So I was spending about 3 freakin hours taking transit to the #yvrmerchantry “tweetup” on Friday. So fun, amazing people. But that’s for another post. Today I want to talk about some stuff from my travels and experiences that day.

I had to manually transcibe this from iPhone to computer (stupid “invalid post ID” error. What the hell does that even mean?)

First of all, the subject of “hobos” (complete with finger apostrophe gestures). I live out on the fringes of Metro Vancouver, so it’s not very common in these parts to see the homeless. Homeless youth in these parts have access to a number of support services. Downtown Vancouver, on the other hand, is a whole other story. 
So I do have a minor messiah complex. Just like some doctors have an internal urge and simply must save every single one their patients even though some of them might not make it, I feel almost “guilty” (it’s not my fault, but that’s the closest description to the feeling) when I see someone in need. I grew up andtravelled frequently in LA, Hong Kong, and Beijing, where the sight of homelessness is the norm (speaking of which, what happened to all of them during the Olympics? Did the Chinese Government round them up?). Buisnessmen in their pressed and tailored suits and their oh so important blackberries and their expensive leather briefcases just walk along ignoring all these people. And yeah, THEY ARE PEOPLE. I find that a lot of idiots fail to comprehend that fact. They CAN’T GET A JOB. And many of them are mentally disturbed, thanks to the BC Governments “community healing” BS.
I nearly got in a fight with some American tourists once because a guy pushed a beggar on the street and swore at him. I nearly beat that mother******s lights out.  First of all, you just DON’T DO THAT. It doesn’t matter who the person is. You don’t push people off the street and swear at them like they aren’t worth anything. Second, SO WHAT if you’re american? You think your white american ass is superior to the chinese? You think that your little pigeon on your passport and your USA Embassy can protect you from getting your ass mauled by the people? Just go read some Chinese history. The Chinese people are VERY creative when it comes to torture and the most painful capital punishment. After you’ve read about those, you’ll think that lethal injection is for pussys.

It is my personal belief (and probably those shared by many others) that all people are born with talent and have potential. Being in a bad situation should have no bearing on what they can or cannot do. Having nearly touched the bottom, I have been there and I don’t want anyone else to ever have to go through the feeling  of waking up every rainy morning to depression and suicidal thoughts and just a general disregard to yourself.

So this is my debate: should I help these people through objects or through money? What are your thoughts?

Personally, I don’t believe that giving someone a $5 McDonalds Happy Meal is considered a warm meal. Oprah’s gift belief applies very well to this situation: If you wouldn’t give it to yourself, why would you give it to anyone else? A warm meal a real restaurant. It is a referral to Guru Nanak’s Free Kitchen  Union Gospel Missions, or other homeless shelter and assistance services. I give money to people because I believe they should have a CHOICE. They are not 6 year old kids. They have the mental capability to decide what to do with the money. They could get food, buy blothes, or find shelter (I wish best of luck to the man outside of Pacific Center when I was leaving for #yvrmerchantry, because he knew what he needed for the hostel and didn’t just ask for money for the sake of it). If they are really hungry, they will get food with this money. An average human being can stay alive for 6 weeks with no food.
A lot of people complain about this view, saying that the  ”bums” will just go get drugs.  SO WHAT? WHO THE HELL CARES? Short of bringing them to the local Best Western and paying for the room, that’s all you can do for the person.  From there, it’s in their hands what they want to do with this resource. If they feel in their hearts that they should seek help, then they will do so. If they can only think of drugs, then that’s their choice.

 Second on the agenda, the subject of ALCOHOL. I know, It’s a dry subject, but hear me out. If you follow my twitter posts (and if you’re reading this, you probably do), you know that I had quite the eventful ride back home from the tweetup. If you don’t (welcome to the family), here’s what happened:

I got off the Skytrain and got on a bus to get back home. A  VERY  drunk 17 year old guy follows a supposedly “mildly” drunk 17 year old girl onto the busthe both sit at the back after she broke up with him. They were engaging in a 20 minute conversation, which is just 20 minutes of the girl telling the guy to “get the F*** off the bus” and “get the F*** away from me”  while the incredibly high pictched voice of the guy screams, cries, and wants to “make things better between us”, much to the amusement of the passengers.  She tried to find an empty seat at the front of the bus and something just snapped. They got in a  fight and one passenger pushes him into the farebox. At this point, the hardass driver picks up thr crying guy and throws him off the bus onto the curb. AS he tries to get back on, the driver kicks him off, runs outside, and restrains him. For 20 minutes, the girl runs into the bus to bitch and runs outside to yell at the guy. 5 police cars and a transit security car pull up and have the guy arrested. the girl runs back on the bus and tells a 13 year old kid from her school to hide her vodka (this kid, incidentally, is on probation for alcohol consumption).

Alright, first of all, is it REALLY necessary to have 5 police cars for one drunk teenager? Did you send the ENTIRE RCMP staff out for this kid? And what’s wrong with kids these days? Is there some street cred for carrying around a bottle of vodka? Is there something incredibly fulfilling about drinking yourself to death? Is it really such a popular thing now, to publically embaress yourself? If you have had a screwed up childhood, then I understand why You would go for alcohol and drugs. I don’t condone it, but I understand. On the other hand, if you are drinking because your friends’ parents are out the liquor cabinet is unlocked, then that is just plain blatant stupidity. And why is EVERYONE suddely in the youth justice system?

Our culture is just far too protective theser days. We should just remove the big fat warning labels on the obvious things and just let Darwin’s Law work itself out.Them drunk stupid children can walk into walls and run each other over and give each other STIs while the rest of us civilized logical people live on.

But hey, that’s just me.