Imagine a homeless person living on the streets for 2 years.
@lookatdesktop (27129)
Dallas, Texas
June 8, 2018 5:29pm CST
At the local Public Library I asked a guy who was sitting in front of the library entrance with a back pack, if the library was open yet. I wanted to go drop off my items and pick up a few videos for the week ahead. The guy told me he was homeless. I asked him how long he had been living on the streets of Dallas and he replied, "ABOUT 2 YEARS."
The Public Library in Dallas is doing what it can to help the homeless. They provide a safe place for them and some people have volunteered to help them find a way out. I think that it is commendable they are doing what they can to help out those in dyer straits.
Two years! Imagine going that long and being able to survive. I have a feeling that when the grid goes down and global warming takes its toll on the ice caps, the homeless people of today will survive better than 99 % of the rest of us, who rely so heavily on ease of access to all the amenities that city life provides us. We are so spoiled by the easy life that we will be ill equipped to make it when everything goes south.
So, I am less feeling sorry for that guy than envious of his survival skills.
11 people like this
16 responses
@lookatdesktop (27129)
• Dallas, Texas
8 Jun 18
I am trying to learn some survival stuff. It is a challenge to just make it on little or no money month after month. And yea, the rest of us, I know what you mean. I hope I can change my status from being a city slicker to a real human.
3 people like this
@NJChicaa (116091)
• United States
8 Jun 18
@lookatdesktop I built up a big food supply about 15 years ago when H5N1 (bird flu) was threatening to become a pandemic. We since donated it to shelters. Now my husband has the "home protection" part down. That's about it.
2 people like this
@lookatdesktop (27129)
• Dallas, Texas
9 Jun 18
@NJChicaa , Well all foods have a shelf life so it is best not to keep food around too long, and giving it to a food bank or to a homeless shelter is a thoughtful thing to do. I have some extra canned foods around, simply because I like things like canned beans, canned spinach and canned tuna and soups as well as canned evaporated milk. They have a long enough shelf life so I don't have to go to the store and buy them every time we go shopping for groceries. I like having some canned foods around in case I get the munchies and want a quick meal.
2 people like this
@bunnybon7 (50973)
• Holiday, Florida
10 Jun 18
yes i would not last long as i am on oxygen and can barely walk. sounds like a very nice city though. most towns/cities are doing very little for that
2 people like this
@bunnybon7 (50973)
• Holiday, Florida
10 Jun 18
@lookatdesktop she is lucky to have you
. just saying neither her nor i would last long if we became homeless 
. just saying neither her nor i would last long if we became homeless 1 person likes this
@lookatdesktop (27129)
• Dallas, Texas
10 Jun 18
@bunnybon7 I hope that never ever happens to you. 
1 person likes this
@bunnybon7 (50973)
• Holiday, Florida
10 Jun 18
@lookatdesktop thanks. i hope for you also. the way things are these days it could happen to anyone
@crossbones27 (48446)
• Mojave, California
8 Jun 18
They say they do not work, bet they work harder than a working a person and many would just probably shoot themselves. There was this homeless man in dry river bed, saw him for 5 years until city finally said enough. Let give him a bus ticket and dump our problems on someone else.
2 people like this
@crossbones27 (48446)
• Mojave, California
8 Jun 18
@lookatdesktop He was nice and even the uppity people bought him a tent and made sure he had water. I still get mad at that though. Why not offer the man a job and give him one of your rentals Where he can rent with the job. Obviously very well deserving and was really neat guy to talk to. I do not get it. I told him I am one step a way from being his roommate. 
Still am, might have to take his old spot.
Still am, might have to take his old spot.2 people like this
@lookatdesktop (27129)
• Dallas, Texas
9 Jun 18
@crossbones27 , Well, I know very few vagabonds, but back in the 70s a friend of mine at the time, took a trip to Europe and did some hitchiking and went to hostels and then did the same thing in the US from New York state to Washington state and down through Oregon and into California. He at some point had to rely on the generocity of others because he quickly came up short and had to call his mom to send him some money via Western Union money grams. For a short while he was living like a gypsie.
