Homeless upset over McDonald's dollar menu increase

[Dick Tuck]

 

[Bfgrn]

There is a simple solution to the problem of price increases

Get a job

That is great idea, in theory.
Having worked at a park where many spent most of their time, it doesn't take a genius to figure out, that a good amount of homeless people are mentally ill. Many are also Vietnam Vets who were messed up by the war. We also had many who were elderly and in wheelchairs. But I do love it when people put down homeless people, shows what kind of person they are.

It IS what they do and that IS who they are; the modern day Pharisee.


If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.
President John F. Kennedy

"There are people in the world so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread."
Mahatma Gandhi

 

[Jeremy]

Europe:

U.S.A:

 

[Luissa]

This is a difficult thread for me. I want to make light of it and joke about homeless people.... but.... I do voluntary work with homeless people... and, in my view 'there but for the grace of God, go any of us'. So, I'm gonna join LuLu on the moral highground.

When I see a young person wearing Doc Martens ask me for change, I get a little pissed.
When I have to help an old man who fell out of his wheel chair and crapped his pants, I realize I probably should not judge people I know nothing about.
It is easy to say they are drug addicts and alcoholics, but ask yourself why they are? When I had to take classes at 22 when I got in trouble for pot, the number one thing they said, was most drug addicts and alcoholics are self medicating.
I also worked with a man who had been homeless most of his life, the longest period he wasn't, was while he was in Vietnam. He was also an alcoholic, due to mental illness.
When I worked at the city park, I spent most of my day picking clothes and beer cans out of bushes, and cleaning up in way or another after homeless people. It is easy to dismiss them, but one really shouldn't.
It is also easy to say they belong in a mental hospital, but who is going to make sure they go? I remember seeing on Dateline, where a lady was dropped off in LA after being in the hospital, they dropped her off on the side of the street. The lady had dementia.

Thanks for taking the moral high ground by the way.


Best story I have though, is this guy we called the General. He was obviously an old Army guy, and he carried around a two way radio every where he went. When we were working, he would come over and order us around. He was a nice guy, but he still thought he was in Korea, and that we were his men.

 

[strollingbones]

value meal is still a buck here

 

[manifold]

It seems that a lot of people here are overlooking the obvious, or choosing to dance around it.

This McDonalds got rid of the dollar menu specifically to price out the urban survivalist riff-raff. Probably because they believed they were keeping other, higher paying customers away. Not to sound too douchy, but I wouldn't want to go to a McDonalds known for vagrant pan-handlers begging for handouts.

 

[California Girl]

This is a difficult thread for me. I want to make light of it and joke about homeless people.... but.... I do voluntary work with homeless people... and, in my view 'there but for the grace of God, go any of us'. So, I'm gonna join LuLu on the moral highground.

When I see a young person wearing Doc Martens ask me for change, I get a little pissed.
When I have to help an old man who fell out of his wheel chair and crapped his pants, I realize I probably should judge people I know nothing about.
It is easy to say they are drug addicts and alcoholics, but ask yourself why they are? When I had to take classes at 22 when I got in trouble for pot, the number one thing they said, was most drug addicts and alcoholics are self medicating.
I also worked with a man who had been homeless most of his life, the longest period he wasn't, was while he was in Vietnam. He was also an alcoholic, due to mental illness.
When I worked at the city park, I spent most of my day picking clothes and beer cans out of bushes, and cleaning up in way or another after homeless people. It is easy to dismiss them, but one really shouldn't.
It is also easy to say they belong in a mental hospital, but who is going to make sure they go? I remember seeing on Dateline, where a lady was dropped off in LA after being in the hospital, they dropped her off on the side of the street. The lady had dementia.

Thanks for taking the moral high ground by the way.


Best story I have though, is this guy we called the General. He was obviously an old Army guy, and he carried around a two way radio every where he went. When we were working, he would come over and order us around. He was a nice guy, but he still thought he was in Korea, and that we were his men.

