I agree with the OP.. try living or working in the north part of downtown Sacramento .. up near the “Loaves & Fishes” camp. Homeless people (some with serious mental issues) wandering around everywhere.
Fact is, most of us do not want that.

(Many thanks to you, food pantries. The food was greatly appreciated in my time of need. Happy to be able to give back now more than I received.)

April, you suck big time!

it was also fairly safe because there was a lot of drug dealing going on, and the police had this sort of unofficial agreement that, as long as they weren’t called out there they would turn a blind eye. Believe me, I saw what happened to two guys that tried to rob a place out there, and it wasn’t pretty. Let’s just say, they were glad when the police finally arrived.

In recent years the folks that grew up hanging out there have come back and turned it into a sort of family attraction complete with a police station where the best pizza place in atlanta used to be. The squat houses are being replaced with designer homes, and the shops are much more trendy. Now, when you go there, you see hipsters and their grandpas. It’s sad that such a wonderful, dynamic place, has fallen prey to hipsters trying to recapture youth, just like so many places last generation fell prey to the yuppies.

See that is the thing. I did show you up because you did put me in a bubble and I blew it up in your face. Since when is not being tolerant of homeless people equated with not wanting to give them money? Who decided that rule? I guess all these established charities need to abolish themselves since they are doing NO good and are just funded by horrible people who are not tolerant. Wank.

Duh, yes, we pay taxes and then get every penny back plus earned income. I figured that was obvious without being said. Now who is the dumb one?

Actually I did study statistics. Took it in college and got an A. I did mean to say median but my brain typed the wrong but similar word. Everyone does that kind of thing all the time.

If you paid attention above I posted we have more than our fair share of high medical bills. That comes from having a special needs child, a child with severe food allergies, a chronic health problem, an adult with severe food allergies, and bad medical history and genetics. What we would pay for cable and internet every month goes to medical bills. A sensible person would backpedal and apologize for criticizing someone for something that is actually quite sad and not their fault, but my guess is you won’t.

Try using a mode, median or mean to say something which has meaning.

Your comment has none.

Now, if you meant median, that means that half of income is above, and half below.
If you make 40k and median is 48k (taking your numbers as a given, though I don’t in my gut think that’s right), you are nowhere near poverty level if you construct a bell curve.
You’re in the statistical middle of an extremely skewed curve. Far fewer, make the highest amount of money than earn the lowest amounts, and those upper income levels are way out in front of the norms. But then, it’s fairly obvious you’ve never studied statistics, so why bother?
Suffice it to say that you are lower-middle class…nowhere near poverty level in any area of the US for a family of four living a normal life.
If you endure the privations you describe above (no cable, no cell phones, etc.) with 40k and only two children, you’re doing something wrong. If you filed taxes, your tax deductions for the two crumb-snatchers would about cover that these days.
Furthermore, if you have a legitimate income of 40K, you pay taxes if you’re in the USA. You may get a tax return, but taxes come out of your paycheck if you’re employed, and you’re supposed to pay quarterly if self-employed. So that “we don’t pay taxes because we’re so poor” is a lot of crap. Uncle Sam takes his, then gives it back after you file, if you’ve paid more than you owe after you file your tax returns. So, yes, if you’re in the US, you pay taxes out of every paycheck. You may get it all back, but it’s taken out of your paycheck each pay period.

Comparisons to others isn’t what poverty level is about, not at all. Poverty level is about how much money is needed to reach a certain minimal standard of living (not whether income taxes come out of your paycheck, which is based upon how many deductions you claim on your W-4 which determines how much they take out in the first place), not in comparison to the standards of living of others. So, you’re using the statistics to say something they are not intended to say in the first place.
Otherwise, we are pretty much all poor because our standard of living is nowhere near that of Bill Gates or Oprah Winfrey…even at a million dollars a year.

Sad, just sad. Please stop proving my point.
That being that you are an idiot.
You didn’t…please don’t say you did…you didn’t vote, did you?

Oh, and stupid…I can’t stand stupid, except that it makes for really good sport! You don’t even have to hunt stupid, it comes running right up to the barrel of your gun. Just pull the trigger!

As educated and prepared as the middle managers who were down-sized in the late 80′s and early 90′s? And they were a lot better educated than most college grads are today, BTW…and were experienced in their jobs as well.
I watched some of those people leaving our offices (a major insurance company) in tears, many in their mid-fifties, with virtually no notice at all back then…and that was complete job eliminations, not even “we’re moving your job overseas.”

Who prepares for that? How much education can prepare you for your job market drying up because a new business model is being adopted across the board and it doesn’t include a large middle-management corps?

How do you prepare for working for a major corporation for a good number of years, and they sell out to some company that eats the assets then lays everyone off and gets a big tax write-off, or does an Enron on your ass, but leaves you out of a job?

A little life experience is in order for some of you.

Not all homeless people are mentally ill, homeless by choice or life-long losers.
Some people have just been royally fucked!
I’ve been “right-sized” out of a job. I’ve had my employer go belly-up (banked on an infusion of capital but the buyer backed out at the last minute). I’ve had my employer sold to a company (that promised we were all safe, no worries, new policies, better shit than ever!) that cannibalized us and cast us off.
Three really good jobs, at good companies, that I spent a total of 22 years of my life working for…all gone.
Being well-educated doesn’t help much in circumstances beyond your control, and the stress is un-fucking-believable. Rumors of lay-offs precede lay-offs by 6 to 10 months. A long time to worry about whether or not you have a job next Monday, and all the while you’re being assured not to worry, everything is fine…just fine…as manager after manager just happens to find new employment.
A little empathy for those who can’t handle it is in order.
I know I’m lucky to have yet another good position, because there are not enough of them for every displaced worker.
Were it not for my CIFs (no, you may not get that reference…my friends) I could have cracked and been homeless too.

So I donate to good causes to try to help those who have yet to make it back…and I try not to judge the guy on the street who asks for a bit of the change I’m fortunate enough to have to give…and I don’t ask how he’ll spend it, because a gift shouldn’t have strings attached. How he spends it is his business, as is whether it does him good or ill.

Some of you will understand this, some of you will not.

If you do, thanks.

If not, good luck, and watch your back. The rules are…there are no rules.

RIP Dad.