Anybody noticing a change like this?

[harun]

A while back my father-in-law and I went to a local train station to pick up my wife. Not long after pulling in to the parking lot someone came up to my window. The guy explained how he doesn't use drugs or alcohol and that he was a former marine. Long story short he was asking for money. We didn't have any but after picking up my wife she had some cash and we saw him as we were leaving and helped him out. A couple days ago I was in a parking lot while my wife was shopping and the same thing happened. Guy gave a long story and I tried to help him. In many of the routes I travel near the city (Philadelphia) we are seeing more and more people who look to be middle class professionals on the streets either asking for money or holding signs explaining their situations. Last night while leaving work, which is in a very affluent area, a middle aged white guy was selling water to the people leaving to get on the highway. He had a large sign on him that said "Father of 2, unemployed, selling water." Many people were buying some water or just giving him some help.

Talking to my neighbor today while walking the dog she said about a week back she was taking her dog for a walk in a park nearby. She saw someone laying down by the canal on what appeared to be lawn chair cushion's. She didn't see him moving and was afraid he was hurt. She got closer and asked if he was OK. She said he was a younger white guy probably mid 30's, good looking. He lifted his head up and said "Leave me the fuck alone lady."

She was startled by this as was the dog so she left and went home. A day or two later the guy walked to the train tracks nearby and in front of a train. Killing himself. My neighbor's friend had an arm land in her yard.

(Note: I wanted to add that I lived in Las Vegas for five years and have seen every scam in the book to try and get a couple dollars out of someone. This seems very different than that, which is why it caught my attention)

It just seems the incidence of those in dire straights is greatly on the rise. Was wondering if DU'rs were seeing any of the same where they are? Please share your experiences if you have had any.

[monmouth]

1. The crime rate here where I live in Florida is going above and beyond

what is the usual. Many murders, break ins, etc. Anger, frustration just taking over in many quarters..

[Donnachaidh]

2. my DH is asked for money EVERY day

EVERY single day. He says it's getting worse. We've also seen people asking for money to put gas in their cars, at quite a few of the local gas stations.

We see more people literally carrying their possessions along the main drags in our area. ALL sort of people.

Things ARE getting worse. But we have a government that is ignoring it, as well as the media.

[harun]

16. Yah about every other time at the gas staion I am getting asked for money as well.

[Stuart G]

3. more to come...sadly, much more begging for help will come..nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Yep, very much so

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

5. yes, it is indeed getting worse

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hud-reports-57-percent-increase-in-rural-suburban-americans-using-shelters-in-recent-years/2011/06/14/AGLrNzUH_story.html

[Scuba]

6. Thirty years of Reaganomics coming home to roost. n/t

[butterfly77]

7. Yes and..

its didn't just started happening. Its just happening to people who never paid attention or chose to ignore,or now its happening to the special people...

[eridani]

8. South of Seattle, there is a very busy interchange at Rte 509 and Rte 518--

--with a long light and a left turn onto 581. Since the driver is near the shoulder at a left turn, this spot is highly prized by panhandlers. I get a rough handle on the real economy by noting how much of the time it is occupied when I pass by. In 1998 and 2005 there were big dropoffs. Right now, it's as bad as I've ever seen it.

[LiberalEsto]

9. The young ones have no hope

My younger daughter is 24 and feels like she has no options at all except to live with us and keep searching for work. Many of her friends feel similarly trapped. They can't envision any kind of future for themselves that involves owning a house some day, or raising kids., or having a stable career.

[Coyote_Bandit]

10. And those 50+ unemployed folks

feel like they have been forced into early retirement.

[LiberalEsto]

24. I'm one of them

59, out of work for two years, seven months.

[Coyote_Bandit]

31. .

:hug:

Me too.

For an even longer period of time.

I do what I can to earn a few bucks from time to time. The desk that resides in the corner of a spare bedroom represents job creation - even though it does n ot generate enough income to cover my most basic living expenses.

