Just moved here...what's up with all the drunks?? (Anchorage: apartments, hotel)

[trlhiker]

My wife and I noted all the beggars on the Anchorage street corners. Go out of town and they disappear.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by NomadicBear

Oftentimes, depending upon the city and intersection, these people are making hundreds of dollars per day. In some cases, they are solid middle class. I've read stories of some in the LA area making more than $500 per day, and that's just an estimate- it could be more. The whole scruffy beard, dirty clothes look is one big act. After a day of "hard work", they go home, take off the outfit and throw it on the ground until the next day's work.

Idjits sound like they're onto something; I might look into that gig myself if salmon season doesn't go well this year.

I just thought of something better, though...I can design and manufacture fake bum outfits and sell them on the internet for those wanting to break into this line of work.

[tigerfan3]

Originally Posted by mikeak01

OK MR Michigan -- Been there done that. Plenty of areas in Detroit that are filled with people that never applied for a job in their life. You know those houses that have bars for their windows, crack heads outside and inside the house.

Yeah there are many more low income jobs here in Alaska - agreed. The difference on the "drunks" is that they are out and about. When is the last time you drove through certain neighborhoods in Detroit????

Maybe the addicted people here are more visible across town, but to say there are more of them than in Michigan is a joke

Not more, just more who are in your face and brazen about it.

I've been through the entire city of Detroit far too many times. I wasn't trying to say that city doesn't have problems. To tell you the truth that city is more screwed up than any I've been in, that's why I moved here. But that fact is people there simply can't get a job, and they haven't had a chance at one for years. It's not that hard here in Anchorage to get a job that pays minimum wage, IMO.

[stiffnecked]

Originally Posted by tigerfan3

But that fact is people there simply can't get a job, and they haven't had a chance at one for years. .

BS!!! Anyone that wants a job that bad can get one. A thumb and a few rides and you can be in California or Florida picking fruit. There are still seafood processors that are hiring as well. Might not be year round work but it is a start. The people in Detroit have just become institutionalized and dependent on the public tit. Take it away and they'll find work.

[Metlakatla]

Oh for f's sake. How would you feel about your daughter hitchhiking cross country, Stiff?

[MissingAll4Seasons]

I've had to deal with some pretty aggressive panhandlers in my time, and I've only given money to those who gave a good performance. Now, whether their sob story was real or fiction, if they were creative an did a good job presenting it, then I gave them a few bucks and went on my way. Live street performance art can be just as entertaining as a movie and pocket full of change is cheaper than a theater ticket.

Saying that, I have been employed and still dirt poor... not living high on the hog or wasting money on booze or drugs, just had some really massive medical bills (since my crappy miminum wage job didn't provide insurance). I was almost homeless, living in a rundown efficiency apartment in a neighborhood that no single white female with any options would choose to live in. If my rent hadn't included cable, I wouldn't have watched TV... as it was, I only watched TV for an hour two nights a week because that's all the electricity I could afford. A few times I had to make the decision whether to buy food, pay the utilities or pay the rent because I could only afford to do one. There were several weeks when I only ate a real meal on Fridays because the company I worked for did lunch for everyone... the rest of the week I was eating crackers and ketchup that I 5-fingered discounted from salad bars, if I was lucky I'd show up at the local convenience store when they were either throwing out the "leather dogs" off the grill or dumping yesteray's left over doughnuts.

Yeah, I was really tempted to beg just to make ends meet... I even applied for food stamps. I was, of course, denied the food stamps because I was employed, single, with no children... forget that I couldn't afford food through no fault of my own. There was a sales rep from out of town who always stayed with me whenever he came to our company... and he always showed up at theon my doorstep with 5 or 6 bags of groceries. Did that make me a *****? Probably, in some people's eyes...

So, I guess I can see both sides of the issue... I was personally too proud to beg, but I lived a miserable and stressful life for a long time working a crap job instead.

[1stimestar]

Seriously, you know little about addiction if you think they are out there because they can't find a job.
The first part of the video is of little importance to this discussion but it's only a few minutes long. Really, one must know that underwear goes outside of the pants.

YouTube - Lazyboy - Underwear Goes Inside The Pants

[OMMill001]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

Idjits sound like they're onto something; I might look into that gig myself if salmon season doesn't go well this year.

I just thought of something better, though...I can design and manufacture fake bum outfits and sell them on the internet for those wanting to break into this line of work.

Met, you may have hit the next big money maker right on the head! Those fake bum outfits might be your ticket to fame and fortune!!!!

[Oildog]

I noticed vagrants when I visited Anchorage but it wasn't any more pronounces than in Houston, Oklahoma or Chicago. I do think there is a bigger problem with the native population compared to the rest though. Huge issues in OK with alcoholism.

I give $$ to the food shelves rather than the beggars.

[FloridaKash]

Last time my Uncle was in Vegas he got tired of the panhandlers in downtown always asking for money and was fed up. So he began kind of playing games with them. One guy said he was a comedian and needed some money so my Uncle informed the panhandler that he would gie him a buck if he told him a joke. Well, the panhandler told my Uncle a joke he already knew and screwed up the punchline. The panhandler got the buck, but was advised to seek out a new career outside of comedy. lol

Same trip in Vegas my Uncle decided that the next time somebody asked him for money he was going to make them earn it and do some sort of trick (magic, joke, talent, etc.). At the Plaza Hotel in downtown Vegas there is a McDonalds. My Uncle got hungry, went there for some food and was asked by a cracked out **** if she could have 50 cents to get a hamburger. True to his words, my uncle turned to the lady and said, 'If you want 50 cents, I'll give it to you but you have to do a trick.' The lady thought about it for a second and responded, 'OK, do you have a room in the hotel? But I'm not doing anything too freaky for 50 cents.' My uncle's jaw about hit the floor and he quickly turned and left, without getting food. It's not exactly the type of 'trick' he was looking for.