@Sunny “He clung to her, crying, and then made love to her and went far inside her and she begged him to go deeper and, no longer afraid of injuring her, he went deep in mind and body, among crowded organ cavities, past the contours of her lungs and liver, and, shimmying past her heart, he felt her perfection.”
@Ganymede I'm fairly sure my favourite thing is when judges (or, more likely, their aides) have to write professionally about absurd things, because someone somewhere has decided that those absurd things matter.
@Rinel said in Why We Don't Make New Friends Anymore (Or Creepers Do Creepy Things):
very fake tree who quickly became known as Daphne
@Auspice The best friend I ever had was my roommate just after university. I worked days, he worked nights. We saw each other for maybe ten minutes a day for two years. That is my ideal living situation.
@Auspice said in Recruitment Posts:
@Ganymede said in Recruitment Posts:
u already h8 me
Anyone who gives homework is evil.
Fuck you too.
@Auspice said in Why We Don't Make New Friends Anymore (Or Creepers Do Creepy Things):
Part of why I fell for my ex husband
I'm not sure what message you're trying to put forward here.
@insomniac7809 Except according to the story the guys specifically said ' few dollars he could have to get something to eat.'
It's probably pretty demeaning to have someone over you shoulder while you decide what to get.
I've both taken someone to a place and let them pick out what they wanted to eat, or I have asked what people wanted and brought it back to them. In neither case did the people I was helping to feed find it disagreeable, but those are the people I interacted with, so YMMV.
I can understand the desire for people to get their own food. Do I get something small and inexpensive that won't satiate or something large and more expensive that will deal with my hunger... and will this person pay for that?
@insomniac7809 Except according to the story the guys specifically said ' few dollars he could have to get something to eat.'
People are more inclined, I would imagine, to give money to get food rather than to get a bus ticket or whatever.
When people scoff and say "oh, they're just going to spend it on drugs," it makes me think that those people don't really understand addiction.
To that I usually say, with a shrug, "Well. What do you think I was going to spend it on?"
If others are not allowed opinions on how you spend your money, which is fair, then you don't get to have opinions about how people spend money you give them. Once it leaves your hand (or how ever the funds are transferred), it's not your money anymore.
Sure, panhandling is a social issue that needs to be addressed. Giving or not giving to panhandlers doesn't determine your morals. Discarding panhandlers as simply making other people's lives worse makes you look like a twat. Sure, some folks panhandle professionally... so? Ignore them and move on with your life.
@Darren It makes me think it was only money he wanted, and he wasn't looking to spend it on food.
Or he was hoping for enough money to buy bread, or something, which can last more than one meal.
For the record, he wouldn't have gotten a cent out of me even if he had not
had a brand new iPhone because I don't tolerate panhandlers.
Every time you give money to a beggar, you make the lives of everyone that
lives, works or otherwise frequents the area, a little bit worse by
validating their behavior.I wonder what people would say about allowing this forum to persist.
For the record, he wouldn't have gotten a cent out of me even if he had not
had a brand new iPhone because I don't tolerate panhandlers.
Every time you give money to a beggar, you make the lives of everyone that
lives, works or otherwise frequents the area, a little bit worse by
validating their behavior.
Oh. Right. So you're just a cunt. Okay.
@Taika The specific example given was an iPhone 11. In what world are they fifty dollars?
This isn't about what people deserve - if it were, there'd be no homeless people. Do people going through a rough period deserve help and support? Absolutely. That is undeniable for any decent person. It's... really about marketing. I am less inclined to give money to people with a brand new, shiny, high-end smart device. Either they don't need the money, or they're terrible at making smart choices with money. Either way, the guy asking for food with one shoe and no socks needs my help more.
@Ganymede I'd also like to vehemently object to the idea that strippers and prostitutes need to "clean themselves up and fly straight." Those you associated might well have done, but let's not tar entire professions with the same brush.
The crux of this conversation has been: poor people aren't allowed to have XYZ technology and if they do they don't deserve my help.
If you're flashing a brand new smartphone in my face asking for money, I'm definitely less inclined to give it to you over the other dude at the corner with a cardboard sign and no shoes. It's not about the tech itself, it's about the fact that it's expensive.
ETA: Make that a "brand new high end smart phone."
@Auspice Yeah, it's not even innately "weird" stuff that I generally look for. But it's the minutiae that nobody but me and some researcher from Harvard even care about.
@Auspice The number of times I've had to self-explain my search history as "I'm a writer" or "I'm a teacher" astounds me.
@mietze said in Why We Don't Make New Friends Anymore (Or Creepers Do Creepy Things):
Almost all of my chosen family locally ate people I met because of mushing
Probably a smart choice, that.
@mietze I would also recommend finding a local celebrity (or a famous person originally from your area, if possible) and get them to pay attention. Famous people kicking up a stink is how things get less broken.