Slashdot Mirror
Amazon Begins Housing Homeless In Seattle (jeffreifman.com)
reifman writes: Amazon announced that it will commit one of its buildings to housing 200 Seattle homeless people for the next year, allowing a nonprofit organization to oversee the facilities... With more than 4,505 living on the streets, Seattle's mayor recently declared a homelessness emergency... More than 45 people died on the streets in 2015, heroin related deaths in King County are at a 20-year high, and neighborhoods are up in arms about homeless drug use, crime and people living in cars.
The Seattle Times notes that Amazon's construction on the lot isn't scheduled until 2017, so they reached out to the homelessness nonprofit to temporarily offer its use, hoping to later offer the group a second site. (The nonprofit will pay the site's utility bills).
The Seattle Times notes that Amazon's construction on the lot isn't scheduled until 2017, so they reached out to the homelessness nonprofit to temporarily offer its use, hoping to later offer the group a second site. (The nonprofit will pay the site's utility bills).
File this under "no good deed goes unpunished"
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
That isn't always true. There was a time when I was poor, sleeping in my car and taking showers at a friend's flat. The job I had then was best I could find at the time but it didn't pay enough to be able to afford a place to live. This was in the San Francisco bay area, where rents are extremely high. After living that way for some time, I eventually saved enough to move to a distant location that wasn't so expensive.
As far as I know, Seattle is even more expensive, so it's entirely possible that people are homeless because they are poor.
Not always. Money exhausted by medical bills and a disabling condition after 30ish years as a software dev.
I came very close to homeless and use no drugs and drink little alcohol. Don't generalize.
Yup. They tell me that I'm sane and I've made sure to get second, third, fourth, fifth, etc. opinions on it. (I go talk to a therapist fairly often when I'm home, I find it good to have someone objective to talk to.) Yet, I was a functional addict and alcoholic for years. I would literally leave meetings and shoot up in the bathroom. I kept rigs in my office. I was into Fentanyl (80x stronger than heroin) so I could wear a patch if I had to travel. I also drank. I drank for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We had a bar and a pool table in the back of our home office. I used it often.
I functioned just fine. It wasn't really a problem. In fact, I did quite well. It was when I retired that something broke in my head. I didn't actually use more drugs or drink more alcohol (I don't think) it's just that my body/brain somehow knew it didn't actually have to function any more. I turned into a sloppy drunk and was nodding out and drolling on myself with a rig in my hand and blood staining my trousers. My neighbor, I've mentioned her many times, used to come check just to make sure I was alive - she's the same person I call my house cleaner 'cause I pay her and that's what she does. Sometimes she lets me pretend to be the boss.
Anyhow, it was weird. It's like my brain flipped a circuit. I was no longer a functional alcoholic, I was just a drunk. I was no longer "chipping." I was a junkie. I put shitloads of money in my veins and up my nose - obscene amounts. Like, numbers that would scare people. I've tried to figure it out, using averages and average street prices (I tended to buy in bulk) and the numbers are too shameful for me to actually mention.
But it was something about the no longer needing to be functional, no longer having people depend on me, no longer having a company to keep afloat, no longer having to worry about money, no longer having to worry about appearing to be "normal." That just snapped. I went, without changing usage quantities, to dysfunctional and junkie stage. (Gotta be honest, there were some good times, good times indeed.)
And yes, they insist that I'm sane. I started the alcohol as a kid and the opiates while in my early teens when I broke an ankle and then a wrist in short succession. At first it was the codeine and that warm blanket feeling. Then I pretended that made me sick so they gave me stronger stuff - but I kept the first script, and it just worked its way through that. They didn't do much testing in the military so I kept on going - the corpsman was my friend. Then, 30 years later, I'm strung out and puking and shitting at the same time trying to quit. *sighs* Never again... I don't ever want to go through withdrawals again.
But yeah, they assure me that I'm perfectly sane. I'm not sure that I agree with them so I keep getting second opinions but, so far, they all tell me that I'm not just sane but that I'm pretty much the definition of sane. I'm not sure how they come up with that considering the drug and alcohol abuse/addiction but they're the experts and I'm the junkie.
I did do rehab, by the way. I was on a monster dose of Suboxone for quite a while but I've been weaning myself off of them. I haven't actually taken any in a while now but I have been smoking a bit of weed and I'm in Florida so I can't admit to it but there's all sorts of Bolivian Marching Powder in the area.
They're quite convinced that I'm sane. Three out of the four voices in my head seriously disagree with the sentiment! ;-)
Hmm... I should probably post this as an AC but, alas, I am not a coward and I'm always suggesting that people accept responsibility and be accountable. It would be hypocritical for me to post this as an AC. Well, that and my particular posting style would likely give it away. So, here it is in all its glory.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."