If You're Homeless, Do This

[The Grind]

I live in a bad area and later in the evenings its like Night of The Living Homeless. ( Not really I just wanted to say night of the livig homeless)

They stand at the stop lights with a sign.

Every single sign I see every day is the exact same thing: I'm Homeless. Can you help me?

There is a direct proportion between their level of wealth, and the neediness inside their head.

Not judging them at all, I myself am close to standing at those coners. However my sign would say something a little different.

Standing at the stop light. What possible Value can you provide to people driving by? Is the first question that pops in my head every time I see one of them. After I shrug mumbling that sign isnt going to make you any money damnit.

Here in the lane of the fast, we are taught you give to get, you give value, you get money. Period.

They dont provide value, they are leeching value. Can you please help me?

No one cares that your homeless, no one cares your starving.

In fact, the only reason someone might give you a dollar, is to make themselves feel better telling themselves "there, I did something nice toay" for their own benefit, not yours.

Anyway, what value can you provide to people in cars while your standing there with a sign?

So glad you asked, I would change "Im homeless, can you please help me?" to "I'll bet you 1 dollar you'll read this sign".

Value = Making you laugh. Laughter results in likability.
Reward = $. To quote cashvertising "I like you, take my money!"

All mindset I suppose.

P.S. I swear I'm going to make that sign one day and give it to the next person I see at the corner...after I use it myself of course.
Actually I already did that, went out yesterday with the sign as an experiment. I stood at the light after the light a guy was standing out, his sign said "please help me, god bless" My sign said that joke. I watched him the whole time. In an hour. One person gave him a water. I got 15 bucks and over 50 laughs.

 

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[Kingmaker]

My sign said that joke. I watched him the whole time. In an hour. One person gave him a water. I got 15 bucks and over 50 laughs.

You have found your fastlane.

 

[mws87]

I once saw a younger guy in San Francisco holding a sign that said "need money for weed". Didn't look homeless, looked like he was just having a fun time.

Gave him a couple bucks anyway for the funny factor.

 

[Waisec]

...What the F*ck did I just read? Hahahahaha

Actually I already did that, went out yesterday with the sign as an experiment. I stood at the light after the light a guy was standing out, his sign said "please help me, god bless" My sign said that joke. I watched him the whole time. In an hour. One person gave him a water. I got 15 bucks and over 50 laughs.

 

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[Dwight Schrute]

Because homeless guys spend their free time on this forum, looking for advice to scale their sidewalk business
But hey, that joke sign is 1000x better than "let me wash your windshield without even asking you first, thats 2 bucks, give nao"

 

[The Grind]

Because homeless guys spend their free time on this forum, looking for advice to scale their sidewalk business
But hey, that joke sign is 1000x better than "let me wash your windshield without even asking you first, thats 2 bucks, give nao"

Well yeah, thats like trying to sell something to someone that doesnt want and has no interested in what your selling.

 

[The Grind]

You have found your fastlane.

Hire all the homeless people, I provide the signs, they keep 90% of the profits. I provide the most crowded street corners. Hmm

 

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[BigBrianC]

I don't think standing on the sidewalk with a sign is fastlane

Maybe put up lock boxes with that sign around college campuses, but they'd prob get busted up and robbed from.

The bigger issue is, why are you almost homeless and already acting like you are? Why waste the time thinking of ways homeless people can make money and spending an hour with a sign out on a corner instead of learning copywriting and applying for jobs on oDesk/UpWork? It's free.

 

[The Grind]

I don't think standing on the sidewalk with a sign is fastlane

Maybe put up lock boxes with that sign around college campuses, but they'd prob get busted up and robbed from.

The bigger issue is, why are you almost homeless and already acting like you are? Why waste the time thinking of ways homeless people can make money and spending an hour with a sign out on a corner instead of learning copywriting and applying for jobs on oDesk/UpWork? It's free.

Lol you guys are taking this post way out of context and way too seriously. In general.

 

[DeletedUser394]

You usually don't end up homeless because you're 'lazy.'

You end up homeless because you have serious life destroying addictions and/or mental issues.

Seriously, spend a minute or two listening to them and you'll see.

Not judging them at all...

....They dont provide value, they are leeching value.
.

 

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[BigBrianC]

Lol you guys are taking this post way out of context and way too seriously. In general.

"Not judging them at all, I myself am close to standing at those coners"

I was trying to provide you with some Value

 

[Dwight Schrute]

Hire all the homeless people, I provide the signs, they keep 90% of the profits. I provide the most crowded street corners. Hmm

Thats kind of like becoming a pimp, but with sweaty, bearded guys

 

[Mattie]

No one cares that your homeless, no one cares your starving.

