Out of gas in Murray KY on way to AZ

beemerphile1 I have not owned any old BMW's for 10 years now. I joined MyFitnessPal to learn more about how to eat low carb high fat for pain management since it is a lot of people there eating LCHF. Cutting out sugars and all grains knocked out the pain without meds in just 30 days over a year ago and my health is better than in the past 20 years.

On the MH owner asking for gas at WM on late Christmas eve there is no way to know the facts but if it was me I sure would not want to be parked at WM while they were closed for 36 hours. There was no red flags that jumped out at me and he seemed to be touched that others were willing to help him.

As it turned out the guy was down to 5-8 gallons of gas and there was no way I would not have left WM on Christmas Eve if it had been me with 1600 miles to go. Two tanks of gas should have got him much closer to home and hopefully he made it all of the way.

There was no way I would have given the man $100 in cash and drove off. He asked for gas and I confirmed that was a true need. I only gave him the $60 in case after he was all gassed up so with the 15 gallons in jugs he would be able to do one more fill up.

I just hope I never become so harden that I refuse to help others when I sense they are in real need. I find when I get to interview someone for 20+ minutes if they are crooks they will say about anything to get away from my questions. Actually after this guy learned I had lived in Spain when in the Navy he started to open up more even though it was in Spanish. He never asked once for cash and he knew he could get some food at WM with the $25 WM card.

Again who knows his heart but I knew mine. :)

Gale Hawkins wrote:
IndyCamp it seems the USA continues to become more self-absorbed.

Having lived in a country were I did not speak the native language perhaps makes me more aware of that struggle...

You did a good thing. I have helped travelers in the past and don't know for sure what I would do in this case because I wasn't there for the interaction.

I know that I don't give to the professional street corner beggars around where I work. The mission is only two blocks away and open to all. I give to the mission regularly, it is up to the beggars whether or not they use the services the mission offers.

BTW, I see you posting occasionally on MFP.

IndyCamp it seems the USA continues to become more self-absorbed.

Having lived in a country were I did not speak the native language perhaps makes me more aware of that struggle. This guy asking for gas with a red gas can sitting beside the MH got my attention when I pulled it. I had a 72 year old gentleman with me who grew up without hearing, speaking or ever going to school. He grew up in my community and when his mom pasted over 20 years ago he was going to become a ward of the state.

Six months before his mom passed she said told me she was worried about Ted and I told her he was fine that I had just taken him to the dentist. She said she was talking about what would happen to Ted after she died. Not expecting her to die any time soon I said I would make sure someone takes care of Ted. To keep my commitment to a concerned mom I became his full legal guardian.

When we came out of WM I stopped to talk with the guy asking for gas but not asking for money. I saw the tires on the rear were new so I knew that cost some money. When I was pumping the 55 gallons of gas he told me he flew from Europe immigrating to the USA three years ago but still had no green card so making money was difficult especially Spanish being his only real language. It was my guess that he had been out working construction since he did not have a green card.

Long ago I decided I was OK with be taken advantage of but never wanted to be the one doing the taking advantage of another.

Since the guy left Murray with 60 more gallons of gas than he arrived with and $65 in cash and a $25 WM card that I knew about hopefully he got to Phoenix yesterday since he left out Christmas morning and had gas to drive all day while the WM's were closed.

seaeagle2 wrote:
Here in the Seattle area, where panhandling is prolific, they actually have to work shifts at busy off ramps, there will be a group of 6 or 8 sitting out of sight, one holds the sign for a while then they spell each other. They did a study and found that sadly, you can't really tell an individuals circumstances. Some are scammers, making a fairly good income, some are battling drug and alcohol issues, some are mentally ill, some are just plain fringe individuals (drifters), but sadly in most all cases, just giving money doesn't really solve anything, it just enables them to continue.

Do you remember the news story a couple years ago, about the mother that liked to figure out where her son and daughter were pan-handling? So she could hold up her sign -not- to give them money for drugs?

Don't need to never mind. No one said kill them or hurt them or ban them. Everyone gave opinions gained from various experiences. If you gave them all your money I wouldn't think you are disgusting or crazy. I would just think that your dollars would do better in other ways.

Never mind.

IndyCamp wrote:

rockhillmanor wrote:
Pretty simple don't need statistics. The shelters do not allow drugs or alcohol. The true homeless down on their luck DO utilize the shelters and are NOT on the street at night.....the remainder are, I.E. the ones that will not give up their drugs/alcohol for the night for a warm bed to sleep in.

How do you define "true homeless" or "down on their luck?"

The ones that seek shelter and take advantage of ALL that is offered by the government, churches,etc. There are more shelters than there are homeless.

AND there are many organizations that GO OUT and SEEK and help the less stable people find shelter. You will not find the ones that want to help themselves out in the streets. Stealing money to support their habit and funding the dealers.

The ones that don't want to give up their drugs to abide by shelter rules for a warm place to sleep and get help, well those are the ones still on the streets. :(

Been there done that. Spend many of my hours on this earth donating my time and money to help people down on their luck. I see it first hand.

rockhillmanor wrote:
Pretty simple don't need statistics. The shelters do not allow drugs or alcohol. The true homeless down on their luck DO utilize the shelters and are NOT on the street at night.....the remainder are, I.E. the ones that will not give up their drugs/alcohol for the night for a warm bed to sleep in.

How do you define "true homeless" or "down on their luck?"

Also, you did not address the fact that homeless Americans are 4-5 times more likely to suffer from mental illness than the regular population. As I posted earlier, telling many of them to "go seek out the available resources" is often no different than me telling you to rebuild an engine by reading a comic book.

Are you a Christian?

If so, what would Jesus do?

Would he fail to help them because, in your words, they are "almost all druggies"?

Pretty simple don't need statistics. The shelters do not allow drugs or alcohol. The true homeless down on their luck DO utilize the shelters and are NOT on the street at night.....the remainder are, I.E. the ones that will not give up their drugs/alcohol for the night for a warm bed to sleep in.

rockhillmanor wrote:

IndyCamp wrote:
This is always a touchy subject.

It sounds like many of you live in the suburbs or rural areas, where you don't encounter "real" homeless people.

We spend a lot of time in a big city, and it is easy to see who is really homeless and who is just standing at an exit ramp with a sign.

Don't assume we don't know what a homeless person is.

I'm originally from Chicago. And in regards to the really homeless albeit almost all druggies

I lived in San Antonio. Does that mean I know what it is like to be Tim Duncan?

Anyway, the stats do not say that "almost all" are "druggies."

Many shelters today have become institutionalized and are severely overcrowded.

Regardless, the rate of mental illness among the homeless population FAR exceeds that of the general population. Telling many of them to "go seek out the available resources" is often no different than me telling you to rebuild an engine by reading a comic book.

I am truly saddened by the lack of empathy in this country. I'm not saying anyone needs to give money to every guy standing at an intersection, but to constantly read and hear that most homeless people are druggies and fail to get help because they don't want to follow the rules, is just sad to me.

"There but for the grace of God, go I."

"What would Jesus do?"

And I'm an atheist. Go figure.