FREEWAY FREELOADERS

*disclaimer:  I have used the pronoun "he" throughout this post, not because my belief is that only the fellows are freeloaders, or the reverse, that freeloaders are only fellows, but because I prefer its use as a gender-neutral pronoun as opposed to the clumsy "he/she", or the more impersonal "someone", the unpronounceable "s/he", or the grammatical nightmare of "they".*

I have ranted to you before about those people forlornly standing at the exit ramps, holding their ratty cardboard signs that say things such as, "Homeless, son and I are just trying to get by", or "Please help, need money for gas", or some other lame excuse.  Where did that permanent marker come from, anyway?

When did we all become so cynical?  Well, probably when we noticed that the person holding the ratty (yet good enough to use again tomorrow) sign wasn't barefoot and dressed in dirty rags.  Maybe when the person exhaled fumes from the fire stick he was smoking.  Do you know how much a pack of cigarettes costs? 

According to my limited research, in the summer of 2011 a pack of cigs in the Evergreen State cost $9.89.  WOW!  Yesterday, the 10th of December, I paid $3.39 for a gallon of gas.  That really is food for thought: cancer sticks cost almost three times the cost of gas!  So the next person who is smoking and holding a sign that says, "Ran out of gas!  Trying to get to Portland!", is probably trying to get to Oregon because he heard that a pack of puffs only costs $5.59 there.  Plus there's no sales tax.  Now THAT'S savvy shopping.  Get someone to pay your gas money so you can go down and buy your butts for cheap.

Running out of gas is really not that bad of a problem, not one that tugs my pity-line, anyway.  My dad ran out of gas plenty of times and not once did we stand on the corner begging for help.  Usually it was something we had anticipated, so we had a spare can of gas in the vehicle.  There was one time on Highway 1, in the Canadian Rockies, in the middle of the night, when he had to steal a bike to ride to a gas station to get the gas.  (I can tell you this now because the statute of limitations has run out on theft.  And as you will see, it wasn't really theft.) The bike had two flat tires.  He almost had a lift back to our vehicle with a trucker, but the guy wouldn't let him bring the bike.  Instead he rode it and put it back where he got it.  But the point is that running out of gas is not the end of the world. 

The nerviest freeway ramp rustlers are the ones who say they are veterans, or have starving, sick babies at home.  Those are the people that have no shame, and really lay the guilt on thick.  I think if we knew that the person truly needed help, most of us would have no problem giving him money.  On the other hand, if a person truly needs aid, aren't there organizations waiting and willing to provide assistance?  Red Cross?  Goodwill?  Visiting Nurses?  Various churches and missions offer food and clothing banks.  I would think that that would be a much easier way to get needs met than standing in the cold and the wet, getting splashed by every car that drives by.  Unless getting splattered and receiving the evil eye is a small price to pay for better benefits.

I'm not saying to stop giving them money (ARE you dishing out the dinero?).  If you have to give, maybe you could give the guy something like food (a loaf of bread and peanut butter can last a few days), the business card of a charitable organization, some dry socks, or your old galoshes.  Preferably something incombustible, so he can't smoke it.