A stranger secretly lived in my home • Hacker News Board

Re: A stranger secretly lived in my home

#41

Post by kwhitefoot » Sat, Sep 11, 2021, 5:35 PM UTC

throwdecro wrote: post #30

kelp wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Living in one of the worse parts of San Francisco, for the past few years (west SOMA), I can say that people going through your trash is quite a nuisance. You'll put your trash out for pickup day, and a significant portion of the time, someone will come and go through it. And often as they are going through it, they will just throw random things on the ground. So our little side street kind of has a constant layer of…

It's a city, not a mall. If you want to keep alcoholics away from your beverage, it would make sense to not have it out by the sidewalk when they stroll by. Otherwise, that's life in the (sorta) big city.

> that's life in the (sorta) big city.

Not in any city where I have had a drink in a pavement café! Not even in the US.

Re: A stranger secretly lived in my home

#42

Post by throw1234651234 » Sat, Sep 11, 2021, 5:36 PM UTC

pbourke wrote: post #36

throw1234651234 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pro-tip on charity - see someone eating out of the trash? They could probably actually use your money. Much more effective than giving it to panhandlers.

Or at least a meal from the restaurant.

Yea, there is that aspect of it. Ideally, I will go buy them a meal, so they can't use the money for other things. I personally don't indulge in "other things", but I don't know how concerned I am about them using the money for that either. I think it's very, very difficult for someone digging through trash to get their life together, so if they indulge, they indulge. Note that it's not a comment on their character or anything of the sort, just the sheer number of things needed to re-adjust in society from zero, with zero real help.

Another point is that in most countries outside of the US, panhandlers are either "working for themselves" and make decent money, perhaps better than at a low-end job while having proper living arrangements, etc (and thus "rob" the true poor from the donation). It can also be worse, with situations where panhandlers are actually curated by an organizer who pays them a salary and takes a profit. The latter schemes are also mixed up in exploitation.

Now that I type it all out, I am realizing that buying a meal also prevents the second scenario too. Good stuff.

Re: A stranger secretly lived in my home

#43

Post by selimthegrim » Sat, Sep 11, 2021, 5:38 PM UTC

marcinzm wrote: post #16

bserge wrote: post #5

Wasn't there a similar story in Japan? Also multiple stories of people secretly living in office building and warehouses. Gotta make do, I guess.

At my university a student lived in the physics building for a while since they didn't want to commute. I've also heard that at my high school, after I graduated, a kid was found sleeping in the drop ceiling due to likely an abusive home.

I lived in my office for a month or two when I was a grad student at a UC about a decade ago. I just put cardboard all over the windows.

Re: A stranger secretly lived in my home

#44

Post by trulyme » Sat, Sep 11, 2021, 5:38 PM UTC

noasaservice wrote: post #28

lisper wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> people going through your trash is quite a nuisance. Sure, but who is ultimately responsible for this, the people going through the trash, or the people who have structured our society in such a way that there are people who think their best option in life is to scavenge other people's trash? Because I'm pretty sure that the people going through the trash would stop in an instant if they were offered a better alter…

> Because I'm pretty sure that the people going through the trash would stop in an instant if they were offered a better alternative. Mostly, yes. Having been homeless myself for an extended period, I saw just how much mental illnesses impact so many people experiencing homelessness. In my completely unscientific lodgings with them, I'd say its probably around 30% of the people have some sort of debilitating mental i…

Or maybe just offer them some basic food for free, so they don't need to dig in trash cans for it? At least the western societies (I don't know and have no opinion on others) are producing enough food that there is no reason not to offer some basic nutrition to everyone.

Re: A stranger secretly lived in my home

#45

Post by Scarblac » Sat, Sep 11, 2021, 5:40 PM UTC

stevezsa8 wrote: post #31

whirlingdervish wrote: post #24

A couple years ago one of the devs I work with came in to the office very early for some reason and discovered a man sleeping in one of the conference rooms. After the fact we discovered that an emergency exit door wasn’t locking properly. He didn’t take anything even though he could have easily made off with tens of thousands of dollars of electronics. He just needed somewhere to sleep.

Your office got off lucky. We had a guy walk into our office behind employees. No one challenged the trespasser... he walked off with a stack of laptops.

