New Orleans vagabonds

General discussions relating to the story.
missb
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:26 pm

New Orleans vagabonds

Postby missb » Fri Jan 10, 2014 7:57 pm

There are lots of them here. They wander in around October when the weather up north gets cold and wander out of here in the spring. They are all filthy, smell horrible, and from what I can tell, most of them are drunk or high on something. The thing that frustrates me the most is that they almost all have dogs, skinny, malnourished, depressed looking. I have tried to help them, mostly to help their animals, and to a one, they all have the same story: I don't want to live off the man, I want to be outside of society, I want to be free, no rules, no conforming. Which sounds idealisitic, but what I really think is going on here, is that they don't want any responsibility. Now, if you want to make that choice for yourself, fine, but their dogs aren't making that choice, they don't know anything except that this is their human and they hope to be fed. I have intervened so many times with the dogs, taking them away, feeding them while the tramp curses me out for not giving them food, too. I admire and respect Chris Mccandless, I understand his principles and beliefs. I don't lump him in with these miscreants. But they are on the fringes of the same mindset that you should turn your back on society. However, they seem to have no problem begging for money, food, alcohol, and some of them even ask if they can sleep in my courtyard. I let a group of them park their refurbished schoolbus in front of my house and use my electricity, take a shower, and cook their meals in my kitchen. I found that the more you offer the more they ask for. They were never satisfied and not very grateful. It was like, I have a job, therefore I have a responsibility to help them and if I said no, it was as if I was "the man".

I will never help again. I will continue to help the dogs and damn the rest of them. It infuriates me to hear them espousing Chris Mccandless' words and life.

I just wanted to get it off my chest. Thanks.

SteveSalmon
Posts: 295
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2010 4:42 am

Re: New Orleans vagabonds

Postby SteveSalmon » Tue Jan 14, 2014 4:29 am

I like your rant.
That is quite nice of you to share and I'd also like to say the obvious that it's quite kind of you as well to help those people and their animals out.
So, now I must ask, why do/did you choose to help them? And what are/were you expecting in return, if anything, of these folks?
Most of us have plenty of odd jobs to be done around the house, why not barter labor for meals? Give and take, right? ;)
An important credo comes to mind, and that is; Don't let the ignorance of one speak or ruin it for the rest. Focus on the good in folks and let that represent the whole. You sound wise enough to me to know which are worth your kind efforts and which are after the 'next buzz'.
I'd say Chris was in a league all his own and nothing like a vagabond. He was driven by adventure not a bottle or a pill. Traveling on his terms Chris expected nothing from anyone. That was probably the greater part of his appeal to those he met. If you think about it, everyone who knew him during his travels, asked of him and not the other way around. There are pieces of Chris McCandless in lots of people I know, have known, and have lost in my lifetime. I still mourn the end of my twenties. haha

Anyway, thanks again for sharing.

~Steve Salmon

missb
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:26 pm

Re: New Orleans vagabonds

Postby missb » Wed Jan 15, 2014 3:29 pm

I agree, none of this type of vagabond in Chris. You are correct, it was quite the other way around, he seemed to want nothing from people except their company occasionally and was obviously grateful and appreciative of any help he received.

I don't really expect anything from the people I've tried to help, except the same thing, gratitude and politeness. If someone helps you, you are supposed to say thank you. It's that simple. I think what offended me most (besides their attitudes about their dogs), was their disdain regarding the fact that I work to pay my bills, and yet, they wanted me to support them. I helped because it literally TUGS at my heart to see those thin dogs. I want to believe that they have the dog because they love it and can't be parted from it, but I found out that in New Orleans the police won't pick people up for vagrancy if they have a dog. Sooo, I have to wonder...do they have it because they love it, or to protect them from jail, or to elicit sympathy. I am to the point now where I don't even interact with the person, I give the dog food and water and that's it. Because the times I've heard the person start to talk about "society" or rattle off other random thoughts that start to sound like Chris, I get very mad. Chris was unique personality and I think it's disrespectful of these vagrant kids to use his ideas to try and get a hold on people.

Tombro
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2014 2:29 pm

Re: New Orleans vagabonds

Postby Tombro » Fri Feb 28, 2014 2:46 pm

Interesting post, and I agree. I visit NOLA frequently, and was there just last fall, Halloween week. For the first time I noticed the vagabonds at the riverfront, while awaiting a trolley near the French Market. They really reminded me of characters in this book and movie, and of the 1960's hippies. This ragtag bunch had backpacks, instruments (they were busking the night before) and were filthy. They had dogs, and I wondered how in the world they fed and cared for them.
Three of them were passed out, in the hot afternoon sun. The police came and moved them along, and it was tough rousing them from their sleep.

Very memorable scene, and I really harked back to this book and movie and it's rubber and leather tramps. However, I do NOT lump Chris into this group, not at all. Few were as true as he...


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