Homeless people

Nah you didn't offend me.

How did you get out of the street scenario? (Sorry I am intrigued now)

Ah you're fine. My mum found out that he actually did abuse me and she "let" me back in to the house. It wasn't ideal, but far more ideal than people throwing eaten KFC at you and calling you a skank! But from there I went and got in to college and I'm now at uni doing social work to help others

Sounds like you had it pretty hard. At least your OK now though.
Well done for making something of yourself

My views towards the homeless may be changing slightly

Thanks and I've met people who have had it harder so =/

Ah good, I don't want to make people run out there with cookies and blankets and say come back to my house but just to understand that it's not all black and white

I walk straight past them and give an apologetic smile. As if to say, yeah I can see you're in the gutter, and i'm perfectly fine but i'm not going to help you anyway.

I know that's horrible, but charity starts at home, and alot of homeless people have secret money stashed away. Or they could be druggies/alcoholics. I seen someone homeless once who had a cap in front of him with coppers in. I saw him dig in his back pocket and accidentally pull out a few notes :/ oh and he was also kitted out in designer clothes. Mmmmhmmm.

You've succeeded. xD

I walk towards them, fish around in my pocket pretending to be looking for change, then take out an empty fist and walk away. The look of crushed hope on their faces cracks me up every time. Occasionally I take out my home keys and wave it around them, just for the extra amusement.

oh, by a handout i meant you physically mosey upto a street corner with food/clothing supplies, if you do it on the regular the homeless just come to you

yeah, there is a big stigma surrounding them, whether they are substance abusers or not (i'm told that they apparently are, in cambridge anyway)

haha you're arguing that addiction is rational which it is..to their drug-addled brain. i would want to at least attempt to give them supplies in the form of food etc. rather than money

After seeing an advert for that show on BBC3 (How not to live your life?) I figured I should ask: anyone ever fancied a homeless person?

I was thrown out of my house when I'd just turned 17 and was put on the homeless list but was never offered any accommodation. I was taken into Women's Aid and then I rented a room in a shared house after I'd been given special consideration by the council (in order to receive income support & housing benefit). I did my A Levels and I'm now in my second year of University (took myself off income support just after I finished A Levels).

So whilst I had a lot of help to find my way, it goes to show that there are plenty of homeless people who aren't drug addicts or alcoholics

I walk straight past them and give an apologetic smile. As if to say, yeah I can see you're in the gutter, and i'm perfectly fine but i'm not going to help you anyway.

I know that's horrible, but charity starts at home, and alot of homeless people have secret money stashed away. Or they could be druggies/alcoholics. I seen someone homeless once who had a cap in front of him with coppers in. I saw him dig in his back pocket and accidentally pull out a few notes :/ oh and he was also kitted out in designer clothes. Mmmmhmmm.

You are an inspiration to the others, well done. Also, why did you get kicked out?

I was thrown out because my parent didn't like my boyfriend and I refused to dump him. There was no reason for her to dislike him so I was thrown out for no reason really. I haven't been back for over 3 years.

Designer clothes and a few notes doesn't mean you're not genuinely homeless* - besides, if his hat was full of notes no one would give him any money in the first place! Of course, we don't know where he's getting the notes from, but my bet is that he's a Big Issue seller - you can make a lot of money from selling the Big Issue if you do it with the right attitude! A lot of Big Issue sellers beg outside of "working" hours, which is fine as long as they don't wear Big Issue tabards whilst doing it or sell the Issue at the same time.

*I know a girl who spent all her Big Issue earnings on nice clothes and nice haircuts - she didn't have much else going for her, but at least she was proud of her appearance.

That's pretty harsh.. Any hope of reconciliation?