by John Claybaugh
As a formerly homeless individual I have begun to realize that the general public has no idea what homelessness is like. They've never been down that road. They've never been told the truth. And because of the lies they have been told many of them really don't give a damn.
The average home has how many TVs? How many motor vehicles? And what percentage of people in America have cell phones today? And yet, with all of the technology and all of the riches that so many housed people enjoy in our country, some of them are callous and insensitive enough to ridicule a homeless person for having a cell phone.
Bitch please!
I've heard people (sometimes in churches where they teach people to "love one another") make all sorts of negative comments about homeless people who have phones. They also complain when homeless people have major brand name items (I know that Christ's Body Ministries has had brand name shoes lately) or anything that looks remotely new. After years of hearing such nonsense I simply want to curse at them and call them names. I didn't used to be that way, but I've lost patience lately.
It really is just mind boggling to me how a housed person will, anytime he or she makes a new friend or whatever, give the person their number without thinking twice about it. Yet many of them don't think homeless people are worthy of having a phone to be contacted by friends, family, case workers, or employers.
Some individuals experiencing homelessness do have incomes. These incomes are sometimes government benefits. In other cases the income comes from day labor jobs. Some have disabling conditions that prevent them from getting or keeping a job, but that Social Security doesn't recognize as such--and so they have NO government benefits OR wages--and their only income might be what they get from compassionate people who see them with their sign on the street corner. Wherever the income is coming from, it's usually not enough to even think about getting an apartment at market rate value.
So, people experiencing homelessness will do whatever they can to live a normal life. One thing they do is have their own cell phones.
And cell phones are extremely useful. If a person is outside and needs a place to stay for the night he or she can call a friend and either sleep on someone's couch or get blankets with which to sleep outside.
Some cell phones that homeless people have are the type that are prepaid. The people with these types of phones only use them in case of emergency. They don't use these phones for leisure phone calls. (And even if they do, so what? Don’t housed people?)
Without a phone, who the hell can be reached--for employment? For benefits? For medical care? For emergencies? For anything?
The public needs to realize that homeless people are people. People need to be able to communicate. Therefore, they need phones, dumb ass.
The average home has how many TVs? How many motor vehicles? And what percentage of people in America have cell phones today? And yet, with all of the technology and all of the riches that so many housed people enjoy in our country, some of them are callous and insensitive enough to ridicule a homeless person for having a cell phone.
Bitch please!
I've heard people (sometimes in churches where they teach people to "love one another") make all sorts of negative comments about homeless people who have phones. They also complain when homeless people have major brand name items (I know that Christ's Body Ministries has had brand name shoes lately) or anything that looks remotely new. After years of hearing such nonsense I simply want to curse at them and call them names. I didn't used to be that way, but I've lost patience lately.
It really is just mind boggling to me how a housed person will, anytime he or she makes a new friend or whatever, give the person their number without thinking twice about it. Yet many of them don't think homeless people are worthy of having a phone to be contacted by friends, family, case workers, or employers.
Some individuals experiencing homelessness do have incomes. These incomes are sometimes government benefits. In other cases the income comes from day labor jobs. Some have disabling conditions that prevent them from getting or keeping a job, but that Social Security doesn't recognize as such--and so they have NO government benefits OR wages--and their only income might be what they get from compassionate people who see them with their sign on the street corner. Wherever the income is coming from, it's usually not enough to even think about getting an apartment at market rate value.
So, people experiencing homelessness will do whatever they can to live a normal life. One thing they do is have their own cell phones.
And cell phones are extremely useful. If a person is outside and needs a place to stay for the night he or she can call a friend and either sleep on someone's couch or get blankets with which to sleep outside.
Some cell phones that homeless people have are the type that are prepaid. The people with these types of phones only use them in case of emergency. They don't use these phones for leisure phone calls. (And even if they do, so what? Don’t housed people?)
Without a phone, who the hell can be reached--for employment? For benefits? For medical care? For emergencies? For anything?
The public needs to realize that homeless people are people. People need to be able to communicate. Therefore, they need phones, dumb ass.
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