As a teenager I worked in a large logistics center for supermarkets. Usually we would fill trucks that brought the supplies to the supermarkets, but rarely they had ran out of something small and would come to us with a van or so.

So one day two guys drive up with a van, park it at a loading dock, go into the warehouse and start loading the van with coffee. They even got help from some workers. Turns out they weren't related to any customers at all, they just stole a van full of coffee.

Which wouldn't be worth a story... But two weeks later, the same guys did the exact same thing again, at the same logistics center. Successfully, again. That takes some nerve.

Re: A stranger secretly lived in my home

#46

Post by WarOnPrivacy » Sat, Sep 11, 2021, 5:41 PM UTC

stevezsa8 wrote: post #31

whirlingdervish wrote: post #24

A couple years ago one of the devs I work with came in to the office very early for some reason and discovered a man sleeping in one of the conference rooms. After the fact we discovered that an emergency exit door wasn’t locking properly. He didn’t take anything even though he could have easily made off with tens of thousands of dollars of electronics. He just needed somewhere to sleep.

Your office got off lucky. We had a guy walk into our office behind employees. No one challenged the trespasser... he walked off with a stack of laptops.

> Your office got off lucky.

I disagree. Sleeper guy wanted to crash & didn't want their hardware. There wasn't meaningful risk.

I think we make the mistake that perceiving risk makes it real. It's reality that determines our actual risk tho.

Re: A stranger secretly lived in my home

#47

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Sep 11, 2021, 5:42 PM UTC

pengaru wrote: post #35

whirlingdervish wrote: post #24

A couple years ago one of the devs I work with came in to the office very early for some reason and discovered a man sleeping in one of the conference rooms. After the fact we discovered that an emergency exit door wasn’t locking properly. He didn’t take anything even though he could have easily made off with tens of thousands of dollars of electronics. He just needed somewhere to sleep.

Did your employer offer him a job as night security guard? It appears he really badly wanted the position...

[deleted]

Re: A stranger secretly lived in my home

#48

Post by b112 » Sat, Sep 11, 2021, 5:42 PM UTC

throw1234651234 wrote: post #17

pen2l wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I visited SanFran a couple of years ago, and this reminded me of a homeless guy, in his late 60s I imagine, that I saw at a fast food chain. So I was I think at in-and-out, and a homeless guy was going through the garbage bin to find food. When I came over to dump my stuff in the bin, he was immediately considerate and stepped aside so I could dump the covers and napkins, whilst making sibilant sounds and keeping his…

Pro-tip on charity - see someone eating out of the trash? They could probably actually use your money. Much more effective than giving it to panhandlers.

They're looking for recyclables (for deposit refunds), and other things of value.

Re: A stranger secretly lived in my home

#49

Post by tdeck » Sat, Sep 11, 2021, 5:43 PM UTC

WarOnPrivacy wrote: post #46

stevezsa8 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your office got off lucky. We had a guy walk into our office behind employees. No one challenged the trespasser... he walked off with a stack of laptops.

> Your office got off lucky. I disagree. Sleeper guy wanted to crash & didn't want their hardware. There wasn't meaningful risk. I think we make the mistake that perceiving risk makes it real. It's reality that determines our actual risk tho.

They got lucky in the sense that their exit door was unlocked, and anyone (not just the sleeper guy) could have discovered it.

Re: A stranger secretly lived in my home

#50

Post by WarOnPrivacy » Sat, Sep 11, 2021, 5:44 PM UTC

SkipperCat wrote: post #32

whirlingdervish wrote: post #24

A couple years ago one of the devs I work with came in to the office very early for some reason and discovered a man sleeping in one of the conference rooms. After the fact we discovered that an emergency exit door wasn’t locking properly. He didn’t take anything even though he could have easily made off with tens of thousands of dollars of electronics. He just needed somewhere to sleep.

Sadly that person could be charged with a crime instead of being recognized as a person in need. We should be viewing these situations as a cry for help instead of a criminal activity. This is what I hoped the "Defund the Police" movement was targeting. Sadly that phrase had good intentions but pretty bad optics.

> We should be viewing these situations as a cry for help instead of a criminal activity.

You're right. When we uphold a law for the law's sake, we've lost our way.