h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

There is a heavy mis-conception about homeless people, not temporary homeless for a night or week or two, but those who've been homeless for a while. I admit than some of them drink, but do you blame them? Being shunned by society for reasons that are often not their fault?

A typical example of mis-conception is a certain chap I know. I won't say where he is because it wouldn't be fair on him. He lives in a bus shelter and has for as long as I can remember, and that's at least 15 years. For most of the time that I knew he was there people ignored him, preferring to pretend that he wasn't there. The local bus company at the time even went as far as building another bus stop a few yards along the road so that people didn't have to wait at the same stop that he lived in. His hair is always long and always matted and his beard is the same. He's always worn the same heavy great coat. In a way he is an archtypical tramp/hobo/homeless person, call it what you will.

I met him while I was working at a fast food drive through. He used to walk through the drive through to order food for himself about once a week. He never came into the shop to the counter.

Now, a few years back a playing field opposite his bus shelter was sold of for new homes to be built on and the new residents decided that they didn't like having this guy living on the streets opposite them, so they complained to the council who then decided to evict him.

Not very nice of them really was it? But that's New, hang on, better not bring politics into this.

Fortunatley this guy had a friend with influence that he didn't even know about. They organised petitions and sit ins and a whole host of other media attention grabbing events. It helped that the local paper was very politically biased opposed to the council.

Very quickly there was a major U-turn about evicting this guy from his bus stop that he'd lived in for many years. And let's face it, it wasn't the councils bus stop to evict him from but rather the bus operators and they didn't mind him being there.

Public support was then and even now, years later, on the side of this chap. You can drive past his bus stop now and recognise it instantly. During the day when he's walking around the city locals drop off supplies for him, food, drink (although he's never had the heart to tell anyone he's tee-total), blankets, clothes, toilet paper, &c.

He chooses to live the way he does. I know this because his friend was my Grandma who ran the city soup kitchen and used to be his teacher. Because of this I also know that he has a degree. He used to also have a very (and I mean VERY) well paid job. And a wife. The reason he lives as he does is because he has very bad clostrophobia. Many years ago he was caught in a house fire in which his wife died.

He's never set foot inside a building again.

I found this out because I took the time and talked to him. Not something I usually do I'll be the first to admit, but he took the time to talk to me.

Sounds like a postive move for your local council.

Most of socity shuns for a very basic reason, everybody relighs on everybody else to have the same agenda, it's false sense of security. and people get hurt.

-- DoctorMO --