About three years ago while I was waiting for a train, of course a couple of guys had into an argument right on the train platform. One bet the other that he could cross all four train tracks in the train station safety. They shook
hands on it and one of the men jumped off the elevated platform and ran across the first two tracks before trying to climb over the guard fence between the two center tracks. Before he could succeed, he had gotten struck by an oncoming Amtrak train right in front of the
planform I was waiting on. His body was knocked an unmeasurable distance.
EMT came and he was rushed to the hospital.
I had found out the following day that he had lifesaving surgery and survived. I saw him a few days later and the only thing he could say to me is, “My friend never paid me on the bet”.
only losing the bottom part of one leg. He was a local guy and I used to run into him a lot. One wouldn’t believe what he is doing now with his new lease on life.
He is panhandling. Sometimes he tells others of being a driver who was in a car accident. Sometimes he is a military veteran, who lost his leg in the war. Sometimes he tells others of being a shooting victim of the police in
a crime he did not commit. Sometimes he tells of being a former construction worker who was almost killed in a scaffolding accident.
Coincidently, I get to run into him every week now when I am on my way through the area where he panhandles on my own business.
Among the donors I notice, I saw a mother give him a lot of cash in front of her kids. I heard her say to her kids, “I hope you children both learn to grow up and give things to others without thinking.”
One might think, “well, if she wants to give her money away, it’s her choice” But what about my tax money? He successfully sued the government to pay for all his surgical and medical expenses. He collects SSI and Medicaid, and brags about to people like me who don’t give to him. He carries an EBT card issued by the Food Stamp office.
On another instance, about seven years back, my daughter’s oldest uncle on her mother’s side was an executive vice-president of a large cooperation with a lot of prestige. He was married with six kids. His wife (a
financial counselor) and him made a combined income of over a half a million dollars annually. This is what he did.
He sold the very large mansion that they lived in while his wife and kids was staying with her family. He took his person belongings, and put it into a storage unit where a vault that he had bought had been stored, with all the money he had in the bank. He sold his house, his furniture, cars and his wife’s personal property.
Instead searching for an apartment, he checked into a New York City shelter. Eventually, he was placed in an SRO (single room occupancy) where he moved his
personal belongings. He paid for an uncontested divorce, voluntarily relinquishing all custody of his kids to his now ex-wife as a way to speed up the process.
Several of us who knew him have periodically
encountered with him on the subway platforms, where he would be “playing” a one-string violin to recorded music. One time, I pulled the plug of the amplifier out of
the charger, and all you could hear was the screeching coming from his bow rubbing against the one-string violin. Eventually he started a small group of people doing that.
And what about my lifestyle? People who give to panhandlers without thinking attract more panhandlers, affecting the safety and quality of life for people like me, who can’t afford and don’t have the means to move to a better environment.
Nowadays, this is a lot more common than you would ever think. But what about the people who really are homeless? What about the people who really are veterans? What about the people who really are disabled beyond their circumstances? Won’t this upstage their getting help?
This is why the victimhood movement is so popular and why the government is getting so big. People just answer with excuses like “the system isn’t perfect” or, “this is a free country”. There are just way too many holes in the legal system. Things like this are part of the driving force to socialism.
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