Some humans are comfortable talking to humans in a different mouth class

What lessons are you learning at church?!

Homeless people are people. If you want to talk to a homeless person, when they ask you for money, decline politely and ask them if they are doing otherwise okay. Offer to take them out for a sandwich. I have done this a few times with various homeless folks in my neighborhood and established about the same level rapport as I have with some of the people who work and/or own businesses in my neighborhood.

Talking to some of these folks can really shed some light on how DC's various systems do and don't work (e.g., making low-income people trek around the city for paperwork makes it more expensive and therefore less likely for them to complete all their paperwork).

After I lost my job a couple of years ago, I was talking to a homeless person with whom I'd spoken a number of times. He asked how I was doing. I mentioned that I'd lost my job but was looking for another. Upon that, he went through his wallet until he found a Walmart gift card. He would not take no for an answer, so I accepted it. When I found a new job, tried to give him a gift in return. He would not accept one, but I took him out to lunch (at Subway) a couple more times than I probably would have otherwise.

We're all just people so just being a normal person can go a long way.

Anonymous wrote:Homeless people are ignored by society in the deepest ways, and also in the most shallow ways. Sometimes part of keeping sanity is being acknowledged as a person. By saying hi and having someone say hi back.

I live in a city with a lot of homeless people, in a neighborhood within that city with a lot of homeless people. If you observe and interact with this population often enough, you learn you can have a casual light conversation with them, or warn them in the morning there are cops around the corner, or compliment their dog, or whatever, and it helps their mental health.

Imagine everyone around you completely ignoring your existence. Imagine they only acknowledge it to make sure not to get too close, or to comment to the person they're walking with that you smell, or that the police should do something about you.

Thank you for sharing this.

Maybe treating them like actual people instead of judging a group of people by one experience you had with an individual years ago.

They are not aliens. You can talk to homeless people. I'm not sure why this is such a challenging concept.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In our case, we are on a first name basis with some of the regulars in our neighborhood because they are delighted by our dogs who now pull to go up to them for pets. We chat and give them some cash sometimes but not always.

Would they be as friendly if you didn’t have history of giving money? Did you give them money when you first encountered them?

I think so. I pass tons of pandhandlers and don't engage with most, certainly don't let my dogs go up to them. It’s been a long time but there had to be something about them initially that made me think they were safe and nice and I could chat with them and let them love on the dogs. They are kind/unobtrusive with other people passing. There's obviously some transactional element and a huge power differential but I like to think they also like that we know them by name, ask how it's going, if they're staying warm/cool, if they need anything etc and treat them normally and not like lepers. Palming a 5 dollar bill here and there and spending a few minutes chatting is no skin off my back and they frequently say we (mostly the dogs!) Have made their day.

So are they sitting in front of your house, or are you encouraging them to loiter in front of someone else’s? By giving them money occasionally, it becomes a profitable spot for them.

I'm curious about this too