Quote:
Originally Posted by golfing eagles
Sorry, but what I think is really sad are those that want to make a nice, comfy home for them right here in "River City"-----which would give us a much bigger problem than "pool" (Robert Preston, The Music Man)
It's no different than the conclusion of various threads on theft here----make it difficult for the thief and they'll find an easier target. Let's not make The Villages and easy target.
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Spot on.
Back before we moved here, we lived in a town in Minnesota of about 30,000 people about an hour's drive from Minneapolis - St. Paul. There were homeless in our town; not many, but they were there. We showed compassion: churches took turns cooking so that there was one free, healthy meal provided per day, usually at about 5:00 PM. A local athletic facility allowed them to use the showers at certain designated times. They could use the food shelves. Churches also arranged for clothing donations to be given to them. Reports were that some of them utilized a couple of abandoned buildings for shelter; the law mostly looked the other way. It made sense. Minnesota isn't bad during the summer months but there is 5-6 months of winter weather up there and it can get pretty rough living outside.
We began noticing, however, that the numbers of people at the free meals were increasing. Panhandling started occurring, and some of the panhandlers were quite verbally aggressive about it. Shoplifting, and theft (including break-ins) were increasing. There were squabbles among the homeless as well, one of them knifing another over some dispute or other. Word had it that the reputation for compassion shown to the homeless in our little town had spread to other towns--homeless people have phones too, and contrary to some belief they DO travel. It was the "Portland effect" in miniature. We moved before anything concrete was done about it so I have no idea what the situation is there today.
This is what "compassion" for the homeless gets you. I've seen it firsthand and I definitely don't want it here in TV.