Would you rather go to prison or a psychiatric hospital than be dead or homeless? (depression, get)
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If I run out of unemployment benefits and savings before I find employment, and if I find myself in a position where I am destitute and contemplating suicide, I suppose there is still at least one option left, which consists of "applying" for a prison cell or a room at a psychiatric hospital.
Have you also considered that option?
Well of the options given, homeless would be at the top of my list and dead would be at the bottom.
Many years ago I talked with a LEO (Law Enforcement Officer) and he told me about people who would commit a crime every winter so that they would have "three hots and a cot" for the winter months when the weather was harsh, and the rest of the time they would be homeless. Apparently, they didn't mind the food. I think one of them would throw a brick through a jewelry store window and sit around and wait for the cops to show up.
As for me. I have spent ONE night in jail, and that was plenty. I would not choose that option under any circumstances.
Have you considered moving to a place where there are jobs? I know that a lot of folks who live here during the summer months are planning to head south to S. Texas or Florida for the winter so that they can pick up some employment.
Well of the options given, homeless would be at the top of my list and dead would be at the bottom.
Many years ago I talked with a LEO (Law Enforcement Officer) and he told me about people who would commit a crime every winter so that they would have "three hots and a cot" for the winter months when the weather was harsh, and the rest of the time they would be homeless. Apparently, they didn't mind the food. I think one of them would throw a brick through a jewelry store window and sit around and wait for the cops to show up.
As for me. I have spent ONE night in jail, and that was plenty. I would not choose that option under any circumstances.
Have you considered moving to a place where there are jobs? I know that a lot of folks who live here during the summer months are planning to head south to S. Texas or Florida for the winter so that they can pick up some employment.
20yrsinBranson
If you don't mind me asking you, why did you end up in jail for one night?
If you don't mind me asking you, why did you end up in jail for one night?
I brought an illegally concealed weapon into a police station.
There had been a mass killing near my home about a week prior and although they had arrested a suspect, there was still some question as to whether he had, indeed, killed the entire family. I lived alone and I was very freaked out about the whole thing. So I had a very small pistol (derringer type) that I put in my purse. It made me feel more secure.
I had gone to the police station because a former roommate had "accused" me of stealing her checks (which was not true, of course). She had written a spate of bad checks and did not want to own up to it. So she accused me. The police asked me to come in, and since I was INNOCENT, I did not have any problem doing this.
I went into the station and they asked me to sign her name several times so that they could compare it with the signatures that they had on file from the bad checks. They were satisfied that I had not done this, but they asked me...."Do you mind if we search your purse". I told them "NO". (I realize that I could have declined at that point, but again, I felt that I had nothing to hide, so I didn't care). It wasn't until about two minutes later that I remembered that I had put the gun in my purse.
Before they found it, I told them that it was there and the reason why I had put it in my purse. They confiscated it and arrested me on a weapons charge. I spent the night in jail and paid a bondsman $500 to get out the next morning.
The charge was later reduced to a misdemeanor and I received a "suspended imposition of sentence" if I did not have any other violations during the next 12 months the charge would be expunged from my record.
What was particularly interesting in all this was that they did return the gun to me. (I keep it beside my bed now). And, thankfully, the charge never appeared on my record after the 12 month period.
Many law enforcement personnel who I have spoken with since that time said that if I had not been in the POLICE STATION, they probably would not have arrested me for carrying the gun. This was many years ago before there was a concealed carry law. Before I would carry a gun with me now, I would certainly make sure I was legal. I keep a mace spray and stun gun in my purse now which are both legal to carry concealed.
That's an interesting story but one thing that caught my attention is that you mentioned that the charge was expunged from your record. I don't know how those things work, but I am under the impression that past charges are never really expunged from a criminal record. For example, if someone does a criminal investigation on you, the investigation might reveal that a misdemeanor charge was expunged from your record, which, at least in the eyes of potential employers, is almost as bad as if the charge had never been expunged from your record.
That's an interesting story but one thing that caught my attention is that you mentioned that the charge was expunged from your record. I don't know how those things work, but I am under the impression that past charges are never really expunged from a criminal record. For example, if someone does a criminal investigation on you, the investigation might reveal that a misdemeanor charge was expunged from your record, which, at least in the eyes of potential employers, is almost as bad as if the charge had never been expunged from your record.
Beats me. I don't know how those things work. I have never had another problem and never intend to, so I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.
Ummm be homeless. You would make more money than you are making now just begging for change on the street. I think you are just scared to confront other options you have anxiety about such as walking around every single business and asking for a job. You might just be contemplating this stuff for lack of motivation.
That's an interesting story but one thing that caught my attention is that you mentioned that the charge was expunged from your record. I don't know how those things work, but I am under the impression that past charges are never really expunged from a criminal record. For example, if someone does a criminal investigation on you, the investigation might reveal that a misdemeanor charge was expunged from your record, which, at least in the eyes of potential employers, is almost as bad as if the charge had never been expunged from your record.
As far as I know, they'd have to do a "secondary" background check to find something that was expunged - and probably need some kind of court order to do so. I have a minor misdemeanor (from about 13 years ago) that was expunged from my record, and it's NEVER come up in an employment-related background check. And I mostly work with/around children, so they check new hires very thoroughly, including FBI-level fingerprinting for criminal records.
P.S. Most job applications say not to include expunged charges, so either they don't check or don't care about those... I guess they figure there's a reason it was wiped clean, and therefore no reason to penalize somebody for it.
If I run out of unemployment benefits and savings before I find employment, and if I find myself in a position where I am destitute and contemplating suicide, I suppose there is still at least one option left, which consists of "applying" for a prison cell or a room at a psychiatric hospital.
Have you also considered that option?
Anyhow - you're obviously a smart person. Nothing is wrong with you except some people are square pegs and society wants round pegs.
You have to find the right thing for you. Since you're not one of those over-social types, you have the advantages of a loner. You can more easily relocate than someone very tied to friends and one place.
But you may need to find the right kind of career - you have a degree but haven't been able to use it, but maybe because you need to expand your options.
Contemplating suicide is ridiculous - as is giving up all freedom. I've seen jobs with room and board and pay to work in stables and homelessness doesn't mean sleeping on a street for most homeless.
A guy I know rented a space (dirt cheap) for a pop-up camper next to a barn, covered it with a tarp and lived in there even through frigid northern winters. Now he has a real nice house. A real nice house that was more affordable because someone else foreclosed on it. Not good for those people but this guy no longer lives in a camper.
If I were you - single and free - and I needed work, I'd leave the region I was in and strike out to some other place. Unemployment is very high in some parts of the country, not as bad in others.
You don't want to be in a psych ward..
I work there from time to time, and there are seriously ill people who have killed others due to schizophrenia or other diseases there...it's really not a fun place to be.
I would rather be homeless. You can live out of a car and find places to shower and still look for work or do whatever, once your locked up in the mental hospital you may go crazy for real just by being around those folks!
Wow, I cannot believe this, but I will say psych hospital. At least there, you can get some REAL help.
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