COMMENTS:
A couple of comments on this. Hunger for the homeless and poor does not exist only on Thanksgiving. The act is nice, but remembering them throughout the year is more meaningful in my opinion.
Inviting a homeless person(s) over to eat is nice, but it can be very disruptive to other members of the family. Often, members of the family do not see each other at any other time. The need for family to be together is something that needs to be considered.
Everyone thinks it is great to help the homeless etc on Thanksgiving and x-mas, but what about on January 15 when there are 10 inches of snow on the ground and the temperature is 5 degrees (Fahrenheit) above zero. The homeless might appreciate a hot meal that day more than any other as there are lots of people who want to help on a holiday. 
I'm sure your intentions are good, but this type of question or suggestion really pisses me off. Its like "I did good, I helped someone on this special day", as if this obviates the need to help throughout the rest of the year. There have been times when friends of mine and even myself have needed food. I'm glad it was able to be given on more days than the one where people make a mockery of hunger by stuffing themselves to the extreme. How about eating less on that day and others and donate the difference to organizations that are trying to end homelessness and hunger? That is a more meaningful gesture.
A good gesture, but my peeps wouldn't be down wit dat, 'specially da little peeps.
Voted : Not a chance
^ What ma homey sed.
Voted : I will do this
SOMEDAY, IF I'm ever hosting a Thanksgiving meal.
If I didn't have family stuff that I can't get out of that day then I'd fast for Thanksgiving. I know some people who are doing that, instead of filling up all day they're going to think of people starving around the world, over a thousand die every hour.
I'm going to keep this in mind, I'll OOOHH and AAAHH at all the food to fit in, but I won't eat much.
by Jyl on Sun Nov 19, 06 12:12pm
[+]
Not a hand out but a hand up.
We aren't serving wit this year, only rye :(
Why would you let ANY stranger in to your house around your family, which probably includes children? Let alone a hobo with more incentive than most to steal from you or take a dump on your carpet.
Also, though thanksgiving is obviously an American tradition, from an English perspective you have to be somewhat mad/dysfunctional to be compleely homeless anyway. Our country will provide accomodation for you if you have none, so why the fuck would any sane person be on the streets?
No
I might buy them lunch at a diner that's open on the holiday or the like (and have actually done this one year), but there's no way in hell I'm bringing home some total stranger, who could be mentally ill for all I know, and giving them the run of the house. Even if I weren't a bit wary about the situation, my wife would have a fit.
...But, it would be a nice gesture for everyone to front the cost of a decent dinner for someone less fortunate on the holiday. Actually, I think I'm going to do that.
I might buy them lunch at a diner that's open on the holiday or the like (and have actually done this one year), but there's no way in hell I'm bringing home some total stranger, who could be mentally ill for all I know, and giving them the run of the house. Even if I weren't a bit wary about the situation, my wife would have a fit.
...But, it would be a nice gesture for everyone to front the cost of a decent dinner for someone less fortunate on the holiday. Actually, I think I'm going to do that.
Voted : Not a chance
My wife wouldn't allow it but I've sponsored thanksgiving dinners for the homeless by charitable donation...since I've retired I haven't been as generous but I'm going to contribute this year also...
"Our country will provide accomodation for you if you have none, so why the fuck would any sane person be on the streets?"
Sadly you're right, most are "Bureaucratic Ineligibles" suffering some degree of mental illness.
Here's an excerpt from The Seattle Daily:
Thirty million Americans have a major mental illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
We weren't interested in their rehabilitation or recovery. The paradigm was a warehouse.
When Ronald Reagan became president in 1981, he resolved to fix this—partly to offer some of the less severely ill in state hospitals a measure of freedom, but mostly because getting them out of the hospitals would cut government spending.
The goal was to shift these patients to a system of community care. Yet we have never been very serious about taking care of these people. Successive Congresses and presidents and legislatures have systematically cut the system to the point where there's a perpetual crisis.
Social workers and doctors all over King County report that what they see each day is a crisis without end.
This is a nation that often allows policy imperatives to be driven more by disaster than by reason. We need a victim to get solutions moving through the political system. We need dead folks under the Alaskan Way Viaduct. It takes a 9/11 to get anything done.
For a few, life on the street is a hussle. Preferable to State and County Regulation and reporting.
Many have outstanding warrants for petty crimes and unpaid vagrancy fines.
Going to the shelter mean going into jail.
Pretty F*cked up, huh?
Voted : Not a chance
Felix has a good idea. Also, I just might buy someone a bottle of wine to spice up the holiday,if it's not dangerously cold by then
FiddleFaddleonlsd, you said "'this type of question or suggestion really pisses me off' then rattled on about 'other' times to help people, etc. You do not know me or how I think and you have jumped to conclusions. I voluntarily ran a homeless shelter in my city for over a year and DO try to help all year long, anyone who is in need.
Wow! I just checked back to see how my ballot was going. Guess I'm a little disappointed that 56% voted 'no way.' "But for the grace of God go I."
Felix,
I'm glad you may front the cost of a decent dinner for someone. That is indeed commendable, but we must step out of our box sometimes, even if it may involve some risk. I was working at a shelter once around the holidays and overheard a fellow say, 'If they care for us so much, why don't they take us home?" At that point I realized that being wanted, even for an hour over dinner, is sometimes more valuable than the dinner itself.
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