TONY
“You know Brad at Brad’s restaurant just down here? I asked him the other evening after he closed if he could spare a buck for dinner. Well he asked me how much I needed for dinner and he gave me the whole $7 that I needed.
“We should tell the people on our blog, you know what i mean.”
Homeless Man Speaks 
September 20, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Dear,Phil
Can you tell Tony to go to facebook and typ in me name .He can see pictures of the kids and pictures of himself in my picture files
Thank you Sharon
September 23, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Well Brad’s a decent human being now, isn’t he?
Wish everyone was a little more like that.
Hope you’re both well.
September 23, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Oh, and so what did you have?
September 26, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Cool blog. I want to invite you to check out art4thehomeless.nutang.com, a blog that helps promote homeless awareness in the US and has a direct link to helping other people who are homeless connect with folks like you–you have a positive blog and I find encouragement in your posts.
Peace
Johnna
September 27, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Hi! I don’t know how I found this blog but I think it’s really cool. Do you really have a homeless friend and these are actual excerpts from daily convos? That’s so awesome if it were!
I’ll be checking back!
Peace&Love
September 28, 2008 at 3:43 pm
In regards to Tony,
Why is he not collecting disability from the government? Why is he not doing an office job? If he can sit there ask for fucking change all day he can ask for a job.
Social parasite. All they do is blame other people for their problems. They need to start taking responsibility for their own reality. Get a job and start contributing to society. You obviously have the intellect and basic social skills to do so.
September 29, 2008 at 1:49 pm
It’s funny to me the people who say go get a job, when even those who are not homeless cannot get a good job. I’ve gone to many interviews, but they don’t seem to want to hire me. Now imagine you walk into an office, and you see a guy or girl who hasn’t bathed in awhile, wearing dirty unkept clothes, bad teeth, scars and other skin damage, and chronic health or mental problems from living outside working on your file. Would you want your business at that office?
September 29, 2008 at 9:00 pm
that would be “in regard to” Joe.
September 30, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Joe here,
Getting a job is as easy as pie. A little charm and resourcefulness can get you anywhere. Walk into a shop and speak with the manager; charm the pants off them. Go to the public library, access craigslist job postings and apply for all of them. With Tony’s good nature he should have no problem getting on a manager’s good side. Laziness and unwillingness to work are at the root of this problem. Scapegoating and procrastination perpetuate it.
If Phil really wanted to help Tony, he’d take him into his home and clean him up, as opposed to just writing him a blog.
October 1, 2008 at 10:17 am
Joe Salmon – I doubt they would hire him in at a salary to be able to afford an apartment much less being able to afford food and utilities. That’s if they would hire him. He is almost 60 years old. It goes beyond taking him home and cleaning him up.
October 1, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Whoa, dude, Tony – you’ve got some serious abuse issues. If you can’t call a spade a spade then what hope is there? Even Jesus spoke in deraugatory terms of his fellow man – very deraugatory in fact! He knew hiding the truth is destructive and benefits no one. Delete this comment too and just keep on pretending. Your funeral. No one can help someone like that. And not all addictions are physical.
October 2, 2008 at 1:32 am
Joe…if laziness and unwillingness to work are at the root of HIS problem, can I please tell you what are at the root of yours?
Rudeness, insensitivity, a pompous, arrogant attitude. That’s just the start.
Social parasite? How about a two bit know it all bully? They’re worse…work on that.
I’m glad that you can make an assessment from a few words and pictures on a blog. But maybe it’s you that’s got it wrong? If you know so much, how come you don’t know how to behave in public. Or how to show compassion? Or how to just shut up and listen?
October 2, 2008 at 1:34 am
And you might know about finding a job and how to schmooze managers, but you don’t know the first thing about being a decent human being (apparently). Success isn’t measured only by the money in your pocket or the nameplate on a door….it’s about warmth, kindness, the ability to make the best out of any situation. Tony runs circles around you in people skills.
October 2, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Praise the Lord for all the people like Joe who are trying to help others with their experience and wisdom. It takes alot of different views to make a village and we are all here, with our own strengths, to build the Kingdom as in Heaven. God Bless you all for your continuing care for your fellow human beings!
October 2, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Right on, debbielynn. Joe is so far out of touch with reality, he’s on another planet! And zero ability to imagine the detailed truth of another person’s life.
October 3, 2008 at 10:11 pm
debblielynn:
How am I a bully? I’m not going up to Tony on the street and telling him what to do with his life. I’m stating my opinion on his situation on a blog that is dedicated to him. Unwilling to listen to opinions that contrast the norm? Not my problem.
It’s Tony’s choice to panhandle on the streets; who says he has a problem? I’m not going to tell him how to spend his time.
HOWEVER – if it’s money that he truly wants, which is his main motive behind socializing with random people on the street – it’s not simply good-natured banter – then the only logical solution is to get a job and work for money. With his reputation and, like I said, friendly, sociable nature, I’m certain that he’s been offered jobs.
October 6, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Please be advised that there are humans who get their jollys by the reactions to an inflamatory comment. I have to suspect that someone who does so is living a life empty of love, and will do anything for attention, even negative. The best way to avoid rewarding this behavior is to ignore said comments. We can all say a prayer for that Joe person; we know that the people who are hardest to love are those who need the most love of all.
October 6, 2008 at 10:51 pm
We are all in recovery in this fallen world. Love your neighbour as you love yourself. God Bless you all real good!
November 14, 2008 at 12:52 pm
[…] “Don’t you know? The new bakery next to Brad’s. You’ve seen them — they just opened the other day. It’s called Mabel’s. […]