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Well it finally happened. I got aggressively panhandled today.
I was walking back from Rays, with 2 sushi rolls, when a ghetto (meaning black) guy asked me if he could have my leftovers. I laughed and told him there would not be any leftovers, since I was quite hungry. He then asked me if I wanted to make a donation to something. I'm not sure what he meant because I had already passed him and his words bounced off my back. Still, it was disturbing. I mean, it would have been disturbing if I had stopped to think about it, but I was in a hurry to get back to my desk. So I didnt really think about it. I mean, I checked to see if I was feeling uncomfortable, or threatened, but I got distracted thinking about the sushi.
Maybe I didn't do it right. How long does it take for the threatened feeling to sink in?
BTW, the sushi was delicious.
Oh man..now that I think about it, I had another uncomfortable experience when I came into work this morning. I was walking up Luckie st. at 7am, which is a really scary time, because its still a little dark, and all the ghetto (black) people blend into the shadows. I passed a guy sleeping in a doorway. I'm pretty sure he was dreaming about agressively panhandling me, and possibly mugging me. I was gonna pepper spray him, but that would have woken him up, and then he probably would've given me a menacing look or even followed me while thinking about mugging me.
Well it finally happened. I got aggressively panhandled today.
I was walking back from Rays, with 2 sushi rolls, when a ghetto (meaning black) guy asked me if he could have my leftovers. I laughed and told him there would not be any leftovers, since I was quite hungry. He then asked me if I wanted to make a donation to something. I'm not sure what he meant because I had already passed him and his words bounced off my back. Still, it was disturbing. I mean, it would have been disturbing if I had stopped to think about it, but I was in a hurry to get back to my desk. So I didnt really think about it. I mean, I checked to see if I was feeling uncomfortable, or threatened, but I got distracted thinking about the sushi.
Maybe I didn't do it right. How long does it take for the threatened feeling to sink in?
BTW, the sushi was delicious.
Oh man..now that I think about it, I had another uncomfortable experience when I came into work this morning. I was walking up Luckie st. at 7am, which is a really scary time, because its still a little dark, and all the ghetto (black) people blend into the shadows. I passed a guy sleeping in a doorway. I'm pretty sure he was dreaming about agressively panhandling me, and possibly mugging me. I was gonna pepper spray him, but that would have woken him up, and then he probably would've given me a menacing look or even followed me while thinking about mugging me.
Would that amount of money ($6 million a year or so) solve the homeless problem?
If the homeless problem were resolved, how would that impact the panhandling issue?
I don't mean to put you on the spot with those questions, I'm just asking.
I will readily admit to having pulled that number out of the air and maybe it's way too low. Maybe 250,000 people could give one dollar a week to make it about $12 million a year.
Part of the money could go to setting up a program like the one in NYC, where the city pays for people to move to or back to another city, state or even country where they have a stable, supportive place to live. The program even sometimes pays for an apartment deposit, a few months rent and even some furniture. The program in the NYT story is for families, but paying to relocate individuals would be even cheaper. Even if it cost $5,000 to send someone to where he/she needs to go and pay a deposit and few months' rent, that could get 50 people off the street every month with $750,000 left over. The money could be paid directly to the apartment management companies so that no one could smoke, snort, shoot or gamble it away in two weeks.
Some of it could be used for transportation, good housing, grocery vouchers, pay and insurance for people willing to go out to rural areas to do seasonal agricultural work.
Some of it could go to establish and support a mental health clinic at Grady that's equipped to do more than bandage you up, drug you up, hold you for 72 hours, then throw you back out on the street. There's a man who shuffles around outside Five Points Station for about a week, disappears for a few days, then re-appears wearing a hospital gown. This cycle has been repeating over and over for at least a year. Ridiculous.
Some of it could go to establish the newspaper I mentioned earlier.
This stuff is WAY outside my area of knowledge (especially since I don't even have an area of knowledge) but giving people something to do, somewhere to go to do or an adequately staffed and funded place where they can get their mental and physical health together is the gist of it. People who need help are on the street or in jail and people who need to be in jail are on the street because the jail is too crowded.
I'm not sure that's true as to the city of Atlanta proper. Blacks have been bailing out of city since the 1980s, whereas other ethnicities have been steadily growing.
I just wanted to address all of the people who think throwing money at the problem will help.
I don't know if any of you have had talks with social workers, but one of my best friends is a social worker who used to work with the homeless. I remember many years ago I had a long conversation with him trying to make heads or tails of the homeless problem, and I learned the following by talking to him.
By far, the great majority of the homeless population is made up of addicts and mentally unstable people. There are many programs set up to help these people. Some are run by the county, others by the state, and others are privately funded through various religions and secular non-profits. Most social workers are aware of all of them and know how to place people into whichever one fits them best. These programs will provide places for people to live, which are much nicer than homeless shelters you may be thinking of. They also provide mental health and substance abuse treatment for them as well as meals, job training, etc.
Here's the problem: most of the people in these programs either can not stay off drugs or become non-compliant with their medication if they require it. After a certain amount of substance relapses, they either get kicked out of the programs or voluntarily leave them. I'm not sure what they do with the non-compliant mental patients, but you can not force someone to take medication unless they are involuntarily hospitalized. So I think these people just eventually become so disruptive that they get kicked out.
