Witz Pickz: An Addendum to the Ruining Homelessness Post

So I'm a little surprised I forgot to include this little tale in my post yesterday, but I remembered it this morning and decided that although it might result in someone getting mad at me, I can't rob you all of this little gem. Here we go:

A year or two ago, while working in Seattle, a woman I knew came up to me at work and quickly assaulted me with,

"Did you hear what Mr. Your Girlfriend's Dad said in the paper?!" She was clearly incensed (meaning angry, not smelling of incense).

"No," I replied, wondering what she could be so upset about from a liberal town councilman who I can't imagine ever doing a bad thing in his life.

"He said that people shouldn't give money to homeless people!" She declared, folding her arms in victory. Confused, I tried to work the neutral space.

"Well, did he mean it like that, I mean, maybe there was more to the conversation...that sounds like an odd thing for him to say..."

"That was the quote in the paper! That's what he said!" Later on, I would find out that what he had ACTUALLY said was that giving homeless people money on the street is not going to bring about any solutions. Instead of giving money to homeless people, we should invest in programs and support systems to provide a lasting solution and not a temporary fix-- sometimes literally. But she wasn't having any of it. "I mean how can he say that!" Now wait for it....wait for it.... "The father of my children is homeless!!"

BOOOOOM! KAPOW!!!!! ZAAAAAAM!!!!

Excuse me??? What? The father of your your children is a homeless person?? You can't base your argument on the fact that your babies' Daddy is homeless and that is why you are so upset about Mr. My Girlfriend's Dad's comments! What about the fact that THE MAN IS HOMELESS and you know this-- was it really alright as long as you knew that people would very infrequently provide him with their change and or Trader Joe's products (Yeah, I gave a homeless dude a Java Black Tea once-- he was pumped)?

Additionally, how was I supposed to react to that in conversation? I knew very little about this woman and suddenly she drops that bomb on me. Did he become homeless, like, later on, after a divorce or did she have sexual relations on multiple occasions with the same homeless man, birthing a family of children along the way? I'm gonna need some documentation before I say anything in response to that little doozy. Maybe a photo journal set to music. "The father of my children is homeless,"....my goodness.

Consider yourself addendumed.

"If You Are Flammable and Have Legs, You Are Never Blocking A Fire Exit" i.e. "If You Care About A Homeless Person and Have A Home Yourself, You Don't Need to Have A Homeless Person You Care About,"
Witz