Hobos

[1stwahine]

On the front page of our sister site, http://www.hawaiistories.com,
the feature story is, Pharoe's article on "Hobos." I want to know how others view card boarding hobo's, their tactics, the increase, eh, Hobos in general.

Auntie Lynn aka Auntie Pupule

[Albert]

Re: Hobos

They aren't really "hobos". Real hobos were people who moved around, usually grabbing free rides on freight trains.

The ones we see here with the cardboard signs are just plain beggars.

And it's rather foolish to give them money. An offer of food, sure, but that will usually be rejected.

[poi cocktail :)]

Re: Hobos

coming from SF I kinda' numb to it except for the female homeless which I find particulary heart breaking. don't know the solutions to the world's problems but it wasn't our "grid" system of periodic sweeps, nor making "aggressive panhandling" illegal. the homeless numbers just keep growing and growing.

now here in hawaii not like the mainland where they actually commute back and forth from other places. these people here are of the island no? somebody relative no? indicative of a public support system of that's failing so many.

I've made donations to organizations so that funds would get spread out for the many and maybe just not to the local licquor store or local dealer instead. but when you read stories of "that bum" died under the freeway it still stings.

[poi cocktail :)]

Re: Hobos

and now a lighter story about homeless:

from the SF Chron:
We couldn't make this up: San Francisco cops got a call the other day from a Public Works street-cleaning team that couldn't get around a couple of passed-out inebriates at Mason and Market streets.

Sgt. Joe Garrity arrived, called for a van to take the drunks to a shelter and started to wake up everyone for the ride. He noticed that one of the drunks was sleeping on a leather jacket and using a motorcycle helmet as a pillow.

A little odd, but what the heck. It was the Tenderloin, where things are always a little odd.

Garrity managed to get the drunk, whose name was Rick, to stand up -- although not very steadily.

Everything was going fine until the van arrived. Then Rick started getting belligerent, telling Garrity, "I'm not going anywhere without my bike. ''

"What bike?'' Garrity asked.

"That one," Rick said, pointing to a Harley-Davidson parked in the middle of the sidewalk.

"That's yours?" the incredulous Garrity asked.

"Yep, that's Rick's bike,'' said one of the drunk's friends.

The bike didn't have any plates on it, so Garrity called in a quick check of its vehicle ID.

Sure enough, the 2003 Sportster 1200 was indeed registered to Rick.

Rick then told Garrity that he'd just bought the Harley from the Dudley Perkins dealership in San Francisco for $7,000 -- and that he'd made the money panhandling on the street.

"It took me three years," Rick said proudly