I know quite a few homeless people. Some are there because they're mentally ill, addicts of some description, quite a lot are very much like the rest of us, they just had a series of bad breaks that were not solely their own fault.... but all of them are human beings whatever the reasons for their predicament. I think if more people bothered to find out what happened to people who become homeless, they wouldn't be quite so quick to judge them harshly.

 

[jillian]

I know quite a few homeless people. Some are there because they're mentally ill, addicts of some description, quite a lot are very much like the rest of us, they just had a series of bad breaks that were not solely their own fault.... but all of them are human beings whatever the reasons for their predicament. I think if more people bothered to find out what happened to people who become homeless, they wouldn't be quite so quick to judge them harshly.

i think that's true. i recall reading that some ridiculously high percentage of our population is two paychecks away from homelessness. I don't know if that's an accurate number, but I do suspect that many are closer than they'd like to think they are. I am always grateful to know that under the worst of circumstances, I wouldn't be homeless because of a great family support system. (not that anyone wants to live with their family or through their generosity), but there are so many people who don't even have that small safety net.

I agree... there but for the grace of G-d.

 

[Luissa]

This is a difficult thread for me. I want to make light of it and joke about homeless people.... but.... I do voluntary work with homeless people... and, in my view 'there but for the grace of God, go any of us'. So, I'm gonna join LuLu on the moral highground.

When I see a young person wearing Doc Martens ask me for change, I get a little pissed.
When I have to help an old man who fell out of his wheel chair and crapped his pants, I realize I probably should judge people I know nothing about.
It is easy to say they are drug addicts and alcoholics, but ask yourself why they are? When I had to take classes at 22 when I got in trouble for pot, the number one thing they said, was most drug addicts and alcoholics are self medicating.
I also worked with a man who had been homeless most of his life, the longest period he wasn't, was while he was in Vietnam. He was also an alcoholic, due to mental illness.
When I worked at the city park, I spent most of my day picking clothes and beer cans out of bushes, and cleaning up in way or another after homeless people. It is easy to dismiss them, but one really shouldn't.
It is also easy to say they belong in a mental hospital, but who is going to make sure they go? I remember seeing on Dateline, where a lady was dropped off in LA after being in the hospital, they dropped her off on the side of the street. The lady had dementia.

Thanks for taking the moral high ground by the way.


Best story I have though, is this guy we called the General. He was obviously an old Army guy, and he carried around a two way radio every where he went. When we were working, he would come over and order us around. He was a nice guy, but he still thought he was in Korea, and that we were his men.

I know quite a few homeless people. Some are there because they're mentally ill, addicts of some description, quite a lot are very much like the rest of us, they just had a series of bad breaks that were not solely their own fault.... but all of them are human beings whatever the reasons for their predicament. I think if more people bothered to find out what happened to people who become homeless, they wouldn't be quite so quick to judge them harshly.

Exactly!
And many I think just need help getting out of the mess. Being the liberal I am, I think they should offer more treatment to them, and teach them how to handle money.
I watched a good documentary but can't remember the name. They gave a homeless man something like $200,000 maybe more. One of the first things he did was buy a kid who worked at the recycling center( I believe) a car. Then he blew the money. He did a few smart things in the beginning, but after that it was down hill. He had no clue how to manage his money, mostly because he had been poor and homeless most of his life.

Many people who are poor have no clue how to manage money, for one they never had any to manage.

 

[Spoonman]

Over the years, isn't that exactly what our governemnt has done?

QFT.

The biggest increase in the median family's budget since the 1950s has been their combined tax bill. This amount has more than doubled to the point where it makes up close to 40% of their spending.

Food, as a percent of the budget, has dropped - from over 21% of the budge to 9%.

If only government were That Efficient.

The Tax Foundation - The Tax Burden of the Median American Family

When were taxes increased for the middle class?

