[urgeok]

We do have a homeless problem in the major centres (mainly Toronto)
but not much elsewhere - the climate may have something to do with that.

I was in Washington DC once on a course and i was appauled by the amount of homeless people there (nations capitol ??!!)
not to mention the incessant sirens .. it just never stopped .. freaked me out.

I have some pretty mixed feelings about the homeless... as Roderick 'squid-boy' Usher said above - the greatest number of them are people who cannot function in society because of various degrees of mental illness.
By that same reasoning they refuse to live in shelters because they dont have the reasoning powers to come in out of the cold or to understand that there are rules to follow in a shelter that wouldnt kill them to follow. (the canadian winters will and do kill them on a regular basis)

Sometimes I do lose compassion though. Everyone has had it with the kids who panhandle - wearing 150$ doc martins and heads full of hair care products. (the kids that bus in from the 'burbs because they see the 'life on the street as something romantic... until they're actually hungry and run home.

there was one guy in particular i developed a (unjust) hate for several years ago. I was working in a job i hated for a prick of a boss.. every day i had to pass this guy with his hand out on my way to and from my personal 8 hours of thankless hell .. and i developed a great resentment for this guy. Mostly because of my personal circumstance - but also because of this look he'd give me ...

things got better for me eventually and i could see my way to try to understand his circumstance and i didnt hate him anymore and was shameful for how i felt ...

the people that really piss me off are the people who sit on their asses at home collecting unemployement because they simply dont like to work.
I'll always hate those bastards no matter what..