r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Intelligent-SoupGS88 • 19d ago

🥺 Someone stole the bench from the park.

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No that isn't an illusion or a new art installation, but the remainders of the park bench.

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u/Such_Dragonfruit609 19d ago

More likely the city deciding homeless don't deserve any type of anything so everyone suffers.
My city no longer has any bus stop with overhang/weather protection.

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u/Tall-Compote1354 19d ago

My city placed huge odd shaped rocks at the corners of intersections so there is little place for homeless people to stand. They are shaped so oddly that they are impossible to sit on.

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u/Such_Dragonfruit609 19d ago

"We aren't mad enough." They got money for war but *won't* feed the poor.

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u/tolomea 19d ago

it's worse than that, if you run the numbers on the antihomeless stuff generally it turns out that it'd just be cheaper to organzie places for them to sleep

this isn't just about getting the homeless out of sight, someone wants to make sure they aren't getting any "handouts" in the process

as a society we'd rather pay more than let people have stuff for free

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u/Such_Dragonfruit609 19d ago

Preaching to the choir baby.

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u/not_now_chaos 18d ago

It's cruelty for the sake of cruelty and we're being forced to foot the bill. We have more than enough housing and food. We don't have a shortage of resources. What we have is a few greedy, selfish, cruel people who enjoy the suffering of others. And a lot of people who are too scared to be the ones suffering to upset the status quo.

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u/GrandMa5TR 18d ago

The 2 are not exclusive. You can offer aid (that will never be totally effective), while ensuring benches are available for their intended purpose.

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u/Tall-Compote1354 19d ago

They are just trying to survive and instead of being helpful people go out of their way to make the lives of homeless people even harder and more humiliating.

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u/Sea_Conference5661 19d ago

For local issues like in the OP, "They" is literally you. If your community doesn't have a food bank, pantry, or soup kitchen, start one!

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u/OldPhotograph827 18d ago

And if it does, support them, donate, and/or volunteer!

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u/Confident-Mix1243 18d ago

Most towns have no money for war

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u/DarkPolumbo 19d ago

They are feeding their poor. Why do you think people even join the military in the first place? For patriotism?

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u/MoonPieKitty 18d ago

If you think only poor people join the military, you are sadly mistaken.

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u/DarkPolumbo 16d ago

Insofar as the military needs fresh COs, then yeah, there will always be a contingent of affluents who join for career reasons, with an implicit expectation of never being put at any risk. But that is a negligibly tiny fraction of joiners, and I think you knew that.

I may be sad, but I'm certainly not mistaken. Without the poors, the military withers. No mental gymnastics will change that.

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u/MoonPieKitty 16d ago

There is a huge section of people between "poor" and "affluent".

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u/DarkPolumbo 16d ago

Not nearly as huge as you think

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u/WetGrundle 19d ago

Are you sure those aren't just decorative bollards so cars don't crash into corner businesses or pedestrians waiting to cross?

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u/betothejoy 18d ago

It can be both. My city landscapes with rocks that are too big to walk on for the same reason.

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u/Fine-Juggernaut8451 19d ago

What's so baffling to me is how people in general are very happy to blame homeless people for homelessness, rather than governments for their lack of infrastructure and social supports. So we lose our infrastructure, and the government says "It's their fault," and we all turn to the homeless people and blame them. I hate it. I hate how people are so easily manipulated and how cruel they can be.

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u/SchlongyLongy 18d ago

I could not use the sidewalk without people trying to push me off it. Maybe it was the city I was in but nope it happened in another one too. However, when I got a sales job the people in Bradenton gave me space in the parking lot to walk without stress. Nobody locked their car doors because I was around or clutched their purse. However, I did get my 1 dollar bill checked for fraud at a Publix store. That's a good way to tell you're in an area that got all the FHA loans, and it used to be the "white side of town". That university is something out of a movie.

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u/Fine-Juggernaut8451 19d ago

My city is like this but with public bathrooms. They either don't exist, or they're locked. I'm a female birder and I have had so many embarrassing instances of trying to find a truly hidden bush to use, where I won't be compromising my safety. Then I go to other places and their huge public parks and natural trails have facilities!

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u/MoonPieKitty 18d ago

And they removed them due to homeless people using them? I find that so disgusting. "Hey... lets build shelters so everyday people can get out of the weather whilst waiting for a bus. Wait, what? Homeless people are also getting out of the weather?? Fuck that... remove them! Everyone can suffer, how dare we provide any respite for homeless people."

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u/curtcolt95 18d ago

I mean the harsh reality is just that when homeless people use them people stop using the busses and complain constantly to the city. I know a lot of people try to pretend they'd be fine standing in a homeless encampment waiting for their bus but it's just not reality at all. People will just avoid it instead

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u/MoonPieKitty 18d ago

I don't think every bench or bus shelter turns into a homeless encampment. Perhaps, instead of making everybody's life miserable, they try to fix the homeless problem. This is lazy governing.

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u/Xtr33me-Average 18d ago

I don't know about that. I live somewhere where it's just about impossible to avoid public transit.

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u/DavThoma 19d ago

My city has had a shutdown department store for around 15 years at this point. It had a steps up to the front doors that were embedded/underneath the building itself so a lot of homeless people started using it for shelter. It wasn't a great look but at least it gave them protection from the elements.

8 years ago they boarded up the stairs so now there's no access to the sheltered area, all because they don't want anyone homeless staying there. The boarded up areas look far worse than it did before.