Monday, October 13, 2014

The good, bad and ugly of a homeless life

This is a cleaned up version of my tennis shoes after about a month of wearing them. They were brand new when I got them.

My last post on Face Book led to a lot of really good points and comments. I would like to address some of those points today. It is always a good thing when people are willing to talk about the problem instead of just trying to cover it over.

Point One

Many of the homeless are sleeping in the woods behind businesses on property that is considered private. Many homeless people seek shelter in these areas for various reasons. The main reason is the fact that these areas are safer than going to Marina Park where it is legal for the homeless to put up tents. This is especially true for people who have children out there. The second reason is that they are close to the resources that are necessary to survive, keep clean, and keep walking to a minimum.

No, I didn't know it was private property. Yes, I slept here a couple of nights. EPD flew up onto the grass and nearly hit the Gazebo on two of those nights and were more than rude including one telling us that we were all getting free money and that we were better "out of sight, out of mind". That is not all that was said, but you get the general idea. I stayed there because some of the people who I felt were safe to be around were there and I felt protected.

Bus services are available for the homeless; however, the fact is, most homeless people do not have the $2.00 to take the ride. The $2.00 one-way, let alone two-ways, is too expensive for people who have no money. Taxis are also available for anyone who has the large fee that it costs to ride in one.

The areas that most of these people are staying back up to public town parks that the homeless have been chased from. People who do not have tents to sleep in find odd places around town to sleep. They most often get chased off and the only way to avoid that is to walk around the streets all night long. I have to suppose that it is alright to walk around all night. That may be a way to encourage homeless people to leave town because they have nowhere to lay their head. This is not a bunch of people looking to break the law. These are people who simply need to sleep somewhere and are trying to stay hidden. It is a well-known fact that sleeping people cannot cause crime, so why keep people who would otherwise be sleeping from doing so. Why chase them out into the streets so they walk around, get so tired they can’t see straight and wait for them to commit crimes? That will never make sense to me.

Area businesses have some good points. There are a few homeless who will spend far too much time in the establishment to charge phones etc. Some of these people will dig cups out of the trash and put soda in them to make it look like they bought something. Some of the people get rowdy and have been known to start unnecessary and embarrassing fights. In those cases, the business has the right to put those people out and call the police if necessary.

Unfortunately, McDonald’s on Route 40 in Elkton does not try to distinguish the difference between those people and the people who come in, purchase meals and drinks and sit down to eat. Everyone who sits in a certain area of the store has been hustled out the door; even if they just walked in and sat down to eat. The managers keep a close eye on who is in and out of the store. They know who is purchasing products and who is there just to hang out. Why are paying customers being pushed out the door as soon as they walk in and purchase the meal? Is that common practice for all McDonald’s or is it just this one?

This is the area of McDonald's that management concentrates on. They throw certain people out if they think they are homeless regardless if they bought anything, are bathed and well-groomed, you get the picture.

There is no doubt that there is plenty of shoplifting going on in area businesses and it burns my butt. There is no need to steal anything. The most amazing part of that is that some of them will steal even if someone offers to purchase it for them. That sounds more like kleptomania than it does desperation to me. Nine out of ten times it is not the people living behind the businesses that are actually stealing from them. Those people know that it would mean serious trouble for everyone who lives back there if they got caught stealing. It also pays to note that it is not simply the homeless who are stealing, but people who have homes.

This is the ball field and some people have found places to sleep around it. Several people who are people who work at the ball field know about it and said they didn't care if they stayed there as long as they kept it clean.

One more point and I will close this blog out for the moment.

Homeless people do know how to make money but most of the methods involve either taking advantage of those who have some small amount of income or by selling drugs that they are given when they go to the doctor etc. For instance, many of the people who visit methadone clinics get take-homes. That occurs on the weekends and for some, during the weekdays. The take-homes are often sold to people who want to get high off of it and the person it was prescribed for gets money for heroin. Flying signs is another way to get money. It is illegal and police will be quick to point that out. Although some of the people flying signs are honest, such as “homeless veteran”, they are really flying the sign because they want to get something they need or to use for beer, cigarettes and sometimes drugs. Not all of those people are homeless and everyone should be careful who they give money to. The best thing to do is offer to pay for food or whatever that person is asking for. That may not be fool-proof, but it is one way to reign in the problem to some extent. Someone asks for money for food, go buy them food. If someone says they need to get someplace and needs money for it, offer them a ride or a bus pass. It’s pretty clear cut. Also remember that many of those people who know how to easily get money sell their food stamps for half the price so they will have cash and some sell drugs that they get when they go to the hospital for one thing or another. It’s a viscous circle.


That is that bad of the homeless side. It isn’t the entire story, but just a small portion of the many things that this writer has seen during the journey through homelessness.

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