Comments on: What I Learned From a Homeless Man

By: scott 47

scott 47 — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:52:37 +0000

recently i was a truck driver,then the company i worked for let me go,now
i am homeless and living in my pick up in a rest area in colorado,down to my last 20.00 dollars,looking for work but just not that easy right now,
every day i get up,go into the rest room and shave & clean up then i go up to the local library get on the internet and look for jobs in 6 different states,
currently waiting on my tax return so hopefully one of these six states will
have a job i can do,and with the tax refund i can get their,when i use to drive through Denver i would see people pan handling some people would throw things at them some would just say crap to them,my self i always tried to help out and would give them 10.00 or 20.00,one time in calif,a lady came up to me with everything she owned in a cart,ask me if i could spare some change,i gave her 40.00,and hope it would last her for sometime,next time you see people in this position ask your self this,
if it was you,wouldn’t you want someone to care or just help or listen,being alone at times like this is not a good thing,don’t judge to quickly,just offer some help.

By: Ron

Ron — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 03:09:52 +0000

Why the hell didn’t you just take him home with you????
Because you really don’t want him in YOUR neighborhood, that’s why. Maybe you didn’t want his filth on your fancy leather seats in your (let me guess) ridiculous four wheel drive SUV. Or would it be snotty Prius???….
The word “Hypocrite” leaps to the forefront in this conversation..

By: anja merret - chatting to my generation » Blog Carnival on Observations on Life issue 13 May 2007

Sun, 13 May 2007 11:16:45 +0000

[...] Steve Olson presents What I Learned From a Homeless Man | steve-olson.com posted at steve-olson.com. [...]

By: Ivy Irish

Ivy Irish — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 19:55:37 +0000

This is in response to Mr Wesley’s writing…

there are alot of homeless people….such as myself…whom have been homeless off and on for the past 20 years…

I used to work legally once upon a time in my life…and somewhere in time my life took a few fatal blows…I have some diagnosis’s that prevent me from probably ever holding down a “good” job again in my life…

I dont think its a matter of havin or not havin the balls…to get or not to get a job…

I from personal experience know that once you have been homeless its harder than hell to get out of that rut…one needs a understanding , compassionate, helping hand to get out of that situation.

In order for one to become “gainfully employed” and a “productive citizen of society” again there are some things that they need to be willing to do for themselves…which one of them is counseling…

I have been through medical billing schooling but that was many years ago…I would need a refreshers course on that..but in order for me to think about schooling again there are things that I need to work on first…and the formost #1 thing is myself and the hell that I went through out there being homeless.

we see things that “normal” ppl wouldnt fathom seein in thier lifetime…and it marks us for life.

Im sorry that society thinks just one tunnel vision way of homeless ppl…not all dont get me wrong.

and beleive it or not…if one is honost about being homeless…WHO is willing enough to take a chance to HIRE them??????

By: John Wesley

John Wesley — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 14:33:08 +0000

I admire homeless people too. They’re the only ones with the balls not to get a job.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 13:11:10 +0000

I don’t know, Steve. I think he had a job. Sales.

Everything in this world is a sale. Either you close, or you get closed. You got closed, albeit, with a little exterior help, I think you closed yourself.

Actually, I think that’s what marketing is…

By: Armen

Armen — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 05:27:12 +0000

Interesting. I’ve never lived anywhere with homeless people around, so it’s kinda difficult to fully understand. I don’t know how I would react to that situation, or if I would even react at all!

By: Talia

Talia — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 22:50:36 +0000

Another response to Peter..

The problem with donating to an organization or talking up your local politician is there is not guarantee that these actions will actually benefit the individual in person. In particular “pressing political leaders” tends to earn a lot of empty promises and little action.

However, giving someone a few dollars can guarantee them a few minutes of happiness, whether they choose to apply that for a beer or a sandwich. And one shouldn’t underestimate the value of that.

These individual donations do not undermine anyone. On the contrary, they may provide an immidiate, if small, ray of sunshine for the person in question.

Sometimes working very very small scale can be beneficial.

By: lee

lee — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 20:20:45 +0000

I can see that! It really would take a lot of guts to ask people streaming out of a stadium for money, especially since the guy probably “looked” homeless. Maybe he should get cleaned up and get into selling! (I’m serious!) Great post!

By: Borislav Dopudja

Borislav Dopudja — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 19:06:32 +0000

Really interesting story.
I just stumbled on it with no intention of reading it, but the text simply caught me. Great writing style.