I live pretty much in farm country, so even if something is completely poor, they still have a home. The quality of the home is what makes them different though. Only times I really see homeless people is when I go into the city for school and work. Most of the ones I've encountered aren't really nice people. Here they try to take advantage of your kindness or just try to scare you and hope you give them money to go away.
I sometimes see homeless people in town singing while playing the guitar for spare change. The police usually take them away because of the racket they cause.
very generous of you to give him a cup of tea :D. and yes there is many homeless people near the area i live.
Never saw anyone homeless in Scarborough, but downtown Toronto has a lot.
I just can't stand to see a homeless in winter, that's why, instead of giving away my clothes to associations, i give them to the homeless directly. Every winter, i pack a whole bunch of things that i don't use anymore and put them in the trunk of my car, then, i go where the homeless people gather and distribute it. I also listen to them for a while and their story, it helps them more than a few bucks. Now i know like ten homeleww people in my town and talk to them when we meet in the streets. And i don't do that to feel good or improve my ego, i just do it cause it's simple, costs nothing and do a world of good to those unlucky guys.
I have been told by many Japanese residents that many homeless are homeless by choice and have money. Aparently they wish to escape many pressures of life. Is this true? :)
Homeless are fun. But they're only in downtown Toronto. I used to collect quarters and dollars and throw them at the homeless when I was a kid. They'd be like "kid I bet you can't nail me in the head!" Pwned. Then they'd be like "kid I bet you can't nail me in the head with a toonie(2 dollar coin)!" But now it seems they all left... to California o.o
Offering him a drink, even though a small gesture of kindness i think is a very fine thing of you to do. I can imagine that the majority of people would simply run them off thier property. I see a few homeless people around town but i suppose its such a closed world that you really cant understand what its like unless you live it for real.
I'm surprised you've never seen homeless in Tokyo. I was in Shinjuku for two days and personally saw tons of them around that area (particularly west of the JR station in the skyscraper district).
The experience you had in London happens a lot here in the Philippines. That's why I gave up on helping the bastards. If they seek to better themselves, I see no problem in helping them out. But that's not the case here in Manila.
I saw homeless in parks I visited in Osaka, especially the park near Osaka Castle. The homeless problem here is pretty bad and everyone here, besides the homeless themselves, don't even talk much less give eye contact to them. The homeless here don't ask for money though which is nice.
I always seen a lot of homeless people in Florida. When I was younger, downtown areas of Detroit and Toronto where the only places I seen them. In Florida they where always begging money. Although, it was often hard to tell if they where actually homeless since many of them where using it as a scam. I guess one can make a lot from begging. I have seen homeless in Osaka. I say that because I have seen them "collecting" to get money. If I hadn't seen them doing such I probably wouldn't have recognized then as homeless. They don't fit into the western view of homeless in many ways. Many of them don't look like homeless, they keep active as you pointed out and don't usually beg for money. Hell, I have the feeling most might take it as an insult if you offered them money. After looking at the BBC link, I wonder where that homeless association and tent village is in Osaka. I wouldn't mind lending them a hand in one way or another.
The homeless in my area are generally drug addicts or jobless drunks with no self respect... if you give them any money, they would most likely waste it on drugs and alcohol.like I said no self respect. Homeless in my area are even known to mug people and burglar houses Regarding the homeless in Japan, i do remember seeing them building squatters under bridges in the Ikebukuro area on my last visit to Tokyo.
danny, you shud try ueno.many homeless there.
Wah~ I try not to pay that much attention to the homeless here, but when I was in Japan I remember seeing a homeless man on the street at night in Osaka. He had an MP3 player...
wow at the story of how the poor guy opening a company. hard work pays.. and lol at the guy who got K.O outside your house..
Very nice of you to offer him a cup of tea =D In Singapore, there aren't so many homeless people around cause the government clear them up pretty quick. The only people I see sleeping on the floor at night are drunkards who probably got too drunk to walk home.
I remember in college when my friends and I got a gigantic 2 story house in this rundown neigborhood. Sometimes when I would walk to my car to go to school a homeless man would ask me if he could mow the lawn for 10 bucks. I was kind of freaked out at first but I got used to it, like all the other things in that neighborhood, hookers walking down the street sometimes, drugs, our neighbor getting busted by an army of cops....but we only stayed there a few months. At least I found my news beat in college.
Changing the world with one act of radom kindness. I think the homeless has a lot of pride? thats why they dont be for money? Bums in my neighbor hood occasionally ask for money. Oh yea there was this movie called "Persuit of happiness" sounds like that Japanese homeless. Hit dead bottem and raise to the top.
In my place, it ain't really a problem with homeless people, but rather immigrant squatter colonies. They look around for a vacant patch of land, settle there, and start causing trouble to the surrounding areas. They would use their children to ask for money from people (often see them inhaling glue) and they might also contribute to the increase of thefts and break-ins. Squatter colonies often became drug dens and other forms of social ills. Fortunately, my neighbourhood is safe from them.
