Barnacle Bill and Blogging in Alphabetical Order.

Today is letter B. In the last round of blogging in alphabetical order, B=Begging and Homelessness.  Prior to that when blogging for the letter B for the official A-Z challenge, it was Bridge and Beyond, Behind the Scenes

Doing a google search for a B word connected in some capacity to homelessness I came up with this list:

• Basement
• Bearable
• Befriend
• Begging
• Bench
• Blanket
• Booze
• Bridge
• Broke
• Broken

Not sure I see reflances to the word basement.   Bearable.  How is it bearable for so many people not to know where they're going to sleep, or where the next meal is coming from?  A huge question to me, one I don't have an answer to.  Do you?


Befriend, that's a tough one.  I've not befriended a homeless person.  I try to be kind and hope we all do.  Not just with our donations here on Bridge and Beyond, but with our smiles or words when we come across a homeless person in our day to day.

Begging....well that was my previous B post.

Bench, makes me think of people sleeping in a park on a bench, or a bench in a town square.  Certainly something to explore in more detail.

Blanket, that goes along with Afghan I think for us here on Bridge and Beyond.

Booze.  We've talked about that.  Believe in part on the begging post.  Some folks indicate they won't give money because they don't want the homeless to buy booze with it.  I can't say I share that opinion.  If I were sleeping out in the elements, and drinking booze made me feel better..........even though temporarily ....it's hard to say I might not choose that if I had the opportunity.

Bridge..........well that word certainly seems appropriate to us here on Bridge and Beyond.

Broke........financial so perhaps, but also physically and mentally could come into play and something worth a follow up post.

Broken........lots to say here.  But, will explore it in it's own post.  The short version is....The System is Broken, in my opinion.

AND what of the picture?  Me playing mini golf on a week with my lady friends about 6 weeks ago.  We were playing at Pirates Cove...perhaps the gentleman I'm sharing the shade with was Barnacle Bill?  How's that for a stretch to get a B?


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Begging and Homelessness

This is another picture that shows, in a very strong way what many in our community do when they see a homeless person.  Did you see the previous post?  How can we fix homelessness, if we don't acknowledge it?  Do we (Collective We), not acknowledge it because we don't know how to fix it?  

I don't know the answers, but sometimes think people look away because they don't want to stare, which is considered impolite.  Maybe just smiling, or saying hello would be a step to make them feel less invisible?

None of the above has mentioned begging, so let me address that, since it is the title of the post.  (Just found the picture profound).  Recently I've read some articles about some communities cracking down on what they are calling aggressive begging.  The first article was actually from The UK.  The area where the royal wedding will be, has a handful of homeless/street people.  Their government has decided it's inappropriate for them to be there on the doorsteps when the royal wedding uses that particularly route.  They indicate they are being forceful---aggressive with begging, some who work or live in the area say that's not true; while other business want the homeless gone.  Apparently, the problem is global, not specific to The United States.

I've passed people who have a can or bucket ...some container and are requesting donations, but, I've never had anyone actually approach me and beg for money.  Have you?  Do you give money to those with containers?  Some say it helps, others say it's not a good idea, as some aren't real homeless people, but con artists.  How do you know if you're really helping someone?  Isn't it better to perhaps give donations to someone who might be a con artist, than to not help anyone?

I see both sides of the issue, and have from time to time drop some money in the container; other times not.  I don't more than I do, and sometimes I later feel badly because I didn't.  Sometimes it's because I don't want to open my purse, sometimes it's because I know I don't have small bills..........I often carry very little cash, because I charge 99.9% of all my purchases.  I sometimes put a couple of dollars in a pocket (if I have one, and often as a women don't have pockets), so if see someone I can make a contribution without getting into my purse.  

Tell us what you do?  Tell us what you've seen.  Perhaps we can learn from each other.

In my effort to blog in ABC order, this is my B post.
A post is HERE, if you missed it.

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.