Every federal assistance program Obama has cut has come back to the tax payer through state taxes or increased costs for goods and services. I.E. If you take mass transit in NY Obama cut federal funding. That has been passed on to the taxpayer through increased state taxes and fare hikes.

 

[camcooh2]

I went to McDonald's yesterday and I know for a fact they still have the dollar menu in Massachusetts. Double cheeseburgers for a buck. Terrible stuff you only buy because you forget after a while how bad it is. I don't know if they priced it elsewhere to 1.50 to discourage the homeless population. Seems like not enough of an increase to do that. I suspect with the crappy economy more middle class people are eating that garbage so they feel free to increase prices a bit, discouraging the homeless is just an added bonus.
And please don't nag me for intolerance. I do feel sorry for the homeless regardless of the reason they are so. What I don't like are freeloaders, able-bodied bums who panhandle cuz they don't want to work.

 

[Luissa]

I know quite a few homeless people. Some are there because they're mentally ill, addicts of some description, quite a lot are very much like the rest of us, they just had a series of bad breaks that were not solely their own fault.... but all of them are human beings whatever the reasons for their predicament. I think if more people bothered to find out what happened to people who become homeless, they wouldn't be quite so quick to judge them harshly.

i think that's true. i recall reading that some ridiculously high percentage of our population is two paychecks away from homelessness. I don't know if that's an accurate number, but I do suspect that many are closer than they'd like to think they are. I am always grateful to know that under the worst of circumstances, I wouldn't be homeless because of a great family support system. (not that anyone wants to live with their family or through their generosity), but there are so many people who don't even have that small safety net.

I agree... there but for the grace of G-d.

My uncle was homeless for awhile. Sometimes their families have no clue what to do. He was a drug addict, and is also Bi Polar. He lived with my grandmother for awhile, but she had to move into a Retirement home. It just got to the point where no one knew what to do with him.
I also think many people do not know that many states will pay for you to go to rehab, and will help you when you get out for a certain period of time. I also think when they get arrested for drug use, sending them to jail isn't always the best solution.

 

[Luissa]

I will also add the dollar menu at Burger King is much better.

 

[Oddball]

I know quite a few homeless people. Some are there because they're mentally ill, addicts of some description, quite a lot are very much like the rest of us, they just had a series of bad breaks that were not solely their own fault.... but all of them are human beings whatever the reasons for their predicament. I think if more people bothered to find out what happened to people who become homeless, they wouldn't be quite so quick to judge them harshly.

Good for you in walking the walk, rather than just acting as though paying your taxes and voting for socialist politicians to throw a bunch of OPM around means that you care.

 

[jillian]

When were taxes increased for the middle class?

they weren't.

 

[Bfgrn]

It seems that a lot of people here are overlooking the obvious, or choosing to dance around it.

This McDonalds got rid of the dollar menu specifically to price out the urban survivalist riff-raff. Probably because they believed they were keeping other, higher paying customers away. Not to sound too douchy, but I wouldn't want to go to a McDonalds known for vagrant pan-handlers begging for handouts.

I think you are on to the root cause.

 

[Luissa]

I know quite a few homeless people. Some are there because they're mentally ill, addicts of some description, quite a lot are very much like the rest of us, they just had a series of bad breaks that were not solely their own fault.... but all of them are human beings whatever the reasons for their predicament. I think if more people bothered to find out what happened to people who become homeless, they wouldn't be quite so quick to judge them harshly.

Good for you in walking the walk, rather than just acting as though paying your taxes and voting for socialist politicians to throw a bunch of OPM around means that you care.

Talk about judging people you know nothing about.



And if we cut on the those "liberal" programs, do you not think the homeless population will increase?

 

[boedicca]

When were taxes increased for the middle class?

they weren't.

They have been. Dramatically.

The Tax Foundation - The Tax Burden of the Median American Family

 

[xotoxi]

There are no soup kitchens in SF?

 

[boedicca]

There are MANY soup kitchen in SF, as well as shelters and clinics.