Poll: You see a poor man slip a can of food into his jacket....

[Tzen]

What do you do?

Tzen

 

[nateholtrop]

hey man put that back b4 i bust your ass.

Nate

 

[KameLeon]

put it back, m#therf#cker! :|

 

[Ulfwald]

Call the store manager, let him decide if the guy goes to jail or not. There are too many charities giving away food.

 

[Tzen]

Yeah, and have any of you ever been in a position where you needed aid from those charitable organizations that you seem to think are magically able to just feed every homeless man, woman, and child in the country? I bet you're the kind of people that feel good when you drop a couple bucks into that Salvation Army bucket. Bah.

Tzen

 

[RaDragon]

ok, so what would *you* do, Tzen -- just because the guy is poor doesn't mean he can steal.

if i saw a man slip a can of food into his jacket, i'd tell him that if he returns it, i'll buy him a whole cart of groceries!

 

[Pocatello]

Report it. Stealing is stealing, no matter how small. If he's hungry, there are places that serve free meal for the homeless. I do what I can to keep these places stock with food by donating once a month even I don't have a lot of money.

 

[KameLeon]

When answering your question, The only thing I thought is that It is stealing. It doesn't matter to me who the person is, whether homeless, a child or whatever.. Don't start getting to any conclusions!! You never indicated in your post that we'll be criticized for our opinions, or they'll matter. It was just a simple question I answered.. Just because He's poor, it doesn't make stealing right.

 

[Elledan]

I would only realize that not that man is wrong, but something else is screwed up and needs to be fixed.

Something like society.

 

[loudog9999]

i would not tell anyone/as long he was stealing food and not a bottle of vodka or something

 

[divinemartyr]

This reminds me. We have people here in Dallas (and in other cities I assume as well, I've just seen a lot more of it here) who stand on corners and hold up cardboard signs trying to get money. These people really make a good living. I saw one of them driving a brand new Pontiac Sunfire one day, I can't even afford a brand new car like this! I don't give them any money, there are programs such as welfare to help these people out.

I'd turn the person in to whatever store personnel was around.

dm

 

[Tzen]

I don't know, I guess it just blows my mind how people are so quick to judge others under circumstances they only hear about from their sugar-coated, fairytale lives. Then again, I know nothing about your lives.

Tzen the Hypocrite

 

[Tzen]

divinemartyr, have you ever had to use welfare?

Tzen

 

[dcdomain]

Hehehe Tzen,

In a black and white world, I would report the culprit to the proper authorities. However, that type of world does not exist. We are all humans and because of the damn specialization of our race, many people have been left behind but kept sustained enough to live their dreadful lives. In the less than modern age, these people would have died out long ago if they were not able to survive on their own. Survival of the fittest as they say. That may have been true back then, today, there are many factors that could have contributed to that persons current condition.

Being the social beings that we are, you'll find plenty of different answers here in the board. I live a good life, and wouldn't really stretch my wallet and time for me to buy the man some food and look for a job for him. But then again, that's what I say I would do, sitting on my butt in front of this computer. In reality, it would really depend on my mood at the time. If I had had a bad day or were in a rush, I wouldn't give it a second thought and just walk past the man, let the authorities do their job. If I were in a good mood, and time was waiting for me, I'd go do what I stated above. In some cases, if I were in a bad enough mood, I might even try to screw the person over and report them...

 

[Ronstang]

If you tell on the guy and he does get arrested then he is going to get 3 squares a day on your tax dollar....keep your mouth shut!

 

[divinemartyr]

<< divinemartyr, have you ever had to use welfare? >>



No, however, welfare is SUPPOSED to be a temporary solution. There are also other programs which, when used in conjunction with welfare, are definitely enough to SURVIVE until you get a job, get on your feet, and stop buying drugs.

Section 8 housing costs like $25 a MONTH. Combine this with $4 a day to ride the bus, $75/week in groceries (for good food), renters insurance for $11 monthly, $25/month for a phone, $60/month for minimal electricity use (my bill was lower than this running a computer and other things), $10/month for water (less if your apt. complex pays for it), and let's say you go out once a month for $50. You have expenses of about $550 a month for food, transportation, water, electricity, insurance to protect what you do have, and even an AMMENITY, a phone!

Welfare will pay you more than this monthly, unemployment will pay you up to $268 WEEKLY, and if you have children you can pull off another $500+ monthly from social security.

No I haven't been on welfare, but is it adequate? More than adequate, not to mention, it's a temporary solution it isn't MEANT to be something people take advantage of and live their entire lives on. Unfortunately we have social parasites who intend to do nothing but this their entire lives.

