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 ...
Getting your idea of just giving food is good however along with it I’d like to include some fake dollars with Bammy’s face in the middle with the inscription “In Me You Trust”. Should be legal tender and honored by any fawning leftist establishment.
You just know the reaction to that would be “WHAT THE HELL IS THIS! I VOTED FOR MITT ROMNEY!”
“They are worth a lot of money. I could lose my life.”
Thats as believable as jumping to the conclusion that he sold them for booze.
Both are eminently possible. For the same reason you wouldn’t ever want to give a Rolex to a bum....
When I had a couple of contracts in downtown DC I would offer lunch to the panhandlers who asked me for money. Every single one of them cursed me out and I never bought a single lunch.
it tends to quench any spirit of generosity in many people and replace it with a spirit of cynicism.”
...you’re correct. It teaches a great lesson. Give. But not to homeless people. Put some thought into your giving. I like local giving.
Two years ago, about 10 miles from where I live, a Father of 4 murdered his wife and went to jail leaving his 4 young girls completely on their own. No relatives and some friends. We gave money to a fund that was set up for them.
Hard to believe that in such a case the Department of Humanistic Services or whatever it’s called didn’t swoop in... unless these “girls” were grown.
A few years ago I was driving home from work and stopped at a light near an overpass. There was a beggar out with a sign, “Hungry. Please Help.” I had my lunch bag in the car and hadn’t eaten my grapes or two hard-boiled eggs, so I gave them to him before the light changed.
The next day I was driving the same route, came to a stop at the same light, and there on the ground, in almost the same place, was a bag of grapes and two hard-boiled eggs, untouched. I NEVER give to beggars any more.
And this rule can apply to addicts as well. My brother is/was a pill addict. Used to come around asking for money for food and gas for his truck. I ordered a pizza, sat down with him for a bit, told him I had a 5 gallon container of gas that he could have. I took it out to his truck, filled it up, and he made up an excuse that he had to go. I said, “I thought you were hungry?”
“Well, I was looking for some cash so I can eat later,” he said.
He wasn’t interested in eating. He wasn’t hungry. He wanted money for pills and was pissed that I ordered a pizza and gave him fuel from my personal stock instead of giving him cash.
A co-worker who lived in the heart of downtown Los Angeles said that the number is closer to 100%. He told of a panhandler who took a vacation to Tahiti.
A victim of hyperthermic feet syndrome!
The shoe-shoeless situation of this homeless guy is a great metaphor for Johnson’s-et-al War on Poverty.
Our church associate pastor has a daughter living in college in Austin. She is stopped regularly by the street people. She carries a pair or two of new socks and oranges which she hands out the window at stop lights, etc..
Sensible idea. Scurvy happens to those with poor diets.
Sadly, “have them stolen” probably is higher on that list. Probably 50/50 with sell them for booze, perhaps even greater. This man likely is mentally ill, so another good category is “leave them in an alley and wander off barefooted.”
Let’s cut out the middleman and their fake stories BS and just start handing out 4oz.mini containers of Jack Daniels. Make a bum/panhandler really happy with some Holiday cheer.
This is exactly why the left likes the gov’t doing “charity”.
When private charities or individuals are involved, they scrutinize the recipients. The left doesn’t like this, because people will “judge” whether the recipients are deserving or not based on their own, usually Christian, value system.
I see a lot of posts here assuming this guy sold his shoes for booze. While I agree the homeless are not the saints that the Libs portray them to be, and that there are grifters out there, I think posters are jumping to the wrong conclusions. Not every homeless person is out looking to sell everything for booze and drugs. Unless they are mentally ill, most are not going to wander around shoeless in the cold to get booze. This man likely either had them stolen or is mentally ill and left them somewhere. Situations like this point out the frustrating, heartbreaking problem of homelessness. Once you separate out the grifters and people who are going to use what you give them to buy booze or drugs, you have a very vulnerable population who simply cannot put together what it takes to live a basic life — like shelter and clothing. You have men like this literally walking around with no shoes. The answer is not not more money but on the other hand, these people are not all con artists and drunks.
I just tell them I already gave to them, I pay taxes.
Jesus Christ didn’t have a home.
At least Mr. Bojangles would do a dance for drinks and tips. These modern bums want money for nothing. Let them start auditioning with mini street ‘talent’ shows for some cash. No funnies = no money’s.
“african American”... You mean a black guy?
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