Skip to main content

Posts

An Approach by a Homeless Man - A surprising outcome

This blog is about street people who ask me for money.  It is also used as an opportunity for me to teach someone what to say when they're approached by a person asking for money.  But what happens when a person approaches you and you think they're going to ask for money because they have a certain look, but then they don't ask for money?  That happened today, and it is a great story.  It's a story that I would not want to miss writing down. This morning I took one of my residents to a big box store.  He needed new socks and underwear.  He also needed some jean pants, but after looking at jeans for a while, he decided that he didn't want to spend the money on it.  This guy had been working for the past few weeks at a company in town, and he told me he really enjoys his work.  He has received his first paycheck on a pay card which is kind of like a debit card.  The company pays him through that card so they don't have to produce an actual check.  After going to
Recent posts

Needing gas at a gas station and later while riding the Lextran bus

I thought that by starting this blog I would realize how often I was asked for money.  I originally believed that I got asked for money all the time.  As it turns out, I don't.  Today I was asked for money, and from looking at this blog, I realize that I was last asked for money in early October.  I guess I should revise my time scale.   This morning I took one of the residents of Potters House to the Probation & Parole (P&P) Office on Mercer St.  I took him there in the Potters House van.  On the way there, the resident told me that he had never in his life been to a meeting with a parole officer.  When I asked him if he had ever been on Mercer Road, he told me that he hadn't.  He said he also hadn't been on a city bus.  I told him that later on I would teach him to ride a bus.    I talked to him about how to address the officer.  Earlier this morning I showed him the picture of the officer from the listing of officers from P&P that was sent to me earlie

October 11, 2019 - First thing in the morning

my favorite picture of a beggar This morning I stopped for gas on the way to work.  It was at my favorite gas station on the corner of Loudon and North Broad.  As I was pumping my gas, I saw out of the corner of my eye a man in a camouflage jacket approach the man pumping his gas at the pump next to mine.  I heard him say that he was a veteran.  I knew the guy would say no, and I also knew I was next. When the guy approached my car, he said something about his truck being parked near downtown, and he said "they sent me to a church, but the church is locked."  He said something about where he lived being near Natural Bridge, and he wanted to know if I could give him $7. I told him my standard answer, "I never carry cash."  I then asked him who "THEY" were.  He said the VA.  I told him he should go back to the VA, but he told me they wouldn't help him with the truck since the truck is in his dad's name.  Then he asked again.  "Wou

Opening Blog about Begging - why they at least deserve our eye contact.

It seems I get asked for money everyday by someone in the area where I work.  On October 9, I was asked by three people for money.  It seems that the first time was downtown Lexington, but the second time was by a couple who had showed up in the parking lot of where I work.  They told me that they were on their way out of town the following day and even had bus tickets, but they didn't have food for the night.  I told them my standard answer, "I'm sorry, I never carry cash."  Just after they asked this question, a woman was running down the street high on something, and she was kind of darting in and out of traffic.  The man who had asked for money from me attempted to help get her out of the street since cars were zooming by, but I wouldn't allow him to go near her.  I told him that she could snap if he touched her, and she could possibly hurt him since she was high. At that time the police were called to try to get her help.  She really could have gotten k