Being Homeless

A good friend of mine, who lives in New Hampshire, recently went to his local Army/Navy Surplus Store and purchased 10 Army blankets. The owner of the store threw in several pairs of gloves and socks.

The purpose of his purchase was to provide the local homeless persons with warmth for the ensuing winter months. It was a very noble gesture, to say the least.

Here in Florida, I do not see very many homeless people, especially on the Beaches where I live and play. When I lived in the Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia area, I saw quite a few more homeless people. I can recall giving a Native American homeless person a five dollar bill in the winter of 1965 in downtown Chicago. Five bucks was a lot of money back then. But there were very few shelters for the homeless, or as we called them, Bums, at that time.

The thing that I don’t really understand is why the homeless continue to live in the northern States. Why don’t they migrate south to warmer climates? If I was homeless, I’d surely be living here in Florida, southern California or in Texas near the Rio Grande.

Better than this, I have another idea. All of us should realize we have a lot of Mexican immigrants, legal or illegal living here in the United States.

Let’s send our homeless people to Mexico to replace the incoming immigrants. It’s warm there and they wouldl only need a serape to keep them warm at night. The homeless do not work, so they won’t be taking jobs away from the locals. Our government could give the airfare and a grubstake to get them started. It would cost less than welfare payments, although most homeless people do not receive welfare, because they don’t apply. Foolish Pride!

And yet somehow I agree with them, I'd rather be begging on the streets and have nothing but the clothes on my back than take charity and welfare.

The Beach Bum