I used to be much more compassionate for the homeless than I am now. When I learned how many resources are available to truly homeless people who really just need a helping hand, I realized that serial homeless people do not deserve sympathy because they either refuse to stay off drugs or refuse to accept mental health treatment. If you see someone on the street, there are really only 3 possible scenarios:
1) They are very newly homeless and haven't gotten into the system yet to receive help
2) They have been through the system and been kicked out or voluntarily left
3) They have voluntarily elected to decline help
For people in category 1, okay, I have sympathy, but it's not hard to go get into the system. For 2 and 3...what am I supposed to do? Feel bad for people who refuse the help that people are trying to provide them?
This is why the Pine Street shelter has always been so controversial. You never hear people complain about the Atlanta Union Mission or other legitimate shelters, because these places provide services and have rules for residents. The Pine Street shelter has no rules and enables people to do whatever drugs they want, commit whatever crimes they want, not take whatever medication they don't want, and they still get guaranteed a warm bed and a hot meal. Legitimate shelters kick you out for not complying with their rules, which aren't very strict. And honestly, most of the time, people get placed into places much better than shelters once they get into the system.
If there are any social workers here, feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but this is my understanding of the situation. There is much, much more than $12 million out there in public and private funds for programs to help the homeless. They just have to want to help themselves for the programs to work.
I just wanted to address all of the people who think throwing money at the problem will help.
I don't know if any of you have had talks with social workers, but one of my best friends is a social worker who used to work with the homeless. I remember many years ago I had a long conversation with him trying to make heads or tails of the homeless problem, and I learned the following by talking to him.
By far, the great majority of the homeless population is made up of addicts and mentally unstable people. There are many programs set up to help these people. Some are run by the county, others by the state, and others are privately funded through various religions and secular non-profits. Most social workers are aware of all of them and know how to place people into whichever one fits them best. These programs will provide places for people to live, which are much nicer than homeless shelters you may be thinking of. They also provide mental health and substance abuse treatment for them as well as meals, job training, etc.
Here's the problem: most of the people in these programs either can not stay off drugs or become non-compliant with their medication if they require it. After a certain amount of substance relapses, they either get kicked out of the programs or voluntarily leave them. I'm not sure what they do with the non-compliant mental patients, but you can not force someone to take medication unless they are involuntarily hospitalized. So I think these people just eventually become so disruptive that they get kicked out.
I used to be much more compassionate for the homeless than I am now. When I learned how many resources are available to truly homeless people who really just need a helping hand, I realized that serial homeless people do not deserve sympathy because they either refuse to stay off drugs or refuse to accept mental health treatment. If you see someone on the street, there are really only 3 possible scenarios:
1) They are very newly homeless and haven't gotten into the system yet to receive help
2) They have been through the system and been kicked out or voluntarily left
3) They have voluntarily elected to decline help
For people in category 1, okay, I have sympathy, but it's not hard to go get into the system. For 2 and 3...what am I supposed to do? Feel bad for people who refuse the help that people are trying to provide them?
This is why the Pine Street shelter has always been so controversial. You never hear people complain about the Atlanta Union Mission or other legitimate shelters, because these places provide services and have rules for residents. The Pine Street shelter has no rules and enables people to do whatever drugs they want, commit whatever crimes they want, not take whatever medication they don't want, and they still get guaranteed a warm bed and a hot meal. Legitimate shelters kick you out for not complying with their rules, which aren't very strict. And honestly, most of the time, people get placed into places much better than shelters once they get into the system.
If there are any social workers here, feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but this is my understanding of the situation. There is much, much more than $12 million out there in public and private funds for programs to help the homeless. They just have to want to help themselves for the programs to work.
This post.
If they don't want help and continue to loiter then lock them
up.
Aggressive panhandling/harrassment in downtown Atlanta goes back to the late 80's - - at least. Back then, everything was about race, and aggressive policing was not to be tolerated. It is now almost cultural in Atlanta (as I was recently reminded when I returned, walking less than a block on Ponce and hit-up twice). Other large cities have similar numbers, but not the hostility and perceived safety concerns.
Well it finally happened. I got aggressively panhandled today.
I was walking back from Rays, with 2 sushi rolls, when a ghetto (meaning black) guy asked me if he could have my leftovers. I laughed and told him there would not be any leftovers, since I was quite hungry. He then asked me if I wanted to make a donation to something. I'm not sure what he meant because I had already passed him and his words bounced off my back. Still, it was disturbing. I mean, it would have been disturbing if I had stopped to think about it, but I was in a hurry to get back to my desk. So I didnt really think about it. I mean, I checked to see if I was feeling uncomfortable, or threatened, but I got distracted thinking about the sushi.
Maybe I didn't do it right. How long does it take for the threatened feeling to sink in?
BTW, the sushi was delicious.
Oh man..now that I think about it, I had another uncomfortable experience when I came into work this morning. I was walking up Luckie st. at 7am, which is a really scary time, because its still a little dark, and all the ghetto (black) people blend into the shadows. I passed a guy sleeping in a doorway. I'm pretty sure he was dreaming about agressively panhandling me, and possibly mugging me. I was gonna pepper spray him, but that would have woken him up, and then he probably would've given me a menacing look or even followed me while thinking about mugging me.
What if it's your wife, or your GF or , mother, or, aunt , or daughter who is harrassed by some beggar and won't be left alone?
I was clearly referring to people pepper spraying panhandlers simply because they were asked for money. Anyone who pepper sprays someone for that deserves retaliation.
Last edited by JPD; 08-23-2012 at 07:06 AM..
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Thank you for the laugh...hilarious!