1 person likes this
@lookatdesktop (27129)
• Dallas, Texas
8 Jun 18
Yes that is sad to hear. I think they should find him a job and help him Anybody who can live 5 years off the grid is the type I want in my corner in the end times.
2 people like this
@lookatdesktop (27129)
• Dallas, Texas
9 Jun 18
This is why I have started to rethink the whole idea of what exactly drives some people, not everyone, but some, to go off the grid and become basically vagabonds, by choice!
Since the 20's, being a Vagabond, or Vagabonding has been used to describe a travel that doesn’t break your budget and brings one into contact with locals and cultures.
1 person likes this
@lookatdesktop (27129)
• Dallas, Texas
10 Jun 18
@RubyHawk Looking at things from his point of view it makes perfect sense, but it is still not a good thing in my own opinion. People should be living in a stable community with support from the community. The big city is not a good place for community due to too high a concentration of the general population. Managing a smaller group or community is best. That is why small town people have happier lives. Rural also. Big city living stress is just plain bad for people. You will notice homeless people tend to get stuck in the big city. That is the nature of the city.
1 person likes this
@RubyHawk (99423)
• Atlanta, Georgia
9 Jun 18
@lookatdesktop I knew aman who was homeless by choice. His family got him off the streets several times,good job, apartment but he always went back to the streets. He said that's where all his friends were and that's where he wanted to be.
1 person likes this
@thislittlepennyearns (58153)
• Defuniak Springs, Florida
8 Jun 18
We were homeless for a while. You learn a lot of what you are made of.
3 people like this
@lookatdesktop (27129)
• Dallas, Texas
8 Jun 18
I am glad you are a survivor and that you have leaned a lot and have become a better person for it.
1 person likes this
@lookatdesktop (27129)
• Dallas, Texas
10 Jun 18
You can study ways by reading books about just survival in the big city or wherever you dwell. Learning how to avoid getting sick from certain types of seasonal diseases and drinking purified water and using sunscreen and mosquito repellent are just a few. I need to do more reading on basic emergency methods, like storing emergency supplies in case of a storm or a power outage and one thing is to have a way to communicate with others with optional 2 way radios and have a NOAA radio to keep tabs of the constant changes in weather.
1 person likes this
@1hopefulman (45123)
• Canada
8 Jun 18
Good to see that the city is doing something positive to help those who find themselves homeless.
1 person likes this
@lookatdesktop (27129)
• Dallas, Texas
8 Jun 18
Thanks Felix. I know you have a good heart and sense of charity towards those in need. I only wish America would get it's head out of the box and look around and see the things that need fixing before things only end up getting worse in all respects. You know what I mean?
1 person likes this
@LovingMyBabies (85127)
• Valdosta, Georgia
9 Jun 18
My family has been homeless a few times and I do feel between our faith and learning to survive we wil be okay no matter what. =)
I still wish I could get all of the homeless off the street though. =(
1 person likes this
@LovingMyBabies (85127)
• Valdosta, Georgia
9 Jun 18
@lookatdesktop I know. I have helped many homeless people. We have allowed some to live with us. However, some are happier on the streets.
1 person likes this
@lookatdesktop (27129)
• Dallas, Texas
10 Jun 18
@LovingMyBabies , Cities don't generate lots of love. I mean, thinking outside the box, I realize that things are happening way too fast for everyone, including the rest of us, who depend largely on the city to survive and we have our own problems, with traffic, long lines, impatient people, being in a rush, overcrowded terminals, crowded streets even of pedestrians, with no sense of calm. But moreover, a constant sense of urgency.
@lookatdesktop (27129)
• Dallas, Texas
9 Jun 18
There are more ways to help the homeless but if they don't want the help it is impossible to do anything.
