Toronto Homeless Survey

[RTRD]

Are you suggesting...

So tonight I'm walking home from work, still wearing the suit and I see a group of 8 - 10 people all wearing Toronto nametags carrying clipboards. I fugure they're the volunteer homeless surveyors. As I walk pass them, I nod and smile. One of them stops and addresses me - "Excuse me sir. My name is J___ and I'm working with the City of Toronto to do a survey on the homeless." I acknowledge this and mention I heard about it on CBC. He then asks me "Are you staying indoors tonight or in a shelter?"

I work in the financial district. I'm wearing a rather expensive suit. What the fark does this guy think? (Can he think?)

So I just say, "Well ... indoors." He replies "OK. Thank you sir. Just asking everyone."

So, for the record, The Ass Slapper has been surveyed and he's staying indoors tonight.

...that they should be making some sort of visual assessment of who is homeless and who is not?

If you working the financial district then perhaps you know a bit about proper data analysis - so surely you would know that such a practice would taint the data, right?

Of course the person know you weren't homeless...but not everybody who is is dirty / stink / unclean. So...how would you carry out a proper data gathering exercise if you had to depend on ten different peoples different ideas of a homeless person looks like?

 

[stinkynuts]

I used to think that the homeless were just a bunch of lazy bums not willing to work. And there are some people like that. But now I've come to realize that many of them have mental problems or lack the skills to function normally.

I cannot tell you how hard it is for me to scrape by, even will all my education and support from my family. I'm not surprised that those with much less end up on the streets. I truly believe that they had no choice in their fate.

I try to give money whenever I see a homeless person who is obviously not capable of work (e.g. missing limb). I think it's important to treat them with compassion.

 

[TheNiteHwk]

With one good suit you can get away with more ass slapping then you could say wearing a Kenora Dinner Jacket.


don't ask me how I know that

 

[ducttape]

$100 was for the entire night...

Contact info? Restrictions? BBFS? Greek? KLM? MSOG? TGIF? DATY? OPQRSTU? TOFTT?

 

[booboobear]

...that they should be making some sort of visual assessment of who is homeless and who is not?

If you working the financial district then perhaps you know a bit about proper data analysis - so surely you would know that such a practice would taint the data, right?

Of course the person know you weren't homeless...but not everybody who is is dirty / stink / unclean. So...how would you carry out a proper data gathering exercise if you had to depend on ten different peoples different ideas of a homeless person looks like?

It's not clear what you are trying to say here either the person knew he wasn't homeless or he was checking because he didn't want to make assumptions. If you have heard about statistics and probability what would be the probability of a clean person wearing a clean suit being homeless . I think if you asked the people who really know who have worked in shelters you would find it to be 0 %.

 

[xarir]

"Excume Sir. My name is J___a and I'm working with the Cock of Toronto to do a survey on the Pussyless Dicks." "Are you staying Incall or Outcall " ?
lol

Note: Xarir no ofence please, Kisses

That's a little naughty of you Janda.

Xarir runs over and slaps Janda on the ass.

 

[xarir]

With one good suit you can get away with more ass slapping then you could say wearing a Kenora Dinner Jacket.

'Tis true! 'Tis true!

 

[xarir]

If you working the financial district then perhaps you know a bit about proper data analysis - so surely you would know that such a practice would taint the data, right?

Fair enough. But what was the goal of the survey? If the goal was to gauge the proportion of people staying indoors versus a shelter (and what exactly is the difference there anyway? Is a shelter not indoors?) then the question posed to me was fair game. My understanding of the survey though, possibly flawed as it may be, was that the goal was to primarily get an accurate sense of numbers of homeless people in Toronto and where they were staying. If this was the goal then surveying clean-cut, suit-wearing folks would serve no useful purpose to the data set.

As for the issue of homelessness itself, I have to say that I've been to many corners of the world, some of them absolutely dirt-poor. Yet in these places where the average person makes less than $5 a day, there is no visible homelessness. People are not in the streets as they are here - they're at home with a roof over their heads. In these places I've been to, it is the view of society that the family must take care of their own. i.e. It's not up to the state to provide for those no one else really wants to care for. To me this is a view that makes a lot of sense. These homeless people came from somewhere. A girl and a boy got together, had sex and out popped a kid who "grew up" and became a homeless person. If the parents didn't want to take care of the kid, why have it in the first place? If the parents cannot take care of the kid (no financial means) then don't have kids.

This is a gross oversimplification of comparing North American society with other less developed nations, but the point is that a family can choose to stick together and not place the burden of their woes on society at large. I am a firm believer in offering help to those who need it, but people have to be willing to help themselves and their own first.

 

[RTRD]

Hmmm...

I always thought, if ever I'm down and out, I'll have to have at least one really good suit.

With one really good suit I can walk into any hotel, wash and shave and use the facilities.

With one really good suit I can walk into wedding and anniversary receptions and partake of the food, and partake in the beverages.

