i...am...a..squatter. i have a home now..but i still fucking squat.

i spange quite often if needed. i once got a $20, and my girlfriend recently cam home with $100 in straight 20's. (shes way fucking cuter than i am, and lucked out with a christian.) we quickly bought food and beer.

on the way back from texas we ran out of gas in north florida. still far from our destination. after an hour of spanging with no success a kind man gave us 20 bucks...enough to get us to tally, where a good friend topped the tank off once more.

my friend pat flew a sign in winter springs, he made about 200 bucks.

asking for change has literally saved our asses many times. so, whenever im walking around and someone asks for spare change, if i have the money, i quickly reach in my pocket and spare a few.

crack or a sub, i can care less what they use it for, as long as i did something to contribute to their happiness.

hmm, the dude on the right has a Black Flag tattoo. leave it to punks to ask for change.

^^ I have no idea how you guys do it ... I have built my entire life on ensuring I may NEVAR need help from anyone for anything. This hasn't worked 100%, but I'm getting there, I think ...

It's not just the choking insurmountable embarrassment I will feel for not being able to stand up by myself, it's the entire feeling of being at the mercy of someone else. It's the equivalent of me being told "son, you were thrown in the water and you did not swim..., so you left it up to someone else to determine whether to pull you out or let you sink!"

Don't get me wrong, I by no means judge anyone who busks/panhandles/spanges, I'm just relaying how I have felt my entire life when it came to asking for help from even my parents.

that one day kinsey came back with $100, it was for everyone. kyanne, kandace, ian, cody, her, and myself. but hell, we all ate that night.

with the gas situation. there was no way in hell to get cash other than spange it.

that time i said i got 20 bucks. it was from a stranger at a gas station. stranded a good 45 minutes from home. i gave that to a friend for gas to pick me up. if not for that 20 bucks, he would have gotten stranded attempting to rescue my sorry ass.

i feel like shit most of the times i have to spange. but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do

..

Maybe, tim. All I know is that even though I've had a few rough times, it's never even come close to that rough. And no, it's not because I'm a hard worker, just because I'm lucky.
So even do I do judge them sometimes, especially the hipster fucks on St Marks Place whose clothes are probably worth more than mine and hold up a sign asking for beer, I think many homeless are just shit out of luck. Some of it might be laziness, but I'm very sure that doesn't cover all of the reasons for their situations. Not even close.

Your very judgy timalkin. Everything you have is because you were lucky combined with some good decisions. You have to count your blessings but realize that not everyone is blessed like you. I felt like shit when I asked for help but if I was to meet the same fate as the others I would probably sink because I was too emo to ask for help.

When was the last time you applied for a job without an address? a telephone? clean clothes? I think even Macdonalds requires at a minimum a resume. People can't focus on that when they have the worry about eating and finding a place to sleep.

It may be easy to say the many of the people are lazy but that doesn't stand up when a huge percentage of homeless people are veterans.

If it was so easy and the social services were working so well then why is homelessness a problem. No one wants to be poor.

I know this is a really flimsy reason to revive this thread's discussion, but an acquaintance of mine just recently illustrated a thought that, indeed, made me ponder for a second:

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kx...7bo7o1_500.jpg
(daily doodle ponderances) by mooresketches

My wife worked for a community outreach program and they offered free laundry service, address listing, phone answering service. On top of the resume and other job building fairs they run trying help people get off the streets.

The options are there for the people who truly want it. I am sorry I hate excuses.

I work in the poorest neighbourhood in Canada (DTES Vancouver)... I get asked for change ALL the time, because they know I work for a major service provider. Instead, I use it as an opportunity to meet someone. When they ask for money, I say I have no change, but I have a debit card and I'd love to go to Waves and buy you a coffee or muffin. If they say yes (they usually do) then I get to meet someone new.

I don't understand the fear and disgust people have for people who are street involved. They smell? They're ugly? They're dangerous? I guess... Wimp.