4 ms·

I had described nearly this exact idea to my wife while walking around downtown Seattle. The only difference was I was trying to figure out a way to give the p

I had described nearly this exact idea to my wife while walking around downtown Seattle. The only difference was I was trying to figure out a way to give the phones away for free also. It would be fantastic if doing tasks on a phone was a better use of time than begging on a street. I hope this works out.

hugh3 16y ago
I tend to think that anyone sufficiently intelligent, motivated and sane to be performing tasks for money is unlikely to be found begging on the streets of Seattle. To be truly, homelessly poor in America you pretty much have to have something seriously wrong with you -- whatever it is, it's likely to make you a pretty damn unreliable worker. But hey, I'm sure they'd be willing to take the free phones.
- HeyLaughingBoy 16y ago
  You'd be surprised: I sure was. I got into a long conversation with a homeless guy outside 4th Avenue records (I think that's what it's called? been a while) in Manhattan a long time ago. It turns out that he was laid off from a programming job in a financial firm (this took place in the mid 90's) and he claimed to make over $900/day panhandling. Of course I didn't believe the programming thing, but he answered all my technical questions well enough that either he was one really well read homeless person, or he was telling the truth! However, based on what I saw, I could believe he was making hundreds of $$ per day. Then again, maybe he was laid off because he just couldn't hold down a job, I dunno!
  - hga 16y ago
    We can be pretty sure he's the exception rather than the rule; check out the statistics (I can dig them up if you wish), but as I remember the vast plurality if not the majority of the homeless are the mentally ill who would have been in institutions prior to the misguided deinstitutionalization effort that didn't provide them with alternatives that worked. Once you separate out the "if a Republican is present there are homeless, if a Democrat they disappear" propaganda, there's quite a bit of serious research on this subject. I certainly know that the vast majority of homeless I encountered on the streets of the Cambridge, MA area in the early to mid-80s were clearly mentally ill, sometimes severely so (e.g. frank schizophrenia).

hugh3 16y ago

I tend to think that anyone sufficiently intelligent, motivated and sane to be performing tasks for money is unlikely to be found begging on the streets of Seattle. To be truly, homelessly poor in America you pretty much have to have something seriously wrong with you -- whatever it is, it's likely to make you a pretty damn unreliable worker. But hey, I'm sure they'd be willing to take the free phones.

HeyLaughingBoy 16y ago
You'd be surprised: I sure was. I got into a long conversation with a homeless guy outside 4th Avenue records (I think that's what it's called? been a while) in Manhattan a long time ago. It turns out that he was laid off from a programming job in a financial firm (this took place in the mid 90's) and he claimed to make over $900/day panhandling. Of course I didn't believe the programming thing, but he answered all my technical questions well enough that either he was one really well read homeless person, or he was telling the truth! However, based on what I saw, I could believe he was making hundreds of $$ per day. Then again, maybe he was laid off because he just couldn't hold down a job, I dunno!
- hga 16y ago
  We can be pretty sure he's the exception rather than the rule; check out the statistics (I can dig them up if you wish), but as I remember the vast plurality if not the majority of the homeless are the mentally ill who would have been in institutions prior to the misguided deinstitutionalization effort that didn't provide them with alternatives that worked. Once you separate out the "if a Republican is present there are homeless, if a Democrat they disappear" propaganda, there's quite a bit of serious research on this subject. I certainly know that the vast majority of homeless I encountered on the streets of the Cambridge, MA area in the early to mid-80s were clearly mentally ill, sometimes severely so (e.g. frank schizophrenia).