from their desperate situation is good enough for me to say legalise all drugs!

[janeyo]

ok, I've been to town this avo, and asked the Big Issue sellar if he would like a cup of tea. he said he would rather have a tinny!

[Brengirl]

ok, I've been to town this avo, and asked the Big Issue sellar if he would like a cup of tea. he said he would rather have a tinny!

So would I.