Gutter punk kids & NOPD are a joke

St. Widge said
It's an interesting point of view and honestly, my only knowledge of their culture is the article I read a few years ago. I had my suspicions that many of them saw themselves as modern day Kerouac's or dharma bums. And, I'm fine with them living their lives as free as they want.

It's when they cross that line that it becomes an issue. And, I'm not saying they all do it, but some obviously some do. I don't really cross paths with them much, but I do recall a group that was hanging out under the Claiborne overpass at Orleans/Basin. They were running back and forth the conveience store on the corner and then they would be all messed up at 9:00 in the morning running in front of cars in traffic and begging for money. And they appeared to be targeting women alone in cars thinking that they would be intimidated and give them money. I'm all for leaving the ones alone that don't mess with people or comitt crimes, but the ones that do need to be dealt with even if that is the minority.

I guess the thing that bothers me the most about it is that I'm fine with them living their lives like they want to, but stop standing on every other street corner begging for money. Why should I pay for you to live free when I have to get on the hamster wheel every day? And, it makes it hard to tell the difference between the gutter punks who are asking me to pay for their chosen lifestyle and truly homeless people who need help. I'm happy to help the truly homeless, but there are so many asking for money now that I can't tell the difference anymore. The other issue, like I said, is that they are using things like Ozanam inn and other things we do for the truly homeless when they are just doing this as a lifestyle choice. It strains a system that is already woefully underfunded.

Finally, I get the romanitc notion of traveling the country like Kerouac in On the Road, but I'm not sure that the reality of Gutter Punks is quite the same. They seem to be more trying to live off the charity/guilt of others rather than truly living free.

I totally agree. The ones who cross the lines from simply flying a sign to harassing people for money need to be dealt with. And obviously anyone who's committing crimes of any kind does too.

I don't know about the current day gutterpunks outside of the three who are regulars at the needle exchange I volunteer at twice a month, but the ones we knew back in the day would never sleep at Ozanam Inn. That's why they move with the seasons. They'd use the Mission and places like that (IDK if Ozanam Inn offers it) that offer showers for $1 or something like that to take a shower every now and then, but they'd never live in a shelter. They set up camps in abandoned box cars, containers, warehouses, parks, underpasses, etc. so as to have their "own" place and not be subject to the rules of a shelter.

I don't give them money either but I do give it to people who I think are homeless from forces outside their control. The way I judge the real homeless from the fakers in the winter is by the level of warm clothing they're wearing. Any truly homeless person will have a warm coat or multiple layers on to keep warm. If they're out there begging for money in freezing weather in a t-shirt, chances are that's their homeless costume to gain sympathy.