Wow, your really nice to offer him tea ^^ The bums round California always ask for money, so I don't pay them much mind. Figure > Bum :D
Good for you to offer him some hot tea :D
there are quite some homeless people where i'm at, tho they just mostly keep to themselves. the one's that asks for money are usually the illegal immigrants. usually using their own kids as sympathy baits, bleah...
Gibson, I cried at the end of that movie ^^; 3den, Will have a look one day ^^; Protocol Snow, I do see them but not sleeping around on the streets. They usually keep away from the public in tents under bridges etc. Angelo, You are the man. Looking forward to meeting you this month.
not surprising as the rent for houses in tokyo is quite high. they are probably homeless because there are good facilities for them, quite safe and they are probably saving money.
that's really nice that you've offered him a cup of tea ^^ same thing with hangmen13... we have squatter colonies around the metro who occupies vacant lands illegally and those lands are already owned and the titles are already under a individual/group but not all colonies cause trouble in the surrounding area, they're just an eye sore... squatters send out their kids to ask for money in the streets and there are times that these kids are used by organized crime syndicates. that's why some people who wants to help the homeless donates to charity institutions. the rags to riches stories are really inspiration especially to those who almost has nothing and yet they've succeed in life ^^
There are so many homeless people here in the philippines and I think the situation here is worse than that of London. About a year back a homeless person ask me for some money, I gave a small amount and she ranted how cheap I was. geez @_@ These days I only give if I can see that they're doing something to leverage their situation. It's hopeless to help if they don't even care to help themselves.
What BeLe says is a good point, only helping the homeless if they are helping themselves. It annoys me when homeless people expect handouts when they are not even trying to get out of the situation they are in. There is also this homeless man in my area. Spends his days drinking himself to death. And smoking and sleeping on the bench outside the local libary. It's those sorts of homeless people that I can't stand.
Yeah we have a good amount of homeless people where I live. Most of them here are just scum of this earth.(Sorry for being so rude or mean)They come up to you asking for money and most of the time either ill go buy them something to eat or give them a small amount of money like 50c to $1(and sometime I get the ones that dont take my small amount or the food I bought them) because most of them ended up homeless because of a addiction of something and most of them still have that addiction and are trying to get money to fulfill that addiction so thats why i usually buy them something to eat. Whats funny about this report is today I was thinking is there a lot of homeless people in Japan? Kind of weird but it answered my questioned.
In Italy we have a really bad situation. Homeless usually lives around train/bus station and try to make their day but asking some money to the people nearby. Usually italian homeless are quite polite and when they ask some coin they do it in a very good-manner way. When toy give them some ueuros the tahnk you so much... The problem is another. We have lots of immigrant homeless, especially Gipsy kind. they are so rude and always try took as much money they can from you. T hey are so tricky, sometimes they try to steal too. More, they are dungerous to the italian homeless, sometimes tey beat them up when they are in the same zone. Just to put them away in order to take as much money they can...TERRIBLE Police is always in the way trying to keep them under control and separated but...is quite impossible.
Ah, gotta love homeless japanese people. They realise their situation and try to either live with it and be self-sufficient, or get themselves out of it using their own initiative. Some are 'proper' homeless in the sense that they are very tanned, have long matted hair and are wearing clothes and shoes made from older clothes and shoes! Just like in the movies! Homeless people in the UK sometimes dont look homeless at all, they sometimes nag you for money and any homeless person who can afford to smoke loses my sympathy immediately ! I saw several homeless people on my Japan trips, but they are friendly, tidy and mostly polite. They even take their shoes off when they enter their cardboard houses! Good on you to give the guy a cuppa tea - i woulda shouted at him! Friendly solutions to something like that would be unexpected to me...
Outside your doorstep?! Wow! Very good of you to give the man a cup of tea. In my area their is only the homeless that Otaku Blue described. I remember once he was asleep on a bus one chair away from me and one of my mates told me he tends to wake up and yell things at people, so it was like sitting next to a ticking time bomb!! I heard somewhere on the net that sometimes Homeless tend to hang out in manga cafes due to their cheap rates, but that must be pretty uncomfortable.
I tend to see a number of them on State Street; a street in Madison near the Capitol that's fairly merchant heavy with little vehicle traffic. They're always our panhandling with their change-filled cups usually in one of several places along State. I can't really say they're pro-active in solving their dilemma like those in Japan.