[DeSwiss]

11. This is what happens when HOPE changes into HOPELESSNESS. - K&R n/t

[Cleita]

12. Yes, I see ordinary white people, some women with

children standing on drives leading to shopping centers holding signs that say some version of "Desperate, Please Help!"

[TransitJohn]

15. Ordinary white people?

:wtf:

[Cleita]

17. Well, what would you call them, purple people? n/t

[TransitJohn]

19. People.

I don't feel the need to point out race, but that's just me. Your post strikes me as the sort of rhetoric used by people to criticize Obama as the other.

[Cleita]

23. Well, you misunderstood.

The fact is that middle class or working class white people are the last to feel the effects of a recession. It's just factual. Minorities and the underclasses are the first to suffer when economic hard times hit. When it starts hitting white middle class and working class people and they become jobless, homeless and desperate through no fault of their own, then we know we are entering a depression and that things are not right in America no matter what the bobbing heads try to tell you. So I did need to point out race. When you see it hitting those people who ordinarily aren't affected by economic downturns, then we are in real trouble.

[Occulus]

28. .

:wow: :wow: :wow:

[Cleita]

29. You have a problem with reality?

The fact is that in the racist states of America, minorities will be the first to suffer economic downturns. It's not right but it's a fact. I suppose you missed seeing in the Repub debate the other night, all those white men up there hoping to be President, represent business interests not those of minorities, not those of women and not those of working class people but of the corporate infrastructure still largely owned and operated by well-fed white men for the benefit of well-fed white men. It may not be politically correct to state these things but it is the truth.

[bluesmail]

13. Oh yeah, more and more out there. It's becoming difficult to distinguish

from the truly needy and the meth heads. Honestly. Sad.

[Jack Sprat]

14. This is the result of years of turning back

against the New Deal principles of our fathers' generations. They call it all socialism now. If that's so, our parents and grandparents were avid socialists and for good reason too. I know I'm a proud socialist and I guess, at heart, I have always been.

[handmade34]

25. ...

[1monster]

18. Reminds me of

Jobless New Yorkers selling apples on the pavement, Great Depression, New York, USA, 1930.



And today's equivalent

[sad sally]

20. Question is, how can this terrible turn of human existence be reversed?

"Fear is a hammer and when the people are beaten finally to the conviction that their existence hangs by a frayed thread, they will be led where they need to go.
Which is where?
To a responsible future in a properly managed world.
Responsible future?
The people elect mostly fools and frauds. When the politicians make policy that leads this country toward the needed reconstruction of its systems, they can be supported, but when they make bad policy, they must be sabotaged at every turn, from within.
Just wait, 'til oh say the threat of an asteroid impact (or evil terrorist) builds in the years ahead. You would see the thinkable sacrifices quickly embraced by the people as we unite the Planet to establish a massive asteroid-deflection system in deep space (or bomb another country or assassinate a terrorist with no legal process necessary).
Is there an approaching asteroid?
There could be..."

Dean Koontz
Good Guys

[harun]

27. Not a lot of hopeful answers to that question right now.

When one sees the majority of the politicians corrupted and the majority of people clueless as to the corruption... not a lot of options.

[scheming daemons]

21. "She was startled by this as was the dog "

Really?

The dog was startled by a guy saying "leave me the fuck alone"?


Sorry... story sounds like it's made up.

[harun]

26. Dog's only about 8 months old. A boxer. She is a real sweet hyper dog

and the tone of the voice must have startled her.

I walked my Shit-zu by their yard a few days ago and the boxer actually hid behind a bush as my dog approached. She is used to him now though.

[bigwillq]

22. Man paid for most of his purchase today with coins

at a box store. Purchase was around $10.

Maybe he just likes coins. Maybe not.

[Mojorabbit]

30. Yes, we were at the Publix supermarket

a few months ago. We pulled in to the parking lot and a neatly dressed man came up to us and said he lived nearby and named the street and that he had been laid off for a long time without finding work and could he please wash our windshield for a few bucks.

[harun]

32. Seems to be the common thing they say. They mention the streets they

are from and things about the area to show they are not lying I guess. Have had the same thing happen numerous times.