quote:

Originally posted by gpbst3:
My mother worked with a lady who had a $600 water bill.

How the hell does one use so much water to get a $600 bill?

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When we do the local shop with a cop thing here, someone has to stand at the checkout and draw a line through every bar code with a sharpie. This is to prevent the parents returning everything their kid bought for cash

^^^^^^^^^^
Get their pic and post it on the door. Gift for kid hocked for cash by parent.

quote:

Originally posted by Nismo:

quote:

Originally posted by gpbst3:

My mother worked with a lady who had a $600 water bill.

How the hell does one use so much water to get a $600 bill?

Don't pay your bill for a few months. It will add up quickly.

quote:

Originally posted by Sailor1911:
Well, when you are rewarded for bad or no behavior, you will keep it up until it no longer works.

This! If what they do is working, then there’s no reason to change.

Charity starts at home, homeless and the truly destitute do have a need and it is up to you to determine if you want to fill the need. BUT many in society do know how to pluck the heartstrings of others!

I live in the IA/IL Quad Cities, and every fall the area high schools hold a hunger drive where each school tries to "win" by collecting the largest weight of food.

https://qctimes.com/community/...8a-0f80bb289bb1.html

I expect high school students to be naïve and idealistic, but I wonder if in say, ten years some of them will realize "This will never end if we keep giving food to the same people."

Don't give them any money, and don't give them another thought.

Don't rent them space in your head.

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Originally posted by Sigmund:
I live in the IA/IL Quad Cities, and every fall the area high schools hold a hunger drive where each school tries to "win" by collecting the largest weight of food.

https://qctimes.com/community/...8a-0f80bb289bb1.html

I expect high school students to be naïve and idealistic, but I wonder if in say, ten years some of them will realize "This will never end if we keep giving food to the same people."

I kind of hate to make this comparison, but I will.

You ever notice that when you go into Yellowstone or somewhere like it, there are a ton of signs that say "don't feed the animals?" That's because if you do, they'll become dependent on the handouts.

The same is true of people unfortunately.

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Originally posted by jhe888:
Don't give them any money, and don't give them another thought.

Don't rent them space in your head.

Right here. Sorry not sorry.

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Originally posted by jhe888:
Don't give them any money, and don't give them another thought.

Don't rent them space in your head.

Yep. There will never be a shortage of people like this or the dupes that enable them. Don't waste any time or energy concerning yourself with either

Even though I’m retired still working part time, gotta have something to do. Last year and this year on my way home there is a guy that is begging at the same intersection every evening in Novi.

Within one and a half miles from there are multiple places where he could get a job, Kroger, Home Depot, Sam’s Club, Meijer, Target, Providence Hospital, one car dealership and an RV dealership et al. But he still begs. Great gig, picks his own hours, no taxes paid.

Would not surprise me if he is on public assistance of some sort. And he begs within a quarter mile of a Park and Ride lot. I have been tempted to park and see what he drives off in when he gets off “shift” at his corner.

Welfare mentality.

I do final expense life insurance sales, and that demographic is usually pretty low income. Once in a while I pull up to an address for an appt, see a pretty big house in a nice neighborhood and think to myself, "These folks ain't my people. They're not buyers." But then I go in the house and it's a total wreck inside, pack to the gils with junk, three adult kids and sometimes grandkids living there too, no one working and the house is a rental. Normally these folks would be living in a ghetto apt complex in a rough neighborhood. But if they pool all their disability or SS income together, they can sometimes get a place that looks like they're doing ok.

In my county a mother from south of the Rio Grande and her kids set up a begging stand where the boy pretends to play his violin along with a sound system spewing forth a backing track. Everyone is in awe of the 12-year old stage gestures and skill (think Lindsay Stirling). Money pours in. Being a violinist, I can see he is not actually playing the notes, is not plugged into the sound system, and has no musical talent. The sadness is that the mother essentially prostitutes her son, teaching him to lie, cheat, and steal from good people.

I think that those who give are rewarded for their acts, regardless of the false premise.

I think that those who steal are held accountable for their acts, regardless of their presumed poverty.

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Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
I think that those who give are rewarded for their acts, regardless of the false premise.

I think that those who steal are held accountable for their acts, regardless of their presumed poverty.

EXACTLY! Nail on head right there. “Be a cheerful (but wise) giver…”.