Foreigner living on the streets

[Jollygoodfellow]

16 minutes ago, scott h said:

Three possible outcomes here

Since you have and do live here and know that sometimes things dont work out like all the horror stories of building a house or a business with a wife or GF only to find in the end you are Feffed.  So then when your thrown out on the street and your money has disappeared then you are just a typical homeless? 

No I dont believe he is drunk or on drugs as he basically has not moved.

Remind me if I find myself on the street and not got millions of backup peso for whatever the reason is then just jump from a bridge because the upper class do not see that something could change in their life as quick as a blink of the eye in this country. 

Yes I will try to talk to him and see what happens. 

[GeoffH]

4 minutes ago, bows00 said:

This can be a reminder to other "expat wanna be's" out there that the Philippines can be a very miserable place with no income.  

It's easy to say (and might be difficult to do) but keeping some sort of 'emergency plan' is IMO almost essential here.

[Jollygoodfellow]

5 minutes ago, bows00 said:

This can be a reminder to other "expat wanna be's" out there that the Philippines can be a very miserable place with no income.  

Exactly and we do not know the circumstances at this stage. Let's look at the professional American beggar at SM Cebu which is different than a guy sitting on a bench doing nothing. When I did pass him to try to gauge what is going on he asked for nothing where another guy has been up to the same old tricks for years but goes home every night as probably to a nice meal and bed. 

[scott h]

11 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Yes I will try to talk to him and see what happens.

let us know what happens 

[Snowy79]

It's certainly a tricky one.  I'm not a sucker for a sob story but I do realise there's people out there that don't have the brains they were born with so he could have been taken to the cleaners by a love or business interest, and if he's in his 50s not have a pension etc to fall back on.  

I'd be tempted to sit near him and await his reactions.  Worst case it'll probably cost you a Jollybee. It's better to give a hand up than a hand out. 

We have a youngish waster hanging around Puerto Galera with his older Filipino partner.  They're usually either drunk, out of their heads on shabu, fighting each other or harassing locals and ex pats for money.

I put a post about them on our local Facebook site and was inundated with comments about him being abusive, ordering food and drink then suddenly realising he had no money.  Surprisingly he had even ripped off a lot of locals.  The police are aware of him but just move him 100m along the road.

The municipality have been told about them so it'll be interesting to see what happens. 

[Old55]

Tom, you may offer him something to eat?  Buy a couple of burgers stop by his bench and offer to share one with him. That could provide an opportunity for a conversation.

From what you have said it could be he's having a mental issue. I've noticed locally some mental homeless folks will camp out in one place for a length of time. Druggies and homeless normally move around using services provided and hustling for money. He actually could need help. As others have said Philippines is no place to be broke and have no friends back "home'.

[Rooster]

In the area where I live, there is a guy in his 30's who walks along road and goes into the bars in the morning and drinks the remaining beer from the customers from the previous night. He looks more like a Foreigner than a Pinoy. His Father was an Australian married to a Filipina years ago who abandoned him and went back to Australia. He looks like a filthy homeless Foreigner as well but is actually just a jobless standby drunk beggar Pinoy.

[Dave Hounddriver]

57 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Yes I will try to talk to him and see what happens. 

 

2 hours ago, scott h said:

Would any of us approach a homeless couple back in our home country?

When I was a young liberal, I approached a homeless guy in Edmonton with the thought that I could help in some way.  He set me straight.  It was a long time ago but I remember he said something like:  "You got any money for me?"  I said no, just thought I'd say hello. He said "What?  You figure we're gonna be friends now?  Feck off!"  And I did.  Would be interesting to see if JGF gets a more positive response because I followed that fellow's advice and fecked off from trying to help homeless guys.

[BrettGC]

"There but for the grace of god, go I" 

I.e. None of us are immune to gravity.  Tom, all it will cost you is your time.  I'd walk up with a coffee to break the ice, as a Westerner, it's probably something he'd appreciate. 

I do volunteer work for Rosie's On The Street here in Cairns, and previously on the Gold Coast - a throwback to my days working in the community welfare sector both as a volunteer whilst still in the navy and paid afterwards - so I know how much a simple act of kindness can mean to many people in a similar situation. 

[PaulB]

We should all imagine being in his shoes. I would like to think another expat might bother to just ask if I am okay if I where in that predicament. As stated earlier it only costs a moment but a moment that could be very valuable to him. I would speak to him.

Paul