Please Don't Feed our Bums

Forums: Human Interest Stories, Human Interest, Homeless, Charity, San Diego
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I gotta get me one of these:

http://media2.myfoxphoenix.com//photo/2010/06/22/bums-062210_tmb0001_20100622082521_320_240.JPG

The Black, a local smoke shop, started making stickers that read "Welcome to Ocean Beach - Please Don't Feed Our Bums" that started appearing in the storefronts about two weeks ago.

The stickers are a rip-off of the National Parks signs, Please Don't Feed the Bears. Some are saying it compares the homeless to wild animals.

"It isn't about the homeless...it's about the bums, the trolls that we deal with day in and day out, they get angry at you if you don't have spare change, they urinate in your doorways, graffiti on the buildings, it's terrible." said Denise Prigmore, an employee at The Black.

She goes on to say , "We sell lots of these stickers now and this has just made it better for us actually...couldn't have bought better publicity to be honest with you."

"The Black is making a profit off this anti-homeless sentiment." said Gormlie.

The store has sold nearly 500 of the "Please Don't Feed Our Bums" stickers.

The stickers not only make the homeless feel unwelcome, but some actually worry about their safety.

"It does put us more as a target because it have sturred [sic] up a lot of interest..." said Jon Baker, who has been homeless for three years.

http://www.10news.com/news/23941674/detail.html

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Type: Discussion • Score: 20 • Views: 32,114 • Replies: 271

@Linkat,

So the satisfaction of sleeping under a roof while her "nemeses" dig through the trash isn't enough for this bitch?

I hope a bum takes a **** in her store.

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@Gargamel,

This year's bum is last year's smoke shop employee...

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@Gargamel,

Gargamel wrote:

So the satisfaction of sleeping under a roof while her "nemeses" dig through the trash isn't enough for this bitch?

I hope a bum takes a **** in her store.

Im not a bum, and I would totally do it.

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Some bums can be quite annoying. I can't see starving them out, but the best solution is to find legal ways to keep them wanting to hang around certain areas where they don't piss on your door step repeatedly.

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@Linkat,

I don't think the sentiment is anti-homeless; it's anti-rewarding panhandling, and anti-drug and alcohol abuse.

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@DrewDad,

I agree - I think the sign is a bit extreme and made out of frustration of what the business owners are dealing with.

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@DrewDad,

I think the storeowner's comments make the sentiment clear, if the sticker isn't as specific. Consider also that it's a parody and that, as such, the idea is to get a laugh--at the expense of people with no homes. Finally, the stickers are just passive-agressive. If you truly had an agenda against "feeding" bums, or against drug and alcohol abuse, you'd be a bit more ambitious.

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@Linkat,

Have you been to Ocean Beach?

A
R
T

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@failures art,

Nope and from the sounds of it, not sure I'd want to. I think I prefer La Jolla or Coronado (at least those are the ones I've seen in the area).

1 Reply

@failures art,

I have. My then-boyfriend lived there and I drove down from Los Angeles every other weekend, he driving up to LA, the other weekends. I liked the place; that was a while ago, though, before the homeless situation exacerbated with various policies over the years. I also lived and worked in La Jolla, a few years before my travels to Ocean Beach.

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@Linkat,

Linkat wrote:

Nope and from the sounds of it, not sure I'd want to. I think I prefer La Jolla or Coronado (at least those are the ones I've seen in the area).

Both are great. OB is still wonderful though. More local spirit. La Jolla is good too.

A
R
T

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@DrewDad,

DrewDad wrote:

I don't think the sentiment is anti-homeless; it's anti-rewarding panhandling, and anti-drug and alcohol abuse.

I agree with you - that was my take on it.

In Vancouver the 'beggars' were so aggressive that City Council had to do something about it. Really, they were quite threatening. If someone wants to opt out of society (getting a job, etc), then that's fine with me, but I can choose to opt out of supporting your choice without being threatened or judged.

I'm not talking about the homeless or the mentally challenged people, either.

I'm talking about young people, often with dogs, who are healthy, look fit, and try to squeegee your windshield, line up in rows on the sidewalk with the legs straight out leaving little room for pedestrians, and heckle you as you ignore them and as you walk by. Assholes, in other words.

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@Mame,

Vancouver in 2004 blew my mind. It got so I just didn't go downtown anymore.

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@Linkat,

I can't begin to express how offensive I find that sticker.

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@Mame,

Kids are often a bunch of assholes too, and if they get any bigger they tend to loiter too. A general nuisance. But I can't get anyone to stop feeding those bastards, while it's easy as hell to get people to find reasons not to feed the homeless.

Please don't feed the kids.

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@edgarblythe,

edgarblythe wrote:

Some bums can be quite annoying.

Some people can be quite annoying.

There, I fixed that for you.

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@Robert Gentel,

I don't really know what your point is, Robert. I was not talking about the homeless. I was talking about society dropouts who expect/want me/us to support their dropping out. If you're healthy and mentally fit, provide for yourself. Why should I support my family and YOU? No, not happening. But if they're not mentally or physically fit, I'm happy to help in whatever way I see fit (food, clothes, furniture, appliances, $$, etc).

To me a BUM is a lazy person who expects/wants me to support their shiftless lifestyle. I say, okay, do what you want, but I do what I want in NOT supporting you.

I'm not a bleeding heart, but I do have one. And nobody should pressure anyone else to do what they wouldn't do normally.

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@Mame,

So then don't give them your money. It's as simple as that. They have the right to occupy public space if they want, just like the rest of us.

1 Reply

@Pangloss,

Duh. I don't give them my money. What's your point?

Yeah, they can be there, but they shouldn't be allowed to chase you down the street, which is what they were doing, until City Council stepped in.

Everybody can do what they want, but why pressure and heckle and threaten?

2 Replies

Please Don't Feed our Bums

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