Brrrr! It is so cold. A homeless guy came to the door looking for a blanket. I have a blanket I could have given him, and a coat as well. It belonged to my father; he died in 1976, so I guess he will never need it.
But I was afraid to open the door to give them to him. So much bad stuff has happened in the neighborhood. Now I feed bad about it.
We had an overly crazy guy stop at our house a few years ago for the same thing. I am always armed, but I told him to go sit on the curb so that I could set the blanket outside and that he had better stay sitting until I had closed the door again. He was really twitchy the whole time, but he followed directions.
It's hard to find a balance between your safety and helping someone in need.
I've been having a PM conversation with
[COLOR=333333]Gallo del Cielo[/COLOR] and I mentioned that after his loss of two birds and my loss of seven birds to predators, I don't go out side without my .45 strapped to my waist, I just wonder how safe anyone would feel if they knocked on MY door and I answered with that piece on my hip.
Seriously, folks, I have a CCW (Carry Concealed Weapon) permit and I AM certified as a teacher.
Skip
(Edited to add: Oh, and yeah, it's been cold here too in Golden Valley
For anyone that has a lot of these folks coming to your door, or you see them as you access or exit the freeways, here's a little something for thought. Carry some S.O.S. emergency 'gifts' for these poor folks. A Zip bag with things like a toothpaste, tooth-brush, stockings, under-ware and maybe a shirt or sweater. Then instead of looking away from them as if they didn't exist, you could easily give them a gift of needed things rather than dollar bills if you think they will use the money for something other than food. Just use your imagination and think up something you might think they need and pre-package needed things for them.
Just rambling here .... )