Homeless Fonts

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/brother-sharp-%E7%8A%80%E5%88%...

This bio really made me go "wtf?":

> Loraine was born in London. She was an ordinary, hardworking family person, with nothing to worry about beyond paying the rent at the end of the month or keeping the fridge full. Until in 2009 she came to Barcelona on holiday. Soon after she arrived her passport was stolen from her and she had a series of problems with the British embassy. Somebody had made illegal use of her passport. So Loraine found herself in a strange place, unable to get home. She didn’t know anyone there and her circumstances meant she couldn’t ask for help from England, either. She had to sell all her possessions and, in time, learn to speak Spanish. “Living in the street is a wonderful adventure,” she says. In the street she discovered a new city, a new country and a new culture. “There are lots of people who prefer to sleep under the stars.” She also made lots of friends who helped her in a completely unfamiliar world.

I'm not suggesting the company is involved but that story is incredibly suspect. They also seem to somewhat glamorize the "street life" in some of their bios.

About two years ago, my wife saw a woman in the parking lot of a large retail grocery/goods store holding a sign that said "anything helps". She had noticed this woman before on at least one occasion, and it occurred to my wife that perhaps this time she would do something to help somebody out.

In addition to the things she needed, she purchased everything required for a large spaghetti dinner to include Parmesan cheese, a large loaf of fresh bread, and a box of cookies for dessert. She ensured everything was bagged up separately so all she had to do was hand it to the woman with the sign.

After loading up our car, my wife drove over to the woman in the sign. She got out with the bag and as she walked towards the sign-holder, explained "hey, I just wanted to help out so I bought you everything for a dinner..." to which the woman replied, "food's not really our issue."

My wife told me that she essentially closed her still-open mouth, did a 180 and got back into the car. We had spaghetti that night.

I relate this not to imply that everybody with a sign implying need is a fraud, but to suggest that there may be a non-trivial number of people out there who do not act because they've had an experience similar to the one my wife had.

Why not "human fonts" or "people fonts"? (Or "natural fonts" or "handwriting fonts" or...)

The problem I have with this is that if you help people based on the their status of being homeless, then do they stop qualifying once they are off the street? That kind of thing is what keeps poor people stuck. It's why the American welfare system is broken. You first have to qualify as "poor" and often some other thing to get assistance. Countries that just, say, provide national healthcare for all citizens, because you exist, help reduce the gap between rich and poor. Stuff like this helps widen it.

We need to think about how to remove barriers so all people can live well and all that but you need to treat very carefully with programs which are framed such that you are basically rewarded for having a problem. That just tends to promote having that problem. (That's what the American welfare has done: It changed the social contract to reward being a poor, single mom such that it increased the incidence of poor, single moms in the population. Great job, that.)