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12/24/2006 11:52:45 AM · #1 |
maybe the way to beat 'em is to throw yourself into something useful. even if it ends up not helping you, at least you might be able to help someone else.
here are some ideas:
@ run to the grocery store and buy a few tubes of slice and bake cookies. cook 'em and run them over to your local fire station or rescue squad.
@ head on over to a homeless shelter and serve a meal or two.
@ go to a goodwill store or a similar second-hand store, buy a bunch of blankets, and take them to people who could use them.
@ go by a drugstore and buy a bunch of candycanes, some hard candy, and some baggies. make little candy bags, and take them over to a nursing home and make some deliveries. stay and visit a while with those who don't have anyone coming to see them.
@ if you're really feeling bad, try making a 5-gallon batch of vegatable beef soup, put it into those disposable bowls with lids (they're made for hot stuff), and ride around looking for people who could use warming up.
i know this can be a really sucky time of year for a lot of people. so, even if it sucks for you, maybe you could use your imagination to make it suck a little less for someone else. |
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12/24/2006 11:54:58 AM · #2 |
| If you live in a big city and happen to pass an older homeless person, stop by the next bagel/sandwich/takeout place and get something to bring back for him/her. |
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12/24/2006 12:53:29 PM · #3 |
In San Diego I lived a couple blocks from the local commercial fishing harbor. A lot of the homeless congregated there. One Xmas I went with my daughter's boyfriend down to the area (he knew a couple of them) and gathered up a bunch of 15 or so homeless folks and marched them up the street to McDonald's. Sat 'em all down and went up to the window and ordered coffee, burgers, and fries all around.
Expected to catch flak when the manager beckoned me aside. Nope! What he did was thank me for my humanitarian impulses and say the store was covering the tab. That really surprised me...
Whenever I made "portable" dinners (Spaghetti, stuff like that) I used to make extra and have the kids take it down the street to the docks in containers. (teenage kids, I hasten to add)
BUT I have had others tell me such attempts on their part have led to aggressive confrontations. I don't know. May depend on where you live. No homeless that I am aware of nearby me here on the Cape. I understand there are quite a few in Hyannis and Falmouth though; these are much more densely populated parts of the Cape.
Robt.
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12/24/2006 01:26:09 PM · #4 |
those are great ideas, skip. kudos.
i could use some warming up myself, but my lord, i've got it good compared to many.
merry christmas.
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12/24/2006 01:32:15 PM · #5 |
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
In San Diego I lived a couple blocks from the local commercial fishing harbor. A lot of the homeless congregated there. One Xmas I went with my daughter's boyfriend down to the area (he knew a couple of them) and gathered up a bunch of 15 or so homeless folks and marched them up the street to McDonald's. Sat 'em all down and went up to the window and ordered coffee, burgers, and fries all around.
Expected to catch flak when the manager beckoned me aside. Nope! What he did was thank me for my humanitarian impulses and say the store was covering the tab. That really surprised me... |
Great story. I lived in Toronto when I was a young man, Canada's biggest city. Homeless people everywhere, especially older men. I was walking to work on a beautiful summer day, and had to cross a busy street, where I could see a very dissheveled looking guy in his fifties asking passersby for change. This was such a common sight for me, that I simply took no notice of him and passed by his outstretched hand as he asked for me.
Instead of just moving on to the next person, he yelled after me, "Why don't you DO something to HELP me!" This was pretty shocking to me. I was twenty-something and had lived in a semi-rural town most of my life, and despite being used to seeing these men in Toronto after moving there, I had no real experience of homelessness. Something about the utter desperation in his voice really scared the hell out of me. I didn't stop, especially then being unnaturally shy, but went to a bagel shop in the mall where I worked and got something, then walked back and handed it to him without a word. He didn't look grateful or relieved, just terribly hungry, and he took the bag and turned away.
I still work in Toronto, but live back in the small town I grew up in. I really try to look these people in the eye when they ask me for change and say something, even if it's "sorry". I don't always do it, and sometimes I'm impatient with it all, but I really don't think these people should be thought of as nuisances, obstacles, or other non-human obstructions. |
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12/24/2006 01:33:49 PM · #6 |
| i'm off to the dump...with cookies and biscuits, to say thanks to those who everybody relies on, but most forget ;-) |
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