With one really good suit I could stand on Bay Street and claim to be here from Kitchener interviewing for a job and been robbed, and need train fare back home, and people would give me money, and not just chump change.

With one good suit I can go to a bar, and talk my way into spending the night with a girl, solving the home problem for that night, as well as solving other pressing problems.

Oh, of course, with one good suit I could probably talk my way back into the rat race.

When you're down and out, it pays to have at least one good suit.

...good thinking.

You sound like a man who when down thinks "how can I get out of this?" versus "who do I blame?".

I bet you don't belong to a union, do you?

 

[RTRD]

Again...

Fair enough. But what was the goal of the survey? If the goal was to gauge the proportion of people staying indoors versus a shelter (and what exactly is the difference there anyway? Is a shelter not indoors?) then the question posed to me was fair game. My understanding of the survey though, possibly flawed as it may be, was that the goal was to primarily get an accurate sense of numbers of homeless people in Toronto and where they were staying. If this was the goal then surveying clean-cut, suit-wearing folks would serve no useful purpose to the data set.

As for the issue of homelessness itself, I have to say that I've been to many corners of the world, some of them absolutely dirt-poor. Yet in these places where the average person makes less than $5 a day, there is no visible homelessness. People are not in the streets as they are here - they're at home with a roof over their heads. In these places I've been to, it is the view of society that the family must take care of their own. i.e. It's not up to the state to provide for those no one else really wants to care for. To me this is a view that makes a lot of sense. These homeless people came from somewhere. A girl and a boy got together, had sex and out popped a kid who "grew up" and became a homeless person. If the parents didn't want to take care of the kid, why have it in the first place? If the parents cannot take care of the kid (no financial means) then don't have kids.

This is a gross oversimplification of comparing North American society with other less developed nations, but the point is that a family can choose to stick together and not place the burden of their woes on society at large. I am a firm believer in offering help to those who need it, but people have to be willing to help themselves and their own first.

"My understanding of the survey though, possibly flawed as it may be, was that the goal was to primarily get an accurate sense of numbers of homeless people in Toronto and where they were staying. If this was the goal then surveying clean-cut, suit-wearing folks would serve no useful purpose to the data set."

...you seem to be saying that being "clean cut (and) suit wearing"`meant you couldn't have been homeless. And my point is that is an assumption the data collector can't make if the data is to be untainted...because then we have different people deciding what a homeless person looks like.

"As for the issue of homelessness itself, I have to say that I've been to many corners of the world, some of them absolutely dirt-poor. Yet in these places where the average person makes less than $5 a day, there is no visible homelessness. People are not in the streets as they are here - they're at home with a roof over their heads. In these places I've been to, it is the view of society that the family must take care of their own. i.e."

This is very, very, very true. And you know what else? While I haven't been to tons of places like you describe, I have lived in 4 different North American cities and spent considerable amounts of time in probably a dozen others. I have never seen a homeless "problem" like it is here in Toronto. NOWHERE. I was amazed...literally amazed when I got here, especially cosidering that A) there is a far greater attitude of "socialism" here (this is a good thing BTW - I'm not complaining) with what I assume are more programs to help such people, an also the Candian economy has ben blazing hot since I arrived in 2002. I realize everybody can't be a Bay Street lawyer, but I find it hard to believe that someone who wants to work can't find any in current times - unless they have "issues" - in which case there are a lot more programs here to help such people versus other cities in North America.

And, yes, I understand that many people don't want to accept help...but why are they so VISIBLE here...and in all neighborhoods? I used to live in Forest Hill...there were homeless people on the street. I expect to see them right downtown in the business district, but why on the edges (we live in M5V now)? There is a guy who has taken up residence right in front of my building...been there for months. Why?

It baffles me...

 

[WhaWhaWha]

Has anyone seen the Santa homeless dude?????
He runs around downtown with a red santa claus hat, no shirt, harasses people and does pushups at random.
Anyone seen him????

I remember him. He lost his daughter in a custody battle used to talk about rescuing her. Talked to people on buses. Held rallies in subway stations. About two years ago he recruited about 8 guys to hand out leaflets at Bloor station fighting for the rights of fathers. He brags that he does 8000 crunches per week or some such nonsense then shows off his six-pack abs. says they are more like an 8 pack. Invites people to punch him in the stomach if they want to prove how rock solid he is.

About 1/3 are those that are temporarliy down on ther luck and I guess these individuals will eventually (with or without our help) leave the street.

Any one of us could easily be in their shoes.

That was me for a few weeks once upon a time.

option 2-we round them up & make them into dog food--i'm sure my neighbour's dog would love some ground Chuck or whatever his name was

Joking aside, you could have at the time and I wouldnt have resisted too much.

 

[RTRD]

Sorry...

Wow I don't believe it. You forgot to bash unions in your last post.

..I forgot. Unions suck.