Ok first things first....I have nothing against homeless guys at all & I have some sympathy towards them. but the thing which shocks me the most is the girl actually asked you for the pound she saw in your hand. If she had said that to me, I wouldnt have given her anything at all. "Beggers can't be choosers" just the same as you can't 'DEMAND' charity. charity is free & given when people decide they have something to offer.
there aren't much homeless people in my area here. Those found to be homeless are probably mentally-illed or aged. however, what's making me mad is those using thier child to beg for money..imagine a healthy mum who brings his 2 years old son, having him carrying a cup innocently while his mum kept silent and don't even look at u while his kid gave that innocent glare and have no idea what he was doing...it's a sad scenario for me seeing such scenario
Just to prove that even in poverty Japanese people preserve and make do with their lot. For this they earn my admiration.
aww, so nice of you to offer him a cup of tea (though everyone else have already said that, but ^^) .. there aren't much or any homeless at where i reside, but a lot of very dangerous drunkards hanging around :/
Well, here in Belgium we have some homeless people in the bigger city, but not in our town. They also seem to be concentrated in certain places, usually a big public square or area with many bus stops, and they go about asking some money to every one. Well, Danny, if you haven't seen many homeless people in Japan, I have. Be it again, concentrated in certain areas. Go to the area around Utsunomiya station in Osaka, and you'll find lots of them, especially towards the evening. I know this, because my hotel was there (it was damn cheap though ;p). Thankfully it was only 5-6 days, and I was away all day to other places (Kyoto,Himeji,...). I must indeed say as well, that they did not ask for money. Even homeless Japanese people are polite :)
First comment by moi! Aww... Anyways, that's a very interesting tidbit, Danny. You've made me curious about the subject. The hunt for a good english-language tome on Japanese sociology continues! At any rate, yeah, the situation here in Ireland regarding homelessness is quite bad, particularly in Dublin, where I live, which has a disproportionate amount of homeless people. A good part of it is that once someone becomes homeless here, they're castaways and almost considered unredeemable. Couple that with bureaucratic government programs that aggravate the problem, and things become exacerbated. Of course, what programs there are, from volunteer groups or government, do help some people, but it doesn't seem to be enough, sadly.
I have seen with my own eyes, as a young boy working with for my Auntie in her little food diner. some tramp was digging around in our bins - Obviously we stayed away from him. he had some munch then he was gone. a few mins later a meat truck full of cops pulled up outside & started asking us if we saw him or knew which way he went lol. that was quite entertaining but sad really as homeless people in Hong Kong are totally disregarded & scorned by society. ever since then I have never seen any homeless sleeping in the streets :( as far as I know the police just round them up & take them to some sort of asylum
sadly to say it is a problem in USA. I see a lot of them while going to work or been in Washington DC. Not as many around my home area or anywhere in state of Maryland, but still there are few.
Wherever you go in here, you're sure to find streetchildren selling flowers. I kinda feel bad, but I try staying away from them too. ^^;
Thats very generous of you Danny. Most people around here would not be so kind to a homeless person.
Kaori, Love your new site. Just activated you as a comrade. Gorgo, My wife had her purse+credit cards etc stolen when she was in Italy ToT
I don't encounter them in my hometown, but when I travel I see them a lot. Some just seem to act homeless and ask for money... and being the nice guy that I am I can never deny them anything :.
OO Danny, so sorry about your wife. You know, foreigner are the preferred prey, especially japanese. How did she?
Barely any homeless in Finland, not the best country for homeless considering the winter. We do have one regular homeless person, a woman who looks very much like the cat woman in the simpsons, except that instead of cats she carries around loads of teddy bears.
I saw some squatters in front of Excelsior Cafe (kind of like starbucks of Japan) near Ikebukuro station. Mentioning starbucks, why not use internet there instead of internet cafe? It's free!
Danny, if you get on one of those boat tours offered in Asakusa, you'll see a lot of homeless camped along the Sumida river. They're harmless enough though. Now the bums on Haight street or Golden Gate Park, that's a different story!
Once I saw a homeless using his credit card in an ATM here in Tokyo! It seems some of them have just some money, but not enough to rent a home. Btw, I was wondering... when will you be featured in Bari Bari Value? ;)
You don't have to search too many to find homelees in Spain. There are people of several types, people who are really poor, and live in a corner between cardboards, and the other with drug problem(the lees, for obvious reasons...)or people who ask for money in streets or subway. But some peole can gain more money with this that with a regular job.
This is what Im gonna do in Japan when I move there if I dont make enough money to rent a home or buy a house with the money I get doing doujinshi. I wouldnt mind, though. Its JAPAN!!!! I would sleep in an alley if I had to. JAPAN so rocks!!!!
LOL! So Danny, did you trade your pound for the 50 pence?
Im from Bangladesh living in the Midwest, USA. Been around homeless people all my life. But really, truely homeless are the ones from third world countries like mine, not anywhere else. IF you see someone homeless, kick him in the balls, and tellem to get a job. These first world G8 nation SOBs dont know poverty, so no amount of convincing will ever sway me. Imagine watching a man so hungry that all he can do, is lie on the street and wait for a car to run him over and end his misery, heh, this is true poverty.
