Fun, because it’s just so ridiculous and bigotted and awful that it defies belief that they’re for real.

You can’t make this shit up. Oh wait, they did…

http://www.chick.com/articles/dnd.asp

http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.asp

I think you’ve said it all when it comes to glasses, sleep deprivation, keys, freezers, toddlers, frozen chicken necks, ice cream, microwaves, breastfeeding and the Rogenous family unit.

God knows what I’d be like with a toddler around. I’d probably try and breatfeed the keys and put the baby in the freezer.

The same way that you leave ice cream in the microwave.

Not to mention the frozen chicken neck I tried to start the car with this morning.

I have to ask you though – how the heck does one leave keys in the freezer?!

* Bron – the Rogenous household can speak at length about the effects of sleep deprivation. When you lose your glasses five times a day, put your keys in the freezer and fall asleep breastfeeding you know you’re sleep deprived!! hehe.

*hugs*

Oh stop, or I’ll start bawling my eyes out again. I’m sleep deprived as it is, and am likely to start hugging random people. Who needs eccy when one is sleep deprived?!

Good point, joe2. I finished reading Deer Hunting with Jesus by Joe Bageant recently, and he gives quite a strong argument about the mentality in current American society — particularly among those of the working class — that asking for “handouts” and other charity is a big NO-NO, fostered by (who else?) the right-wing side of politics and economists.

Excellent read. And rather funny too.

I could, but if it’s anything like the sandwich I had just now, he’s going to suffer from onion breath for the rest of the day. Not fair, I say. Give him money!

In all seriousness, great work, Bron! We need more caring people.

*hugs*

Here I am, a lefty latte-sipper who sings Kumba-fucken-ya all the time, yet I am also FULL OF HATE and all that. It’s bloody hard work living up to this whole lefty stereotype.

I see the distinction between providing food and accompanying someone into a cafe. I’ve done the “walk in” before – into a pub for cheap steak and veg – and did my best not to make it look like I was shouting the bloke. I even left him a couple of extra bob so he could grab a drink in his own time. Still, the patronising thing was in the back of the mind.

Has anyone ever had someone ask them for a dollar so they can get a burger at ;;;;’s Scottish restaurant? Now there’s an ethical dilemma. Sometimes, when faced with a situation that can cause stress and lead to thoughts of violence, I try to imagine that I am a piece of wood.

When a bloke in a smart trackie outfit, with a durrie in one hand a coffee in the other, approached me for two bucks for some Maccas in Ashfield one day, I tried to be a piece of wood.

It didn’t work. I wanted to pick up the piece of wood and deck him.

(Note, I was only days home from a trip to Laos where I had seen some pretty harsh poverty. I was still suffering reverse culture shock – and to some extent I think I still am.)

What the fuck was this comment about, anyway? Back to work, I think, and another coffee.

I’m sure your Mum loves you very much Bron … We do.

(Thanks Ray)

Oh the shame. How can I ever show my face around here again.

Spot on Bron and well done. They’re asking for money not food or to be led patronisingly to a cafe where the ‘benefactor’ big notes himself/herself and then leaves. Just give them a dollar, a kind word and a smile. I’m sure you do.

Well-spotted, Jeremy, you bastard.

Hey mister, you said you needed enough money for the bus fare, and I gave it to you. How many bus fares do you need?!

Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. If it will alleviate the suspicion that I’m a smartarse, I’ll shut the hell up now.

Mind you – that’s the minority and it tends to be young men who appear not to be homeless that do it

See, this is the kind of moral battle I have with myself all the time — do I give money and if so, where is it going? Or should I give money and let them deal with it? Or should I go and buy some food and come back and give it to them?

It’s just that after today, I’m now thinking give them a “spare dollar” and hope that they spend it in a way that will NOT elevate some of their misery.

Anyway. Your mum is cool, Jack Dorf.

My Mum.

You’re right about getting a high with Jesus. Seen those Pentecostals being slain by the ghost?! Woah.

When we were travelling in India I gave a beggar a bunch of bananas that I had in my bag and he threw them back at me. Beggars can’t be choosers, I say! … plus I didn’t want to encourage the begging “industry”, if you could call it that, in India.

HA, JUST KIDDING!

This junkie asked me for money once “to buy food”. I had just bought lunch and offered her a bag with a couple of dim sims. She told me to “get fucked four-eyes”.

