if you were homeless...

[joko]

...would you commit a crime, in order to go to prison and at least have a roof and food etc?

[dot.hawkes]

No i would go to the DSS and get sorted quick sticks but i would pretend to be foreign, russian or something

[Jennykins]

It depends I guess. Look back in the 20's during the depression, people who once had nice houses and respected jobs ended up living on the streets stealing food to live.

[daleroy]

I was hoeless and never commit a crime but I am ashamed to say that when the hunger got to be to much and I could not find work for a few days I did panhandle

[electricblue]

3 meals,playstations,gyms,sky tv,tvs in cells,etc
wonder why they're so full,a mates mum just come out of prison she had the lot!!

[noxlumos]

When I was in prison I met one person who had but personally I value my freedom too much.

[Scanning]

why are you asking this question, are you homeless, if so how are you posting this question, Do you wish to commit a crime?? if so what?.

[joko]

no scanning, just occurred to me that if i ever found myself in the unfortunate position of being homeless, i would very probably do this, and I wondered why more people don't.

Trouble is you would probably have to do something quite bad to be able to get comfortable in a cell for a few years, so i was thinking, what could i do that wouldn't hurt anyone or destroy anything valuable?

i figured perhaps pretending to attack a policeman - you know run at him screaming with a stick, and miss him - he'd have me on the floor in a headlock before a got near him (hopefully)

or just get caught red handed one morning in marks and spencers with half the shop up my jumper.

what you do?

[Tannoy]

What would happen if you got caught trying to break into a prison???

[Postdog]

Having been inside (contempt of court BTW, nothing nasty - just an altercation with the judge which I refused to apologise for) I wouldn't. I'd rather be depressed and free than caged....and some of the people aren't very nice either!.

[DaSwede]

I find your question interesting. I think I might. But I too don't want to hurt anyone, and the problem with criminal plans, I suspect, is they often go wrong (as if other plans didn't...), and you may find yourself having done damage that you could not have foreseen. For instance, you rob the bank and the teller has a heart attack, or leads the rest of his life looking over his shoulder, not trusting people he has yet to meet and would otherwise have come to trust. That IS damage.

So what to do, what to do!

About why more people don't... I don't know about the UK, but here in Sweden a great part of the homeless community are people who ought to be in psychiatric care and often beg to be, but are refused again and again - it's a national disgrace. Some of these people aren't capable of creating a plan. Others actually do kill somebody - it happens here shockingly often. For instance when our Minister for Foreign Affairs, Anna Lindh, was assassinated a couple of years ago - but that's just one example.

My guess is that more harmless 'customers' often do try but don't succeed as the police probably know their game and ignore them, they just make them return what they grabbed.

[sexyrussian]

I don't think I would.I would prefer to be on the streets then have to share a room with a criminal especially if it was a dangerous one.It is such a shame that there are so many super rich people and there are still people livind=g rough.It is even worse in Russia.The homeless die every day of the cold.Temperatures reach -60 in winter.It's terrible.

[joko]

i suppose then its a toss up between death or prison.
i would say most would risk the dangerous criminal than certain death.

if they were extremely dangerous they would kept be separate anyway.

at least in prison, you sort of know what your are up against - on the streets you are at the mercy of whoever feels like targetting you.

its certainly an curious decision - as daswede says, you could end up being responsible for ruining someones life or even inadvertantly killing them and if you were an essentially good person, just had some bad luck, then it would likely destroy you too.

[joko]

on a similar note - i was in a taxi that was bumped by another car.
the guys in the other car got out and ran to me and started to tell me they'd get me 2 grand if i went on their side - one even said 'this is what we do' - they even had clipboards and wanted my number etc.

i was fine. the driver had slammed on and it had hurt my chest and neck a little bit but i was ok.

they have thought "young woman in a taxi = no injury, no worry of heart failure, neutral witness, driver's company will pay the bill .... everyones a winner

thing is, i have hyper mobility ( spinal condition) and this exaccerbated it - although someone with a healthy spine and neck would have been fine
they didn't know that

i could have been ill, pregnant, on my way to the hospital, funeral, someones deathbed, - as it was i was just late for work...but they didn't know that.
i was absolutely furious!!
they had given little thought to their actions and apparently they did it regularly to earn a few quid.

i went on the drivers side a go �2,200 from them

its similar to what you said daswede about criminals not really thinking things through and not considering all the possiblities and complications

[daleroy]

I gues I was lucky when I was homeless I ran whith a group of old men who were on the streets for many years and new how to keep warm during winter where to find food what and who to aviod but they would get angery at me because I was 40 yeas yunger then most of them and they made shure I pushed myself and did every thing I could to get off the streets

they were on the streets so long they knew some people would start to love the freedom and soon not notice any discomfort living this way offerd

I don't remember who but some one once said when you are at the zoo looking at the lions you can tell witch ones were bred in captivity and whitch ones were capture in the wild
the ones captured in the wild have a look in there eyes as if part of there soul has been taken away that they have been broken and defeted
I don't think you will find meny people who have homeless for a long period of time trading that for a cage

[DaSwede]

joko, about your taxi story: That is so exactly what I meant. Have you noticed how some people always say "Well how was I supposed to know", after scr-ing up somebody else's life. But that is exactly the point - you can't know everything about everybody (hyper mobility conditions and what not), but you should know that you can't know. Good on you for doing the right thing.

[joko]

interesting point daleroy - i suppose in some ways you were lucky ( if you take my meaning) in that you found some good guys who would look out for you.

but if you dont find that i suppose it could be a terrifying experience - especially if you are female.

i vaguely remember from another post that you are in america (sorry if i'm wrong) and i know some parts of the us are pretty warm in the winter which i suppose would make a lot of difference too

i guess its all down to circumstances.