I, like many people on these forums, have a job I go to daily, pay my taxes, and enjoy a few of the finer things in life because I choose to.

When I see someone on the streets who can afford a brand new car nicer than the one I'm driving, and their only source of income is charitable 'gifts' people give them as they drive along, am I upset? A little bit, these people are making tax free money and not paying a dime on it. I pay nearly 30% of every one of my checks to taxes, and another 8.25% on every purchase I make, and even more when I buy gas, even more if I buy cigarettes, even more if I buy any alcohol, and yet even more if get stopped for driving 10 miles over the speed limit because I was late going to my JOB!

Anyhow, I'm getting carried away, I could go on but this is just a small example of why working people are not always the most valued in the common society.

dm

 

[mjh0o]

<< You see a poor man slip a can of food into his jacket >>



Id yell PUT THAT FOOD BACK YOU DIRTY B@ST@RD
then kick him to the floor no really i wouldnt care id probly give him a dollar or something

 

[Whitedog]

neither.

I would pay for it.

 

[Emulex]

i give/buy food for those homeless folks. Count your blessings you're not like him/her, you may be some day..

also the dude near georgia tech 10/14th street exit who has the sign that says &quot;need money for beer&quot;.

that rocks.

 

[Kilgor]

Let him go it's his chance to take. The store isn't paying me to be security for them.

 

[Balt]

Tzen, let us suppose this:

1) There is this hard working mother who barely makes enough to get buy groceries for herself and her children.

2) Suddenly this grocery store is losing a LOT of money because of thieves.

3) Said grocery store raises prices because they are in red numbers because of thieves.

4) Mother can no longer afford food.

Would that be more fair in your eyes?

 

[cipher00]

I'm with Kilgor. What others do that doesn't directly affect me is none of my affair. And before someone notes that because of shoplifting prices rise, etc., I'll treat that as an indirect effect, which we are all subject to in countably infinite ways.

 

[Lucky]

&quot;No I haven't been on welfare, but is it adequate? More than adequate, not to mention, it's a temporary solution it isn't MEANT to be something people take advantage of and live their entire lives on&quot;


Not exactly. While it is a temporary solution (Duh, its named Temporary Aaid to Needy Families), its not really adequate. I dont what what section 8 housing is, but where I've lived (In both rural and large cities), there is no &quot;section 8&quot; housing for 25 bucks a month. I would bet most places you are lucky to find a place for $300 a month, and thats not even touching the larger metro areas.

You are also forgetting that not everywhere in the country has a nice convienent bus transit system, or for that matter, ANY form of public transportation. Sure, you might have em in chicago, NY, LA, whatever, but in most places, especially rurual and smaller cities, they just arent there. Even in bigger cities the service to poorer communities is crap compared the rest of the city in most cases.

Add in the cost of natural gas for heating-and your really stretching that budget considering gas is extremely expensive now.

Oh, and that person on welfare doesnt need anything to wear either, do they? Or basic hygiene supplies. I mean cmon, we want them to smell right?

Regardless of the fact that welfare, even when combined with other programs, is NOT adequate, you press other issues that border on misconceptions.

Pick up a good current textbook on social problems, and you will see that your perception of welfare recipients as lazy slobs out to eat your taxes away is wrong. MOST (certainly not all!) people on the rolls do NOT abuse it. Federal law limits TANF to 3 years-you wont be on it for life, thats for sure. Add to that fact that you lose your benefits when you even start drawing in enough money to start yourself out on a track to savings, and you will see that its not as cushy as it seems.

Mind you, I dont enjoy me and my family paying nearly 37% in federal taxes, and on top of that, state, local, soc. security, etc....but I'll tell you that even if its made out to seem easy, and that these people are just all scumsuckers of the earth, they arent, and it sure as hell aint easy. nor is welfare adequate. (Of course, perhaps its not intended to be, but the nature of the system is to allow those on the rolls to &quot;graduate&quot; to a job with a little safety net-and that isnt the case as its setup now.)

 

[AndrewR]

I'm with Whitedog: I'd buy it for him and possibly some other food.

 

[dabuddha]

not sure how this turned into a discussion about welfare but as for my 2 cents, I would report the theft to the store manager and let him make the decision. I don't buy the &quot;I have no money so I have to steal&quot; crap. They can easily get a job and make a decent living. Every time I've seen someone begging on the street for money, I've always offered them a job and they always ignore me and go on to the next person. Not one has ever wanted to take a job. I don't mind donating money to other charities but i don't give money to beggars.