I, for example, would be thinking:

Sheesh, it’s humiliating enough having to ask for money for food – honestly, for food – and now this guy wants to escort me to a cafe and make sure that I’m not spending his money on drugs or alcohol. I don’t need this extra embarrassment on top of my day-to-day barely-surviving existence.

That’s just me (with a healthy dose of pride, probably). Others might not think the same, though.

Tricky one, all the same.

There are a lot more pro-active positive steps you can make to contribute to helping the homeless than giving a buck to one guy.
You obviously read “Big Issue” and that’s a start, but you’d be a lot better off to find a reputable charity and volunteer time or donate food or money to them.

I’ve had the experience in the past of being approached by a person who asked me for money, I offered to buy them food and it quickly became an attempted mugging type scenario.
Clearly the money wasn’t intended to buy food in the first instance.
It’s highly commendable of you to take the issue seriously enough to think through the implications of your response to it.

Though, mind you, which Café are we talking about here? I might be available next ,Tuesday, at around seven/evening.

I can see ;;;; paying for a lunch just so he can sit and talk to someone who doesn’t know him. I can guarantee that it will only take 15 minutes before the poor homeless dude is making excuses just to get the fuck out of there … whether the food’s finished or not.

The again I wouldn’t be surprised if ;;; isn’t the one asking for money so he can treat his family to Maccas.

I don’t hang around and watch them eat! I just go with them to the counter, they order, I pay and then leave them to it.

How bad it must be, if you are down and out, to be bombarded by those who know what is best for you. Terry Wright, yep, even if it’s money for drugs.

Has the church ever really been about aiding the poor or appearing to aid the poor so as to enter the gates of ‘heaven’? Cynical, and I know there are religion driven organisations who do actually provide selfless care but I cannot help but think the majority of theological-do-gooders are really doing it for their own personal salvation or to salve personal guilt – which is not ok – why not just go home and self flagelate instead of insulting the poor?
Looking at pictures of families picking through rubbish tips in Haiti for food this week made me question our morality on a broader scale…bio fuel for our ~enviro friendly cars of the future~ displacing food crops …all pretty fucked up. Rampant consumerism is it’s own religion.

The scientologists proved their idiocy in your example, Bron…how the hell (no pun intended) is that bloke gonna tithe his income? pound of flesh?

I have seen what I can only term ‘predation’ by religious groups of those who have fallen through the system. Many of those missionaries at street level do seem vaguely sincere but this needs to be weighed up against the organisations they represent.

The Salvation Army, for instance, is an organisation that zealously backs right wing political parties expressly because they oppose goverment services being extended to the poor. It seems crazy but they put peoples welfare a distant second to some crazed notion of being seen as ‘the caring ones’ in some sort of turf war.

Anyway, depressing though it was, I felt that my efforts with the soup van accomplished much more than someone peddling afterlife insurance.

She pointed out that by being taken to a cafe under someone’s watchful, distrusting eye would make that person feel like a criminal and judged.

She said that if you didn’t want to give them cash, the best thing to do would be to buy food beforehand and give it to them then.

It certainly was something for me to think about, because I realised that I had judged all the “beggars” as the same, and without realising it, I also judged them all to be hopeless with money (ie buying drugs instead of food, that sort of thing).

Years ago when I use to hitch hike a lot, I would be so grateful that now I always pick up hitch hikers (mostly anyway). Same when I was into junk in a big way, I would sometimes be $5 -10 short and ask people on the street. I was so grateful that now I give $5-10 even if I think it’s for drugs. The poor old homeless druggie not only needs money for drugs but will need to find money for food as well. Believe me, it is not nice hanging for drugs but I can’t imagine being hungry as well.

And you’re so right, whatever we do is just a drop in the ocean compared to what needs to be done.

Half my family works in related areas – specifically in aged care for homeless people, who generally become more marginalised as they get older.

If every person saved one dollar a day for just one month, saved it up and bought every homeless person a jumper, or a rug, or even a decent meal, think how much better things would be.

Me, I donate to soup kitchens, and charities I know aren’t gobbling up the funds on administrative costs, give change when I have it and try and have information to hand on shelters with spare places so when I see a homeless person or someone who needs somewhere to go I can help them. But it’s just a drop in the ocean compared to what needs to be done.