Homeless youths out on the street wonder: 'Why is my life like this?'

The Des Moines Register ^ | 07/13/2003 | BILL REITER, Register Staff Writer

[freeforall]

They deserve contempt. I have a policy; no money for bums.

[freeforall]

homeless bums ping

[MonroeDNA]

Lol!!! Well put.

At the time, I found the local Mensa chapter, went to a meeting, and beat them over the head with my SAT postcard. I wore black, and stuffed a sock down my pants. Small sock.

As you can imagine, the sharp edges of the postcard was more than enough. They kept crying out, "PxK!!!"

No use.

[CobaltBlue]

I was totally self supporting from age 17 until I got married, then put my husband through grad school. Dropped out of school and left home due to a nasty divorce (parents, not me).

I did have friends I could stay with until I got on my feet.

Took the GED, then started college part time, and just kept on keeping on. Had my own apartment, started out with a bicycle then bought a car, and so forth.

It's probably easier to start on your own when you are 17 rather than 15, but being willing to work hard and not get sucked into the drug world is what I see is the difference.

[Stick a Fork in Me - I am Done]

Oh I remember my first all my own apartment. A garage apartment with a municipal golf course on one side and a street leading to the ocean on the other side. That is when I learned aobut the value of insulation. My apartment had none and the wind swept off the golf course, through my apartment and down to the sea wall. I had one piece of furniture, a bed.

[Aracelis]

Thanks to you both for posting your stories. Yours are stories of very hard-times, but also ones of hope and survival. My youngest unexpectedly ran away from home nearly 2 years ago (still don't know why but think a New-Age charlatan and a married man were involved) and I have been terrified for her every moment. She writes on occasion, and I tell her I love her and invite her home with every letter I send to her.

The agony I feel is exquisite and constant, and I berate myself for not picking up on very subtle things that I should have before she left. I encourage parents reading this to keep your children close and don't ignore "little" things.

[A. Pole]

Socialist liberals took down the guardrails of society. Now our kids are running off the tracks, into the bushes.

Problem with the homeless and abandoned kids cannot be blamed on socialism. There were many such in Dickensian England. There are many in Brazil.

[Twinkie]

He probably has since it looks like he was very
industrious and resourceful. Let's pray he has.

[Stick a Fork in Me - I am Done]

Children leave for many different reasons. There is a certain time that children grow up and take responsiblity for their lives. Some do it earlier than others, for various reasons. Because of my experience I am against minimum age laws for work. I think any kid who wants to and can do the job, should be able to.

[MonroeDNA]

Dropping the guardrails of society certainly IS a result of socialist liberalism.

In Dicken's world, the guardrails were not there. Nobody wants to go back to that.

Today, now that the guardrails are gone, our society is drifting backwards, to there. Hence the article.

[headsonpikes]

These children are the product of the modern socialist welfare state.

Communities and families have been systematically liquidated by organs of the caring sharing government. Why would any other result than vicious alienation be expected?

There's always a prison industry to expand - there'll be jobs for the obedient!

[annyokie]

I slept on a "rollaway" bed (one that folded up in the middle and had a mattress like a thick blanket) for two years, that I bought at the Salvation Army for $10.00. I had boxes for my "dresser".

[Entropy Squared]

You told my exact story, Stick a Fork in Me - I am Done. Right down to the detail of age 15. It's tough to get off the street but it can be done. Now I too have a home and a wonderful family and I am extremely grateful for what I have.

I heard a saying once I really enjoy, "Judge a man not by the heights he has achieved but by the depths from which he has climbed."

Cheers.

[sistergoldenhair]

ping

[MonroeDNA]

"Judge a man not by the heights he has achieved but by the depths from which he has climbed."

Where did you get that great quote?

[SSN558]

I started working in factories at 15 and the money was good. With all the business regulation they have today, I would have been one of these.

[Entropy Squared]

Where did you get that great quote?

I don't recall where I read or heard that but I think of it during the times when my family minivan doesn't seem as cool as a Ferrari. ;>)

[Cacique]

In Argentina where I hail from, such people would be regularly picked up and would find themselves "drafted" into military service. It gives people purpose, discipline and direction.

I think such a policy would be to some advantage. Those who are anti-social and mentally ill would be weeded out and institutionalized so they are no longer a danger to themselves and others.

[Stick a Fork in Me - I am Done]

The quote on your homepage is terrific. There is something different about the people who have changed their lives to survive and thrive. Nothing earthshaking, but there is a gift there. We are very fortunate.

I got all Fs a few years in grammer school and it had nothing to do with my abilities. The gift of it is that to me failing is not such a big deal. I can live with it. I think that young people should not have their lives set up as one success after another...becasue then they don't know how to emtionally cope with failure when it arrives, which it will.

[A. Pole]

Dropping the guardrails of society certainly IS a result of socialist liberalism. In Dicken's world, the guardrails were not there. Nobody wants to go back to that.

But "guardrails of society" were in the much earlier times. Tribes for example are close knit societies. When those "guardrails of society" were gone BEFORE Dickens? Was it when Henry VIII confiscated(privatised) the estates of the Church which were used earlier to protect the poor? Or when the common lands/forests were privatized?