WHY???

Let's watch the language, fellas...

all I meant was some of the homeless calls have to do with someone not being able to get a drink-or a fix and having no luck raising funds or getting a helping hand...at that point their day or night , their whole world and outlook come crashing down and it becomes a good option to walk off a bridge or try a desperate move-walk into traffic...a petty crime or grab a bottle and run....if the Monterey downtown is going to be their bedroom and playground and more and more keep flowing in...than these detox issues are going to be a all day=all night long---always event...I found a needle laying by my car when I loaded my kayaks the other day and picked it up so some kid did not find it...there was no trash can around and I set it on my floor board of my car....went about my day and forgot...it rode around in my car for a week...glad I did not get stopped....no fire truck for me then I would bet....

I'm on a Facebook group called Santa Cruz Hall Of Shame...it's sad and frustrating to see the number of repeat offenders...you can literally see their lives going downhill as they get destroyed by meth and life on the streets...their mugshots get progressively worse and worse...

There doesn't SEEM to be any repurcussions for drug violations in SC county, and for whatever reasons the resources and help that are out there do NOT work for many people....

I feel sad and sorry for them more than anything....at least for the ones that obviously have serious drug and/or alcochol problems.

It may sound cheesy but I honestly think some of the people I see in mughsots could be me, or my friends or family if not but for the grace of god...

Just my 2 cents.

Sincerely,

Jim

Here are some examples....

Sincerely,

Jim

These folks are sick. They have a disease. They are not some form of sub human life. You guys call yourselves Christian based? Believe in God and Christ?

Sick indeed and in need of some good caring help that will allow them enough time to to recover enough to maybe be ready to begin trying to help them salves with the help of others...what will be the solution to trying to get these folks help....let's say there are 100 in Monterey today that could benefit from extensive help...how do you make those ends meet and where is that help going to be located...let's say there only 10...ten people today that could be reached and housed in a help setting....do we have that ready for them
how will someone who is sick get help in Monterey county.....what if they are so far down/so addicted that they cant start the process them selves

You pull up to a Obvious homeless white male in a wheel chair, 60ish,  wild hair and beard that you know is housing small mammals,  as You exit the MICU,  the overwhelming smell of piss, shit, old and new and if not mistaken, gangrene,,,,  if you have ever smelled gangrene,  basically rotting, pussy green, brown black Flesh, and Oh My God a smell that will stop a truck and too much will positivity empty your stomach contents…

Pussy green?   

This thread is all over the place.

Jim, I'm glad you don't have my mug shots. Or do you?


Craig, you can't explain to someone who isn't listening. And folks that have never had addiction problems sometimes don't get it.
And Danglin, dude that's the most graphically disgusting thin I've read on this board. Almost made me not wanna eat my morning donut. Almost.

Let's watch the language, fellas...

WTF??? You OK bro?

A lot of begging street people don't need handouts. If someone has a pet, musical instruments or are traveling in a troop, they probably have somewhere to sleep; or wealthy parents they can call.

The addicts and mentally ill who actually need help don't need money. California is to weak, terrified, lenient and greedy to really help; that being hanging anyone and everyone cooking or pedaling meth and heroin.

Boy would that disrupt the Indian casinos...

These folks are sick. They have a disease. They are not some form of sub human life. You guys call yourselves Christian based? Believe in God and Christ?

Uh, no I don't call myself Christian based… no use for organized religion, spirituality yes, religion no, If your talking to me… "Are you talking to me.."   

I also know your out there Craig doing the railroad track crusades,  Strong Work Sir…   

  And as far my contribution on this post, I wanted to give a perspective of what it's like out there for those who are on the front lines dealing with what no body else wants to deal with or even think about. I do care, I have walked the walk, volunteered at the Berkeley Free Clinic, Haight Ashbury Free Clinic while getting ready for PA school and of course my Fire Paramedic career,  this problem is not solved with a couple of social workers or 3 and a van, and again take a slight to the sacrifice I and people like me have made in helping these people.  There also is triage in the field with something like your talking about, but it's impact is very minimal on the problem,  there just are no resources or very few for the seriousness and magnitude of the problem,  and expect it to get worse.

BTW, I just finished my INH meds for positive TB I contracted in the field.  I was waiting to make the commitment to taking these meds till after I stopped working so I would not be exposed to getting infected again as these meds are pretty rough on the body and did not want to do it twice...

Anyway,  you can talk all ya want and throw a dollar bill at them to help get another fix,  until your in there up close and personal,  how can you criticize those that act and do something about it?