@wolfgirl569 (95512)
• Marion, Ohio
8 Jun 18
Its good that they are trying to help. Some areas try to make it a crime to help the homeless anymore.
1 person likes this
@lookatdesktop (27129)
• Dallas, Texas
9 Jun 18
That is a crime in and of itself as far as I'm concerned.
1 person likes this
@lookatdesktop (27129)
• Dallas, Texas
9 Jun 18
Yes. And the Boy Scouts of America is a very good organization to train young people on survival and to learn good citizenship traits and leadership. Have you ever heard of the Colorado Outward Bound School?
COURSE FINDER PROGRAMS ABOUT PROGRAMS PLANNING CONNECT GIVE BACK PROGRAMS VETERANS PLANNING CONNECT GIVE BACK Age Student Age 12 13 14 15 16 17 18+ 30+ Destination Destination Alaska Colorado Rockies Southwest Wyoming South America Date TO FIND
@lookatdesktop (27129)
• Dallas, Texas
9 Jun 18
That depends on how long we think we will have. I mean, the average person can survive a year on canned goods and dry goods. We should keep the basics in storage just in case something like a pandemic or a power grid going down. We need to be able to help each other more and have friends that we can depend on locally in our own communities.
1 person likes this
@lookatdesktop (27129)
• Dallas, Texas
9 Jun 18
@db20747 , Why is that? You hungry or something and want to start a camp fire and cook up some camper's stew? 
@db20747 (43427)
• Washington, District Of Columbia
9 Jun 18
@lookatdesktop some people live 40 years on canned goods and dry foods!!! How about starting a fire??!!!
1 person likes this
@sw8sincere (5204)
• Philippines
9 Jun 18
i feel pity for those homeless people but quite mad too since they won't be homeless if they should've tried their luck to find some work even simple work such as pulling out weeds, cleaning other peoples house, doing laundry for others and etc.
1 person likes this
@lookatdesktop (27129)
• Dallas, Texas
10 Jun 18
It would be nice if everyone could be able to have the opportunity to find some meaning to their lives. I try myself to stay busy. I feel like even here at myLot I am giving to the community in some small way and I agree, homeless people need motivation to be productive but at the same time made to feel worthwhile instead of shunned like a wild animal or sorts as people often walk by and just ignore them and shun them and feel intimidated by them as if they were somehow the same as common criminals but in some cases, some are, but in most cases, they are victims of hard times and otherwise good people.
1 person likes this
@lookatdesktop (27129)
• Dallas, Texas
9 Jun 18
Well put. WE must survive and it is never all that hard to read up on it to learn more survival skills. Hard times can hit anyone on the planet at any moment and these days when hard times hit, they usually do so in volumes with the ways of the world are headed. Mass earthquakes, tornadoes and volcanic eruptions to name a few.
1 person likes this
@Courage7 (19633)
• United States
9 Jun 18
@lookatdesktop Indeed no doubt about it, it wont be a small thing Anthony, we must always keep at it. Love your great thinking.
1 person likes this
@lookatdesktop (27129)
• Dallas, Texas
10 Jun 18
@Courage7 Thank you a lot, Courage7
1 person likes this
@dwstory (1276)
• Roseburg, Oregon
10 Jun 18
The homeless will be the ones who will know how to survive better than the ones who have to have all the luxuries of life.
@Starmaiden (9311)
• Canada
8 Jun 18
I've lived homeless for seven years. In and out of homeless shelters. I am housed now, but when I look back on those years I can appreciate the hardships of others and advocate on their behalf.
1 person likes this
@lookatdesktop (27129)
• Dallas, Texas
9 Jun 18
I am glad for you. Even people with all the wealth in the world suffer these days from anxiety and deep depression. The world is in need of Jesus and I hope his second coming will be sooner rather than later. Man on his own has apparently lost touch with the spiritual meanings behind our very purpose on this planet.
1 person likes this
