On Panhandling

There is a disturbing activity that often takes place in most cities. This activity can be seen on street corners, in subways, and sometimes outside of food establishments. I am referring to panhandling. Beggars provide zero service to society and have a negative impact on a large number of people that they encounter. Asking for donations is simply rude.

Many will think that I'm being cold-hearted. Perhaps this is true. But it is not without justification. We must analyze the steps that take place in order for a person to become homeless. Becoming homeless involves losing a job, never getting a new job (and ample time is granted for this with unemployment), alienating all of one's family members, and alienating all of one's friends. The combination of these four things means that anyone homeless must either be insane or a lazy worthless piece of shit. And the insane ones are rather easy to spot. Where does that place the rest?

Some claim that anyone can become homeless through a house fire or some similar tragedy. But is that actually true? If your entire house burned down, would your boss say "I heard that you lost your home in a tragedy, so pack up all of your things. You're fired!" I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be the case. Anyone that isn't worthless would have somewhere to stay until an apartment is found. Being homeless involves an entire series of bad decisions on that person's part. Not one bad decision, not two, not even five, but an entire series of bad decisions. And as this person goes through this downward spiral he or she never bothers to do anything about it.

Panhandlers have become a major problem, and the new tactics are disturbing. Those that loiter in an ATM vestibule certainly cause discomfort. A person must now withdraw cash right in front of a beggar. Similar guilt tactics are used when a bum opens the door for all patrons at a restaurant. I also hate when I'm sitting down eating and someone places a crappy two-cent keychain on the table. The keychain has a note telling me to buy it for a few dollars. I never do.

My main point is that beggars are a major annoyance that should be stopped. Panhandling is already illegal, yet there seems to be no enforcement. Almost every day I am bothered by someone reeking of urine that shakes a cup of change in my face or sings a terrible song. And they always like to throw out some religious slogan like "God bless everyone on this train. I'll pray for all of you." Well thanks stinky, but even if a deity did exist, I don't think he's been paying too much attention to you.

On Meetings

At most jobs meetings are common. Every so often a selected group of individuals must gather together in a particular office to discuss various topics in a formal setting. Sometimes all of the individuals are in the same office, sometimes there is an audio and video medium bringing all of the parties together. Regardless of the situation, a meeting gets people together in one form or another in order to tackle a particular problem or achieve a common goal.

At first, this may seem like a good idea. Convening to share information and bounce different ideas off of one another seems like a good thing. One would think that some sort of consensus could be reached by the end of the meeting. Proposed ideas could have all of the kinks pointed out and repaired. If the ideas contain too many problems, they could be scrapped. Unfortunately, this is not how a meeting actually operates.

In reality, the organizer of the meeting calls together a select group of individuals. An idea is proposed, and everyone voices his or her opinion. During this time, various individuals will point out all of the potential problems with the new ideas and suggest alternatives. None of these alternatives will be considered by those in charge. Everything said is basically pointless. Nothing gets achieved.

Here is what really happens. The ideas proposed at the beginning of the meeting are executed as is. There is no adjustment, no problem fixing, nothing changed. The only thing the meetings seem to accomplish is that those attending become informed of the changes that are about to take place. It is basically a "heads up." And this is the best scenario. Sometimes the meetings are even more pointless. Meetings with no agenda are the best example of this. People throw out a few ideas, no one listens, meeting ends, nothing ever comes of it. That is what happens at meetings with no agenda.

To wrap up the topic, I believe that meetings could work in theory. Logically, there is no reason that they shouldn’t. But sadly, people are not very logical. Any potential that a meeting may have is immediately put to rest by the sheer stupidity of others. They accomplish absolutely nothing. Until humanity finds a way to get something done at a meeting, perhaps they should just be eliminated. Why drag people out of their offices if their opinions will not be heard? Simply send out a memo on the changes that will take place. It will save a lot of time and headaches.