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

Politicians spending a night sleeping on the street, to raise money/awareness about homelessness.

I'm all for the money is being raised. But when people are sleeping on the streets because they've no other choice, it irks me a bit that wealthy, well-fed people are doing it as some kind of novelty act.

But then I'm a grouchy old sour-puss after all.

(And...it's also duly noted that it's taking place as we start to come within shooting distance of an election. < cynic&gt

(I think I'm probably going to be roped into campaigning in this election, by the way. Half of me wants to, half of me cannae be arsed...)

I know what you mean about it being a gimmick, but if you've done it only once, even in those circumstances, it can open the right person's eyes and turn their ideas of what a terrible thing being homeless and sleeping rough is.

You've got to find somewhere comfortable. You've got find somewhere dry. You've got to find a place inconspicuous enough that you won't get moved on and where you can keep your few belongings secure. If you're lucky you might find a place you can go back to night after night and have a sense of familiarity, almost home. If you sleep in a cardboard city you've got to hope there aren't too many crazies in the vicinity. If you're fortunate and it's not the middle of winter and it's not raining and you've found somewhere relatively quiet and peaceful, you might get a few hours unbroken sleep.

If I had unbounded amounts of money, homeless organisations would be one of the biggest beneficiaries of my charitable donations.

"I'm a grouchy old sour-puss after all. " [KB]

Really? I had you pegged as a good-natured young sour-puss.

under what circumstances are they doing it?
are they sleeping out tonight or do they wait for the weather to improve.
is there somewhere safe and warm for them to go or do they Really have to rough it like real homeless people
do they have there security people round them keeping them cosy... there expensive sleeping bags and lunch boxes? is it real important politicos or just hangers on...

I might have to join you in the cynics corner

Yes! We ought to make the experience more realistic! Take his down sleeping bag and his £350 Rab goose down jacket away, and send a cop along every twenty minutes to kick him in the gonads and move him along!

Here's another one I've seen them doing a lot lately: they get locked in the cells at the police station, and don't get let out until donations reach £5,000 or whatever the target is. I keep pleading with people to ignore the appeal, and donate the money straight to the charity instead - that way money is still raised for a good cause, but we get to keep them locked up into the bargain!

"money is still raised for a good cause, but we get to keep them locked up into the bargain!" ]KB]

Locked up, yes, but is there any way to get them to stop saying the stupid things that so many of them say?

Well, there is - stop electing those ones - but people will persist in doing it.

Do they even get a choice? In some places, politicians run unopposed.

When I become Dictator, I'll put an end to that.

To be honest, while I understand why people say 'Politicians are all the same', it is an attitude that does more harm than good. There are differences, and they are often important differences. And the only real way to try and make sure that politicians act as public servants is for the public to keep an eye on them, and breathe down their necks a bit. As someone famously once said, "politics is too important to be left to politicians".

So perhaps that makes me a cynic who abhors cynicism.

[Looks for a class in breathing down the necks of politicians. ]

Don't take that expression too literally.

I'd rather save my breath to warm my cold fingers anyway.