I knew a guy in the late 90s who checked himself into jail every winter. He just didn’t have enough money to heat his home and buy food at the same time, and he was disabled and couldn’t land a job in construction no more, so that’s the only thing he found to stay alive.
When the snow started to come down, he’d go to our local minimart with a plastic gun. You know, like the really cheesy ones with a red cap at the muzzle, to make sure nobody would think it was real and gun him down my mistake, and to avoid getting a harsh sentence. He knew the store owner, since it was a small town and everybody knew each other.
He’d say hello, point the gun at him and gently say “Could you please call the police like last year?” The store owner used to try to talk him out of it, but he’d say “Don’t force me to make it real because I don’t wanna.”
Then the sheriff would show up - they knew each other too of course - and he would try to convince him this wasn’t a good idea. And the guy would say “Look, will you book me or not? Because if you don’t, you’ll come back next week to my place but with the coroner this time.”
So the sheriff would book him. And the judge, who knew exactly why he was there at the trial, would sentence him to 5 months - time enough to get out in spring.
After I left town, I heard he kept doing that for many years, until he got tired of being poor and committed suicide.
I lived in Austin, TX and used to know a homeless guy, Walter Dwight Green 1955, back in '98 that spent winters in jail for public intoxication for the same reasons.
Including name, in case anyone else knew him and wants to chat. He was originally from Kentucky.
I was a teenager at the time but I tried to help him as much as I could.
I had to leave town for a year, when I came back, I found out he froze to death in the winter I was gone.
Well that story just got bleaker with each sentence
And then Einstein clapped the Baby Jesus’s ass and all the harpies cried at the wave after wave of baby bald eagles flying over. Amen.
I’m a cynical guy, but the only unrealistic part is the implied community cohesion that resulted in him not getting shot in the face. If you are going to shout into the void, put a little more effort in, even if it might only be for your own benefit.
the only unrealistic part is the implied community cohesion
Those who are old enough and grew up in small town America remember the sense of community. If you’ve never experienced it, I feel sorry for you, whether it’s because you grew up in a big city or because it disappeared for your generation.
But I will say this - echoing what Bamfic said: yeah, you kind of needed to be white. I was and so was the store owner and the dude who was doing the fake holdups. So I’m not deluding myself: I know the sense of community didn’t include everybody necessarily. But it was a thing for sure.
This reminds me of a news story from a few years ago. An elderly man had robbed a bank and only asked for $1. When he was arrested he said he couldn’t afford to get the various medical treatments he needed so he wanted to go to jail so he could get the healthcare they would provide him as a prisoner
Hold up any bank in the United States. Make sure it’s not armed and don’t actually take anything.
You’ll get like five years in the feds. Do 3.5-4 years in a camp. Get universal healthcare and free meals…
America is a third world country.
In older times you could ask any grocrey store and they’d direct you to a place in back where they give away their just-expired food. But now they’re salting their throwaways. ERs are supposed to not turn you away, and if they do it might justify stealing food.
Find out how the police respond to homeless people in your area (fellow transients will know). Some will help you out while others will be glad to assault you knowing no one will care.
Religious kitchens will force you to convert. In the old days, it was easier to play along, but I dont knownwhat the new methods of coercion are. They’re a lot more abusive and bigoted now.
ind out how the police respond to homeless people in your area
Just a reminder that the Supreme Court just recently affirmed that it is legal to punish people for being homeless.
Obviously it depends on the church and area, but I rarely experienced people trying to convert me when I was homeless. Most were trying to help the less fortunate and it ends at that. There was a church who would set up for lunch 3-4 days a week with no strings attached. A pastor came and delivered me MREs at like 2am in the morning one time after getting a call from one of his friends. He never once mentioned church. I’m thankful they were able to keep me alive in that dark time in my life.
That seems like a very cool church. Doing what their bible says.
