I feel bad for people that are down on their luck and find themselves homeless. If I could do something to better their situation, I would. I don't feel bad for people that choose to be homeless and take advantages of all the services provided in Sarasota and "play the system." And many of the people that choose to be homeless and take advantage of local services are veterans, which give veterans a bad name. How many times have I been approached to buy Food Stamps from homeless people standing outside of grocery stores? Then there are the people panhandling for money so they can pay for a night at the Salvation Army. I never give panhandlers money. More than a dozen times I have offered to go to the Salvation Army and pay for the panhandler's night there, but there has yet to be one taker. That tells me that these people don't want the money to stay at Salvation Army but for other uses, whatever they may be.
And I hate it when panhandlers want to strike up a conversation with me like I'm a friend, to ease into asking me for money. I ignore them. I don't care. Then they get angry, irate or worse. Once a guy threaten to kill me because I didn't want to talk to him. Then there are those that . . . well, this week I saw a guy on Saturday and he had hair. I saw him on Tuesday and he said that he had chemo that morning and his hair fell out and he needed money for the Salvation Army.
Frequently after I decline to give the panhandlers money they say "God bless you anyway!" Is that suppose to make me feel guilty? I tell the homeless the same thing I tell the Jehovah Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists that come to my door wanting to spread "the word of God," "I'm an atheist and I don't believe your god exists. Goodbye." If the ACLU wants to defend the homeless, great. But I think the ACLU should be telling the homeless that they can't be bringing God into it. If I want to give somebody money, I will. A god has nothing to do with it.
I don't want to engage in a conversation with most people that I don't know whether they are homeless or not. The people who are not homeless are usually not offended. Yet, the homeless want to get in my face because I'm not interested in chatting with them. They take it personally. They want to play a victim card with me. If people choose to be homeless then so be it. That's their right. But I have no obligation to give them money, purchase their food stamps or have a conversation with them. And I don't need the blessings of their God.