Dang something must be wrong with me. I actually do care, and worked at pantries, and even Good Samaritan Ministries, and even gave an old man and women in the middle of snow storm $60 bucks, and she was like 70, and was going to sleep in car during a blizzard. I don't remember feeling obligated, or not caring. I cared enough to even get them some food, since you never find homeless people in the area I lived. I suppose some people actually are the real deal that crap happens in life. But, Hey I like caring about people, no matter who they are, and for some reason someday, you might be in their shoes, and I pass you. I'll say, hey, I don't think I should help you, cause I took your advice, and looked the other way.

 

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[Silverhawk851]

Was just at Adtech two days ago in San Francisco.

As you may or may not know, they have ALOT of homeless people down there.

I was heading down a popular street to go grab a bite,

and I saw a whole bunch of homeless people,

Some with signs,

Some with a kid,

Some with a cup,

All asking for $ in different forms.

I keep walking till I reach an intersection, and there's no sign on the traffic lights

so naturall I'm like is the road,

maybe I'll ask someone.

One homeless dude, standing there, immediately approaches me

"You lost sir?" "This is xyz street. Where you trying to go?"

Gives me exact directions from a map in his pocket,
The best restaurants in the area.
Where to go, not to go, what streets to avoid,
all quality info.


Doesn't ask for a thing.
So naturally I ask him, what can I do for you?

He's like "I may not have a home, but I haven't slept on a street in 16 months"
"I arranged a motel to give me a room for $26 / night, as long as I come up with that I'm good."

"I'm $17 short right now...but If you can just spare $1 I'll be more than happy."

Guess what I did? Had to cover his night.
Anyone would.

It's the law of Reciprocity.

Moral: Give first, and it comes back in spades.

 

[RogueInnovation]

Well...
I think its arrogant to tell people in the trenches to smile and try an emotionally expensive strategy.
I mean, its all well and good to say it, but to BE THERE is a totally different thing.

There are people on this forum who have BEEN there, there are people on the street, MOTHERS on the street, that are there because they got shafted by people they knew and back stabbed.

Its really just ignorance to pretend you can master homelessness in one day watching a few people walk down the street. I mean anyone can tell the New York Yankees how to play baseball, right?
While homeless people aren't the yankees, I think getting OFF the street once they are shoved there takes SERIOUS chops.

... I've thought a lot about homeless people.

Most noteably when I actually starved for a few days during a rough patch of my own. I wanted to just f#cking not starve. So I got it. I mean its humiliating.

We are all so afraid of people, we turn our nose up at the homeless because we fear it. Stop fearing it. Stop acting arrogant. Kindness, and understanding soothes the fear and anxiety you are feeling inside when you watch the homeless.



I have NEVER been as bad off as anyone on the street, not even on a day I starved, or felt ashamed cuz I couldn't pay my rent on time.
And I KNOW that.

So when I feel like sh#t, when I feel like I'm going to starve, I give.
I give, to remember that I CAN give.
I am the GUY who can spare change when he only has change himself.

Why? Cuz I'm not arrogant.
Cuz I'm more ashamed of NOT CARING, than sitting by someone and helping lift them a little.




I met this guy a couple weeks ago. I saw him, momentarily crying (he was hiding it, it was early in the day, I just came around the corner). I gave him what I had in my pockets, I went shopping and bought him some bananas (because I know they really help you get through a shit day, from experience). I stood him up, shared a smile and a nod. Helped him through the shame of that day.

I'm not afraid, to sit and think about the homeless earnestly.

I do not toot and honk about my CURE.
I know I have no cure!
I know I'm afraid!
I know it hurts...

And I DO listen to them.

Why?
Because I KNOW, if I am a leader, if I care, I will always be less afraid than the sadistic little wannabes that want to tell the homeless to DANCE, so that, we can all just IMAGINE they don't exist.


They are just human beings, often shafted by society, misunderstood, trampled...
Its COMPLICATED, and you can't fix it by changing their sign and teaching them sales.

Dude, you have to be smarter than that, more compassionate, or you are really just disrespecting yourself.


You can tell the character of a man by how he treats those lower than him.
I ALWAYS remember, it is ONLY my compassion and strength, that will ever keep me from starving ever again.

SMART PLANS FAIL
Strength, prevails

Don't be a douche
Be brave enough to not fear them
Be caring enough to sometimes think...


Ok?

Measure yourself not in how many dollars you make,
But in how fearless you become, in the face of adversity, risk, poverty, and emotional turmoil.
Because it is on the darkest days, it pays you the most.

If you disrespect the homeless with cheap trickery, you really just cheat yourself out of the guts and will power to overcome life destroying poverty.
And trust me, when the poverty stick comes to beat the living cr#p out of you, you will whine like a little baby, unless you man up, and learn from the battlers, and the real pain.

