Sunday, January 08, 2006

Ferriners

Denny, at Grouchy Old Cipple, thats in my blogroll, invited a French kid over for dinner last nite.. The kid is in the U.S for college, and Denny has had him visit his blog and they have had numerous conversations.. Sounds like they had a good time.. I think that was a good idea too..

Thru the years my front porch has seen its share of folks from other countries and states sittin and havin a glass of water or iced tea with me.. My street in front of my house is actually a US Hiway, and is a favorite of travelers wanting to see the "REAL" State of Texas and not just the Interstate version at 80 MPH..

My street is the one that the hitchikers and the bikers and the rubberneckers take.. Theres somethin about an old guy sittin on a front porch in overalls that seems to attract folks that are interested in the area too.. They dont have to be walkin or bikin for em to stop either.. They will pull the car up to the curb and get out and talk too..

Never can tell what those folks are wantin to see here either.. I've had em want to know where just about every kind of animal can be found.. Lots are lookin for old houses and log cabins.. Some are lookin for places to go campin and huntin at.. You ever tried to give somebody directions to some place down a dirt road by usin a damn road ATLAS before ?? It can get kinda tricky.. Specially cause of the way I TAWK !! I tawk just about the same way as I type.. But, me and my visitors have always seemed to get our points across in spite of the differences in our languages..


With all the newest tech gadgets now, the front porch is gettin to be a lonely place tho.. With cell phones and laptops and GPS tracking systems to take with you wherever you go, it just dont seem to be popular to stop and B.S. with the folks on the front porches any more.. Bout all I get that stop by now are the hitchikers.. Most of them just wanna bum a smoke or a drink of water, and most of them are from the north east coast.. I often wondered why so many of them are from up there.. I have found that a lot of the bums from up there would rather winter here in the deep south.. Seems that freezin to death on a Baltimore sidewalk wasnt their choice to spend the winter months and would rather lounge in the winter sun on the coast of Texas or out in the Southwest somewhere.. They were usually good for a good story anyway..














6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have no problem with your "accent"! I wonder who has the better life, the "homeless" or we more fortunate? If I were in your neck of the woods, I'd definitely stop by your porch.

9:32 PM, January 08, 2006  
Blogger Wild Bill said...

I always keep plenty of chairs handy for visitors, and you can have your pick.. You just have to decide what your choice of beverage is..

Most of the homeless I meet are that way by choice.. Lots have had better, but have had it taken by the courts or had it stolen from them.. Most just caint handle the stress of always bein on the look-out for the sheisters wanting to rip them off.. Excludin the winos and crack-heads, most are happy with what they do, or dont do.. Free spirits, if you will.. A lot dont own a watch, and dont want to own one either.. They get there when they get there !! They tell stories of people that have given them money or paid for a room-for-the-nite for them somewhere.. I usually have candy or cookies or something for em that they dont usually want to waste their money on.. For some reason, they most times have a can of chili with them, but no crackers to go with em.. I have a box in the livingroom that leads out to the porch, and they are in cafe style packs of two.. A handful of those crackers to go with their chili brings a smile to their faces.. I guess they would get mashed if they carried em too long in their backpacks..
There was a couple of out-of-country college students came thru one time and asked about a place to camp.. I think they were from Australia.. I took em out to my farm and helped em set up their tent and start a campfire.. They were gone the next day around noon when I went to check on em, and they left me a note sayin how much they enjoyed it and thanked me for lettin em stay there..
The hard wintertime seems to be the time that most homeless seem to long for the time that they could go home and have a hot shower and sit in the recliner and have a hot cup of somethin besides SOUP !!

10:15 PM, January 08, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Like you Bill I mingle with the 'bums'. Liberals call em 'homeless' here. Liberals want them to know they are viewed as victums of soceity.

9:47 AM, January 09, 2006  
Blogger Wild Bill said...

Well, actually, I see them as victims a lot of times myself..They are victims of the "Liberal Society" .. The liberal, protectionist, anti capitalist, catch-all, regulated society has made it where it is against-the-odds that the "small" man can make it on his own, in business or marketing any more.. You caint even dig a hole in the ground in your own yard to install a basketball goal without gettin a fuggin permit anymore.. You gotta get a $100 permit to put up a $60 pole.. If ya dont get the permit, and put it up anyway, your liberal neighbor is gonna get a liberal lawyer and sue your ass, and the liberal gummint is gonna give you a hefty fine on top of that.. So the $60 basketball goal for your kids is gonna cost you somewhere around $30grand plus your defense lawyer fees.. Mmmmm, probably around $50-$60 grand in all.. The bum dont have to worry about shit like that !!
The U.S. now has the largest percentage of homeowners in history.. Thats a lot of folks that have to pay property taxes and fees.. No wonder there are so many folks pissed at their gummint !! What I dont get is, why are so many in favor of this same bunch of assholes that have created this shit-storm of taxes and regulations ?? Its like hiring a guy to fill up a hole while you dig it out !!
Nowadays, a bum can get from one large city with a place to get a warm meal, a dry bed, and a hot shower to another without too much hassle.. The hardest leg of the trip bein from Cali. to Kansas City or El Paso..
A bums main predator, is other bums.. A rookie bum will usually connect with a veteran bum and learn the tricks.. Where to go, and places and people to avoid..
There are 2 distict groups of bums.. The hoboes and the truely homeless.. The hobo is an anti-social animal.. He would rather find a secluded spot outside an urban area that has a makeshift shelter that has a ready food supply near.. Maybe a place to fish or a good place to trap rabbit or small game, but close enuff to a habitated center that they can make a trip into town to sell cans and pick up a few items he needs..
The others mostly fall into a lump I call the "cockroaches".. They consist of the crackheads and winos, and those that want somebody else to provide for em.. The rest are just temporary and dont even need to be included into the equation.. They lost a job or divorced and are without a cash flow for a short period and are there for a short time.. A few are knocked far enuff down that they become permanent tho.. Then they join one of the two main groups..

1:41 PM, January 09, 2006  
Blogger citizen_us said...

Great post and comments, Bill.
I like your observations on the two groups, and think they are dead on.

Growin' up in the southeast part of Michigan, on a major highway, there were plenty of times when strangers/bums/travellers would ask to hunker down in the barn or fields.

We never turned anyone away and always fed em, too. And palavered once in a while if they wanted to work.

Those times have passed where I grew up, but still exist here in the northern parts.

5:51 PM, January 09, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bill I thought California was unique but I easily understand what you just described. You are right about their victum status partially preserved and pampered by Liberals in some cases. I am just sick of shit and have even been being unkind to bums lately whereas I had always made a point to know and befriend them to a small degree. If not offended at them they are friendly but they do things you do not want to know about.

I've noticed that the Liberal does not care what people with real time experience think unless they are Liberals. No one cares what the police think or their experiences, no one would care what you or I think about homeless and bums having known and observed them, enen our boys in Iraq and Afghanistan would be unheard from if not for blogging.

Here in Davis the police routinely and quietly run all the bums off, especially when petty theft and blight escallates. Right now there is a dearth of them except for a few regulars. We yearly have a media blitzkrieg of how mean and oppressive the police are and the homeless at times become a part of that blitz.

8:04 AM, January 29, 2006  

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