What I and the gang want for Christmas…

Someone who reads The Homeless Guy just emailed me and asked me what I or any of the gang wanted for Christmas as they were going to send Kevin some money too. They didn’t want me to feel left out being a regular, but rarely commenting reader and admirer of my blog. This was my reply:

Thank you for the email and for reading. I really don’t lack in anything material wise these days. Most homeless people just want a dry and warm roof over their heads and a friend who cares. These are things that are hard to buy for someone and it takes a special person to give such things. You certainly can’t buy a friend unless you have millions to give away and they will desert you once the money has long dried up so they really weren’t your friend in the first place. A true friend asks for little in return and gives much more than just some negative posts of woe on a sparsely read blog that is littered with religious references and pleas for money and material things.

I don’t condone giving to the so called “The Homeless Guy.” I and a quite large number of homeless and formerly homeless bloggers and writers all think this guy is a sham and is full of shit. The only one that speaks favorably of this guy is Morgan Brown, who has also been intermittently homeless for most of his adult life and whose life has been very similar to Kevin’s. I would hope you would donate cash or food to the very churches and rescue missions that help feed him and give him a warm place to sleep every night. These places have supported him going on for decades now. That way you can help a great many homeless people and not just one cyber panhandler with a penchant for telling a sob story on the internet that tugs upon your heart strings. He just happens to write well enough and his blog is quirky enough to garner a few hundred readers a day. I abhor his cyber panhandling though and that is exactly what it is without mincing words. He reminds me of the late Warren Zevon’s song Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me minus the love references.

Someone else emailed me a few months ago asking what they could do for a homeless acquaintance. I told them to just meet their basic needs such as warmth and food at a reserved distance. That is all you really need when your life has become so debased as homelessness affords you. Any homeless person asking for digital cameras or computers is nigh full of it. The last thing on your mind when you are cold and hungry is browsing the internet and writing about it unless you are a very rare and stalwartly verbose individual.

Let me get off my soapbox. I would urge you to donate to the Nashville Rescue Mission to help Kevin or donate some of your time over the holidays helping serve the very morale boosting holiday meals that they will no doubt serve. As for I and the gang, your thoughts and cares are enough this holiday season. I appreciated the email and hope this little diatribe didn’t offend anyone. A couple of comments from time to time on the blog would be nice as well. I think we all need a little affirmation about writing as bloggers some days. I am fortunate to have some really awesome people joining in to read most of the time and dropping some comments that make my day.