 

[Dwight Schrute]

I went shopping and bought him some bananas

The other day I was in Vienna and enjoyed a pizza. On the other side of the street sat that guy, looking sad & starved, like he was really suffering. My stomach was full and there was still a good third of the pizza left, so I paid the bill, crossed the street and offered the guy something to eat. In a matter of a second, his attitude changed from victim to aggressor, he literally told me to F*ck off. It was that moment that I realized that he was a member of the "begging-mafia". He sits there all day and gets picked up by his fellows in the evening. And when he didn't earn enough change, he probably gets a whack in the back of his neck. Sadly, there are always two sides of a coin.

 

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[diforenzad]

Has anybody ever been to mexico? Talking about people with signs at traffic lights, I've seen people making more than a decent day wage at traffic lights in Colima, Oaxaca and other little cities, by simply selling anything was available. A friend of mine was selling cakes, bu tI bet you'd have more luck selling fresh drinks at a traffic lights. Seen people doing fire juggling and all sorts of things
Truth is that I've never seen anyone begging in mexico, so I guess it's just a matter of attitude.
Also : I used to hang around beggars in Auckland, NZ. Most funny guy I remember walked to another beggar and left him a bunch of coins, and when the other guy looked at him puzzled, the standing dude just walked off saying : "it's fine, bro, I got enough money to buy weed".
Also busking musicians were cool guys and I fondly remember a street artist that did massive dot paintings on MDF boards and people naturally stopped and bought 'em off.
I know him 'cause I was hanging with a dealer all the time and once I saw the artist getting 100 bucks for the painting and then passing onto my dealer/friend behind their backs in front of the buyer, so he could get him some more meth and he could sit there another 12 hours painting something he didn't really care about (he threw away most of his paintings, lol I even thought about trying to understand where he was throwing them at, since some of his paintings were averaging a few hundred bucks on NZ equivalent of ebay).
Guess it was art for art's sake, in those circumstances.

 

[Bellini]

You can tell the character of a man by how he treats those lower than him.

AMEN

 

[Dwight Schrute]

Measure yourself not in how many dollars you make,
But in how fearless you become, in the face of adversity, risk, poverty, and emotional turmoil.
Because it is on the darkest days, it pays you the most.

This is a great reminder that we shouldn't put our focus on money, but value.

Value, not only through a product or service, but also in daily human interaction.

Who knows how things will roll?

Doesn't really matter if it works through the butterfly effect, our subconcious mind or a cosmic force,
karma exists in some way or the other.

 

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[masterneme]

Homeless people are physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted, they live in constant "survival mode" where the next breath can be the last one and everything surrounding them is life threatening, you can't provide much value when you're in pain.

 

[Bila]

So...You are asking somebody who has NOTHING ...Not even his basic needs as a human being ......to GIVE.

Btw...i knew a guy who was once a homeless ( immigrant broke student in the streets of London UK) ....He is now worth millions...So you never know.

 

[The Grind]

 

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[The Grind]

So...You are asking somebody who has NOTHING ...Not even his basic needs as a human being ......to GIVE.

Btw...i knew a guy who was once a homeless ( immigrant broke student in the streets of London UK) ....He is now worth millions...So you never know.

Actually, glad you asked that.

Yes, thats exactly what I'm asking.

Tony Robbins gave away his last 19 dollars away to a 10 year old kid who pulled the chair out for his mom, he said, "you deserve it".
( Actually a great story look it up )

He said when he gave away everything he had, the 19 bucks. Every single ounze of scarcity left his mind at the same time.

He has a lot more than 19 bucks now.

 

[RogueInnovation]

The other day I was in Vienna and enjoyed a pizza. On the other side of the street sat that guy, looking sad & starved, like he was really suffering. My stomach was full and there was still a good third of the pizza left, so I paid the bill, crossed the street and offered the guy something to eat. In a matter of a second, his attitude changed from victim to aggressor, he literally told me to F*ck off. It was that moment that I realized that he was a member of the "begging-mafia". He sits there all day and gets picked up by his fellows in the evening. And when he didn't earn enough change, he probably gets a whack in the back of his neck. Sadly, there are always two sides of a coin.

Ha, well my point is THOUGHT is the most valuable thing to give to the homeless.
Not adding to their problems by making them feel ashamed, weirded out or making them degrade themselves in any way.

I generally watch the homeless people in my area, so I know who is the bag snatcher, who is the professional beggar, etc. They aren't all the same, and if you treat them all the same you will get little incidents that can sour your view.

Doesn't really matter if it works through the butterfly effect, our subconcious mind or a cosmic force,
karma exists in some way or the other.

In the new movie tomorrowland there is this story about two wolves always fighting, one of grief and dispair and another of hope and possibility, and they ask the question, which one wins?
The answer is "the one you feed". It is a very disney-like thing, probably designed for kids, but...
If you ignore your scarcity mentality, let grief win by just not even participating, then it will cloud your mind and fill you with doubt.
If you pay attention to feeding an abundance mentality and ridding yourself of scarcity by participating in THOUGHT, and thinking it through (not quitting when you hit obstacles), it will rid you of doubts and bolster you.


