It’s kinda sad that it takes some unexpected talent for most people to care about the homeless enough to learn more about their story.
Edit: not you in particular, I mean people in general.
3 Likes
Yeah. But at least it’s not all "Don’t give money to the homeless! They’ll just use it for more booze and drugs!!"
Honestly, not a huge booze and drug person myself, but I have to reflect that if I were homeless, and had to deal with the difficulties of that life, not to mention the general disdain and disgust of the larger society around me, drugs and drink wouldn’t necessarily be all that bad.
Who am I to begrudge someone their choice of escapism or pleasure? (obviously not including if their particular brand of pleasure is choking kittens etc…)
Thus the classic homeless sign “Not gonna lie, I’m going to spend it on weed”. If that makes your life better, I’ll chip in.
3 Likes
He says he went to college for music theory, and that he plays the piano daily at that cafe for donations. His gofundme already has over $24,000 that will in part help with the few classes he needs to graduate.
“Share so other people may see that homeless people are human too!”
Who thinks homeless are not human?
3 Likes
“Shelter is a basic human right and all people should have access to safe, decent, and affordable housing. Affordable housing is a cornerstone for low-income families, allowing them to avoid homelessness and helping them escape poverty.”
1 Like
Why are we always surprised when someone living on the street has talent?
I used to be a professional musician, and while I never slept on the streets, I spend a lot of nights sleeping in my car or on friend’s sofas. My music career didn’t work out, but I stayed off the hard drugs and had a four-year technical degree, so I was able to pick up the pieces and move on with my life with minimal drama.
While many people watch this video and think “Look! A homeless person is acting like a normal person.” I can’t help but think “There but for the grace of God go I.”
OK, I’ll get off my high horse now.
3 Likes
At least the discussion link from the blog post still work.
1 Like
Well, just about no one thinks so literally, but a lot of people do figuratively.
1 Like
Wow! I am so glad I followed the trail on this one. I have seen this poor man’s video on multiple sites on the web today including Aurora Natasha’s Facebook page which I believe was where the post originated from in Sarasota, Florida as well as our infamous Fox4news.com channel here in Dallas, Texas.
Reporter Josh Cascio had the honor of publishing the article on Mr.Gould. He mentioned Donald was an ex-Marine who unfortunately had a bout with drugs and came out on the losing end. He was impressed by the viewers responses. The video went viral overnight to over 1.5 million viewers and not once did I see any mention of helping the man.
Kudos to the person who did. I’ll go post the link to the GoFundMe account on the two pages I mentioned and if anyone else happens by another one, please do the same. Not only because he served his country, but because he is a human being and that is what we do.
1 Like
Wow! There has to be “one” anywhere you do. Bolamig, you are the lucky winner of today’s biggest a**hole award. Please send me a private message in order to receive your prize.
This site has a ton of restrictions. Ding! You’re taking too long to write your message. Ding! Please be considerate of other members. Ding! To save time, try replying to multiple people at once. Ding! The paragraph must be 6 characters or more to post.
Amen Donald_Peterson!
1 Like
I love this idea for delivering a type of direct emergency relief to unsheltered persons: Hexayurt Project (free hardware housing for the world) http://hexayurt.com/
Yurts for unsheltered persons … Still needs refurbished FOSS-equipped phones and mesh server for security and coordination of emergency service delivery. Oh, and then universal rent control, socialized medicine and corporate legal reform. 
Anyone else getting fatigued of the “homeless man can actually, like, do something cool” trope? I’m not discounting this guy, and I respect that it’s more difficult to practice when you’re not in a stable environment, but it feels like these messages are coming from a position of: “Think the homeless are useless? Prepare to be shocked and amazed!”
Plenty of talented musicians are $500 away from being homeless.
1 Like
Yes. And many people in general are an illness or a missed rent payment away from homelessness — or already substantively meet the HUD definition without realizing it (e.g. abuse victims).
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