I may have shown a bit of callousness, but anyone who knows me knows that I do have a " Servant's Heart " as many on this site.  I also have my scars from all of this and many other things that came with the well paying job, well maybe not that well paying, especially if you worked for Sac City, but were easy scape goats these days for the problem created by things other than your public servants. 

Sorry Mr. Matt for the gaga reflex,  but believe me, I could go much deeper than that and for a long time on the just unexplainable things I have seen in being a paramedic for close to 30 years in most of these Bay Area Counties,,, and that wheel chair guy, I've seen those type of calls in most cities I've worked, and their usually frequent flyers meaning you see the same person more than once with usually the same problem, till they die…
 
It's really sad when ya look closely at the homeless problem and its getting worse.

The thing that used to break my heart was families, single mothers escaping domestic violence with nothing but the clothes on their back, the working poor with 2 jobs and still do not have enough to eat,  what kind of country are we?

My aggression towards the homeless are the aggressive ones and young punks that think their rebels and bucking the man, but want a buck from you to continue their cause and I do believe that's what this post is originally about.

I do also apologize for my language on this post, not usually my style, but ya hit a nerve and I do have some issues post being on these front lines...

But again,  shout from the roof tops from your keyboard while someone else really puts the time, effort and sacrifice out there to actually do something.

  How you could help, I really don't know, I guess you could become a Policeman or Firefighter.  I've always thought that those jobs should be a 2 year commitment for everyone in society,  kind of like a kibbutz for the military in Israel.  Everyone would get a good dose of what it's really like out there and I bet this situation would change…

Till better days for the growing homeless problem…   

I could go on, but I got to get back to school and Nor Cal HOW paperwork so hopefully I can go fishing some day...

and no hard feelings, if that's the way you feel Triangelaguna, that's the way you feel,  I know what I have done and others like me,  so your not rocking my world, I'm just trying to educate so maybe it will be easier for you to have a little more compassion, and believe me, I know it ain't easy sometimes..

I'm confused...I thought folks were talking about the free rides and such...I guess this being twisted into  a bit of a battle between me and my perceived lack of respect for people in uniform...but just to be clear my post was referring to the homeless and drug abusers that I felt represented those most in the mugshots...and the fact that the system we currently have in place calls vital/expensive resources out to put a band aid 'if you will'  when there might be another way to address the situation..I for one have tons of respect for folks in civil service positions ......call a spade a spade though.....the current protocol -from my tiny peep hole of a perspective- is to roll out the whole shabang on ANY call....now I read responses and see that some feel they are right and I am wrong....hmmm...did'nt even know I thought I was right...but here try this....
who cares man....aint nothing gonna change ....and you aint right and I aint right and that shit aint right

Danglin cares dude. That's his point.
As do almost all first responders. That is why we do what we do. It's not for the money, lol....
Other forms of compassion come from a history dealing with demons. Obviously we have folks here that have experience there also, and that's where their compassion stems from.
But yeah, no one likes the homelessness and the lawlessness and the dirty folks everywhere.

We can't wish it will become Missoula Montana anytime soon. They don't have these problems. Outside at least, probably too cold.

... you feed a stray cat, it will stick around .... but it's still a stray cat.

I'm confused...I thought folks were talking about the free rides and such...I guess this being twisted into  a bit of a battle between me and my perceived lack of respect for people in uniform...but just to be clear my post was referring to the homeless and drug abusers that I felt represented those most in the mugshots...and the fact that the system we currently have in place calls vital/expensive resources out to put a band aid 'if you will'  when there might be another way to address the situation..I for one have tons of respect for folks in civil service positions ......call a spade a spade though.....the current protocol -from my tiny peep hole of a perspective- is to roll out the whole shabang on ANY call....now I read responses and see that some feel they are right and I am wrong....hmmm...did'nt even know I thought I was right...but here try this....
who cares man....aint nothing gonna change ....and you aint right and I aint right and that shit aint right

Not sure where you are coming from…  your "last rant"  stated that basically Fire Departments are making money by justifying running all their apparatus to a guy who needs a drink.  Your view of this problem and what Fire departments and police do with this situation is Wrong…

We have shared a couple of PM's on this and we seem to have a understanding,  but when I read this, I'm confused…

being a public servant is not an easy job period, and I will defend against anyone who diminishes what these caring folks do everyday…  you say you have respect for the people who do this job,  but your words are not coming out that way Bro…

  Good luck with that, and I really need to move on from this one … 

  Ciao!