Don't PITY the poor, that only continues the illusion that they are dogs and scavengers, which breeds disdain and fear, which will cripple you whenever you face a hard time.
UNDERSTAND their hardships, and actually observe, and think (it goes further that way)... You don't have to give them money if you do that, but you probably will when it matters, and you'll learn something.

Many hands make LIGHT work. But the truth is that we just need to be more thoughtful. Not give up and immediately jump to pitying them.


Sit in the dirt, next to fear, and do not judge or pity... Instead, grow.


A good leader, knows how to kneel in the dirt.

.You are asking somebody who has NOTHING ...Not even his basic needs as a human being ......to GIVE.

Btw...i knew a guy who was once a homeless ( immigrant broke student in the streets of London UK) ....He is now worth millions...So you never know.

This is leadership^
Sitting with it long enough to understand the issue they face.

It is this problem, if you sit with it, without delusions of conquering it or being immune to it, that can teach you things about fear, loss, gratitude and how to face hardship.
If you sit with them, you don't GET as paralysed when it happens to you... You don't start crying and feeling sorry for yourself.
Your heart becomes stout and strong, and you REFUSE it.

You learn to hold off these opening gates of hell. You learn not to fear what imbeciles and backstabbers push you towards out of their fear and ignorance.

You learn to never be ashamed.
You lose the fear.
And you gain courage.


Its now about how much you give, its about WHY.

Homeless people are physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted, they live in constant "survival mode" where the next breath can be the last one and everything surrounding them is life threatening, you can't provide much value when you're in pain.

Again this is leadership^
Understanding the crippling exhaustion, and not just saying "I can cure it", not just saying "give them money! All of them, always!"

I've been exhausted, crippled, and you have to eat broken glass, and pull a huge stone, while holding your breath to get through it.

Thinking of others is FAR easier than BEING there yourself. So learn from them, never become one, never fear it.
Suffer with them, then think, then if its smart, give, and lift your fears off you.

 

[Dwight Schrute]

@RogueInnovation

 

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[Metabaron]

In my area people stand with signs to make money. The local news did a undercover story a few years ago on them, at the busy intersections they could take in 300-400 bucks per day for a few hours of work at rush hour. A few of them admitted to not being homeles, just not wanting to get a real job. Real homless have asked me to get them food instead of cash, which I've been happy to buy them a meal.

 

[ck4750]

"I'm $17 short right now...but If you can just spare $1 I'll be more than happy."

Guess what I did? Had to cover his night.
Anyone would.

I like your style man.

 

[masterneme]

Actually, glad you asked that.

Yes, thats exactly what I'm asking.

Tony Robbins gave away his last 19 dollars away to a 10 year old kid who pulled the chair out for his mom, he said, "you deserve it".
( Actually a great story look it up )

He said when he gave away everything he had, the 19 bucks. Every single ounze of scarcity left his mind at the same time.

He has a lot more than 19 bucks now.

But he had a job, he was a delivery boy and even with very low income he had his basic needs covered, he had friends, homeless people have nothing and they're alone surrounded by misery.

Yeah they could go to the public library and learn about business and marketing, then go out and hustle the streets... but how to do that if they struggle to keep themself alive?

Do you know the "rule of 3"? The "rule of 3" says that you can survive 3 minutes without breathing, 3 hours without shelter in harsh conditions, 3 days without water and 3 weeks without food.

It's not an exact rule obviously, everyone has his own "survival endurance", but it means that given certain conditions, you can die VERY EASILY.

Before that happens, every cell of your body is going to fight just to live a little bit more.

That is translated into a very different set of internal dialogues and imagery compared to what you have after a long hot shower and enjoying a great dinner.

There are stories of very successful people that went through very tough times and against all odds, with determination and fierce willpower, they overcame those situations.

No one knows yet what are the differences between these people and the rest that still struggle, you can have 2 twins in a family with abusive violent drug addict parents, one of the twins become a doctor and the other one a sociopatic violent robber.

The truth is that homeless are NOT these people, they're f*d up and they don't know how to do better, and us talking about them is not going to affect their reality.

Funny enough the Tony Robbins Foundation has this program with a lot of volunteers distributing food, he probably knows that when you're starving you can't do sh*t

 

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[The Grind]

I said it before I'll say it again.

You guys took what I said way out of context, way too seriously, way too literally, and assumed I said a lot more than I did.

If the president said "white people" in a speech, the whole country would attack him accusing him of being racist and blah blah blah.

Why? People take things and turn them into things theyre not.

Now excuse me, my popcorn ran out. I'm going to go measure my beard length with the other homeless guys down the street

 

[Mattie]

The greatest secret: Just act in love no matter who is front of you. It's that simple.