Posted on 12/03/2012 6:52:06 AM PST by rightwingintelligentsia
The barefoot homeless man who was given a pair of shoes by a kind-hearted beat cop is wandering the streets shoeless again.
Jeffrey Hillman, 54, was spotted panhandling on the upper West Side Sunday without the $100 boots NYPD Officer Lawrence DePrimo bought for him on a frigid November night in Times Square.
“Those shoes are hidden,” Hillman told The New York Times after he was spotted walking around with no shoes on Broadway near W. 79th St. “They are worth a lot of money. I could lose my life.”
A tourist from Arizona snapped a cell phone photo of DePrimo giving the boots to Hillman on Nov. 14, and the picture quickly went viral, making the selfless cop a national celebrity.
“I appreciate what the officer did, don’t get me wrong. I wish there were more people like him in the world,” Hillman said.
“I want to thank everyone that got onto this thing. I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart. It meant a lot to me. And to the officer, first and foremost.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
That Fruit Tail Bat colony in Austin is amazing, isn't it?
I generally concur.
The worldly system attempts a counterfeit substitute for grace and charity by entitlements and welfare programs.
In return, we have built a class of welfare recipients, who confuse their welfare income as a wage, instead of a gift.
When they want more, they seek those who give as though they are indebted to give more.
The giver is wise to give with constructive likelihood figured into his or her means, and yes, the credibility of promises if any made by the asker should be taken into account. Would you really deem it virtuous to shovel money blindly to a druggie or alkie if other means of helping were available that were less prone to abuse? This is not arrogance; it’s wisdom.
Not even God's "saving grace" is sans expectation. It may be very forgiving of errors along the way, but it ultimately demands the recipient end up in a very definite place.
I could easily forgive an ignorant Democrat, but too many of them are all too aware of the racket. They do not see the needy masses as opportunities for helping hands to do good, but as cynically owned puppets. Those buses that go out on Election Day to pack the polls... where are they the rest of the year, do they bring the homeless and hungry to shelters? I didn’t think so!
“The shoeless man is likely chemically dependent, mentally ill or both and his actions in no way diminish the selfless act of kindness done by that police officer.”
Here here! One time I gave to a homeless person as he approached my car. As he walked away I said out loud that he would probably by alcohol with it. My Girlfriend then said. That doesn’t matter. You gave it to him in the for the right reason and that reflects on you. If he uses it for alcohol he has to answer for that when he meets his maker.
Since then I remind myself of that sage advice and I freely give when I think its appropriate. It no longer bothers me.
“It doesn’t stop me from giving, that’s the part I answer for, if somebody is cheating, that’s the part they will answer for.
Like I said, He doesn’t miss a thing. “
Well said FRiend
even your system doesn’t work if you think it through.
take random homeless drug or alchohol abuser, he spends a few hours panhandling ... and now has enough money for some food....
he is getting hungry ... but he is also starting to need his next fix...
along you come and give him a free meal!
now he is free to spend his money on that crack he has been jonesing for!
There is almost no way to help anyone without simultaniously inabling the bad behavior that probably got them to that position in the first place.
God certainly blesses you for what you mean based on what you know, even if whom you gave it to misuses it. But if you know better, God expects you to mean better too.
I live in a blue collar/business casual neighborhood where we know our neighbors and, mostly, try not to bug each other without good cause. One of those neighbors is a homeless guy I first met while rousting him out of a small space behind a new neighbor's garage (neighbor was Japanese and new to the idea). Over the years the homeless guy has become part of the neighborhood, he sees himself as part of the neighborhood and acts accordingly. He's still broke but seldom actually homeless since someone or another usually has a dry place for him, sometimes a spare bedroom, sometimes just converted storage space, he's found peoples keys (mine one time) and tracked down the owner, and he's helped (gratis) in yard cleanups, lost pets, and move outs. For all intents and purposes he has been a pretty good neighbor for about fifteen years.
That’s why charity is an art, and why churches do it so well. It helps while also appealing to the better angels of those who became needy due to some enslaving habit.
I’d say if you pity the homeless, do give... but do it to churches in that ministry.
Sounds like a tramp, a step above bum.
I’ve noted a couple of fairly young guys who frequent a nice street corner near a local college, he first time one of them came up to my car I thought what a bum he must be, hale enough to work but begging instead. His line was selling some truly not so very good artwork done on 6X 6 board, which I declined. Second time I saw them i realized they were serious about wanting to provide something for the four bucks they asked; neither one would just take $4.00 for nothing.
I live in a blue collar/business casual neighborhood where we know our neighbors and, mostly, try not to bug each other without good cause. One of those neighbors is a homeless guy I first met while rousting him out of a small space behind a new neighbor’s garage (neighbor was Japanese and new to the idea). Over the years the homeless guy has become part of the neighborhood, he sees himself as part of the neighborhood and acts accordingly. He’s still broke but seldom actually homeless since someone or another usually has a dry place for him, sometimes a spare bedroom, sometimes just converted storage space, he’s found peoples keys (mine one time) and tracked down the owner, and he’s helped (gratis) in yard cleanups, lost pets, and move outs. For all intents and purposes he has been a pretty good neighbor for about fifteen years.
______________________________
Before entitlments there were always people avaible for small jobs in return for housing.
The man who living in my great-grand’s basement in return for shoveling coal and outdoor work.
The man who lived in the back room of my grandfathers offices and business in return for helping loading and keeping the place clean and picked up.
The almost blind woman who lived in the attic bedroom and helped with hte children for small monies and a home.
I think we will go back to these times. There are plenety of people who need small jobs and a home.
while there is some truth to what your girlfriend said.
You must also consider the fact that the next drink or drug fix you enable could be that persons last. I don’t like the idea of being partially responsible for someone’s death.
Hebrews 4:12: For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
If I am called to account for my actions to a Holy God, I would rather it be that I loved a fellow man more than my money. I give when the Spirit moves my heart to do so. If that person is cheating me, he will have to account for that, too.
They interview these people, and each one is either mentally ill, severely addicted to drugs/alcohol, or frankly someone who just plain doesn't want to work.
The kind hearted people try to get them into shelters, or charitable organizations, at least somewhere they can have a warm bed, and food. But these folks despise this, because these organizations always have "rules" such as no drugs or alcohol.
In the tunnel, they can enjoy their booze/drugs, and nobody hassles them. A lot of them get government checks, and live underground most of the time, only surfacing to get the $.
Fascinating documentary. Some people have little shanties, with electricity/ and heaters.
In the past these people would be involuntarily committed to a stat hospital but in 1966 during LBJ’s rein it was decided this to be too expensive. At that point State Hospitals began to close and did so through Carter and Reagan.
If those hospitals were still open fewer people would be on the street today.
And anyone posting yesterday:
“I’ll bet he sells `em for `firewater’”
would have been called a Scrooge.
Wearing shoes hurts his `curb appeal.’
I tried that with a homeless woman, and she replied "No thanks, I don't eat on Tuesdays, that's my drinking day. I'll take money!".
I couldn’t agree more.
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