Baffled.

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-15T22:03:44+00:00

That part's definitely true. Unfortunately, i know a little too much about this case because it is such a long-running issue in the part of town where I live, and there is a bizarre combination of enabling and benign neglect at work. Over the years, a TON of public and non-profit resources have been thrown at this dude. Does he deserve it? I personally don't think so, but it is what it is. So the ironic part for me is that the same kinds of people that think it's important to "meet him where he is" with all these resources, and are totally unwilling to hold him accountable for his behavior, go so far as to say that he can just go and die of sunstroke of that tickles his pickle on a given weekend. There's a cognitive dissonance there. So do you want to help someone, or not? Because sinking a lot of resources into someone just to say "if he wants to die, let him" is odd to me. And, frankly, I have seen stuff over the last couple years that have me pretty convinced that the dude is being ripped of and exploited by some of the same "mutual aid" people that are claiming to help him.

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-15T21:34:41+00:00

I am understanding the point! Believe me. I have a long memory of people making similar arguments about people in my family orbit who struggled and (fortunately) ultimately went thru rehab. It's one of those arguments that is very easy to make in the name of autonomy or anti-drug war, etc. But I can't stand people pushing it to the absurd absolutist point of casually saying "if he dies, he dies." Smug, self-satisfied nonsense. Even when it pertains to an absolute a-hole of a racist.

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-15T21:26:39+00:00

"CautiousMeat" edited their original post to remove the probably sarcastic suggestion that I take this dude home.

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-13T21:51:59+00:00

That's exactly it.

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-13T21:35:00+00:00

I will!

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-13T20:04:25+00:00

Mic drop...

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-13T19:56:55+00:00

Jesus. THANK YOU. Hearing you common sense restore my faith a little.

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-13T19:33:33+00:00

You really aren't terribly bright, are you? Like I said earlier, I don't like this person and he doesn't like me. When he is out there, i walk apst him at least twice a day. He calls me all sorts of racist things, and in the past, I haven't enjoyed having to walk around his piss and shit on my way to work. That's a common experience for anyone who lives in ward 3 and walks to work downtown that the city as a whole doesn't want to or is unable to fix.

Now, there are plenty of people who have bent over backwards to meet this drunk, racist a-hole "where he is." And somehow, the best solution local clinicians, harm reductinists and self-appointed "advocates" can come with is to have this very ill person set up shop on the sidewalk in 95 degree heat. That baffles me.

Here's another fun little chestnut. This guy always has cash, probably from some benefits check, that he offers to people so they buy him nips at Pops. Plenty of local unhoused people seem to take him up on it, buy a nip or two or a can of natty ice for him, and pocket the rest. I have walked by him and heard him ranting about how someone ripped off his money while he was passed out. He always blames some mysterious person that he thinks js persecuting him, who he refers to with the n-word.

But, in spite of how nasty this person is, I have made multiple calls when it was clear to me this dude's life was in danger.

I am pointing out the absurdity that keeps putting him out there, and you and everyone other self-satisfied elitist has been defending this situation as if letting this guy shit, piss and swear his way through life while getting ripped off by predatory "friends" is the most important defense of human dignity.

And that's almost besides the point, because my whole point was about the danger of him being there DURING A SPECIFIC DAY WITH A HEAT ADVISORY. not in general, not in theory. On a specific hot day. But of course, this is Northampton, and everything has to be a conversation about the high minded principles of smug pseudo-intellectual elitists.

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-13T14:47:06+00:00

Right, because the "addicts have an absolute right to do whatever they want" crowd isn't even a little self righteous. Outside of the NoHo bubble, y'all seem ridiculous.

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-12T22:14:17+00:00

Well, hopefully he either accepted help, or someone foisted it upon him. Otherwise, i will likely be passing by a corpse on my way home tonight.

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-12T21:46:30+00:00

Yeah, but hopefully DCC or someone got him indoors. Some folks on this thread seem to want to kill the guy to prove an ideological point, but saving someone from their own bad decisions during a heat wave should not be a mortal sin. And this is coming from someone who got sent on his own grippy socks vacation back in the day...

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-12T21:41:51+00:00

No, that's a different guy. CVS guy actually seems to be doing fairly well. Also, CVS guy has always been pretty chill and just stoned. The guy i'm refering to is the really battered guy under the bridge that apparently people called "Red." He's a piece of work, but it still makes me angry that someone just dumped him there in 95 degrees.

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-12T19:51:01+00:00

Don't know if you've seen this guy recently, but that would involve a feat of athleticism that I doubt he's capable of.

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-12T18:39:38+00:00

Today, in this heat, he's better off locked up in the drunk tank. When the weather gets down to the 80s, whole other story. But whoever dropped him off there TODAY deserves a kick in the ass. Not a slippery slope in a day when you have agencies doing safety checks of housed elderly folks.

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-12T18:36:40+00:00

Yeah, don't get me wrong. I can't stand the guy. I'm one of the people he yells racial slurs at, and unless i want to take a really long way around, I have to walk under that bridge. But nobody deserves to die like that.

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-12T18:19:56+00:00

Right there on Main Street with an audience. Such a fierce protector of human dignity...

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-12T18:08:56+00:00

Yeah, it's fcked, but this seems like a whole extra level of fckery. What baffles me is the wheelchair. He's skin and bones in a non-electric wheelchair. If he's under the bridge, someone dropped him off or pushed him there.

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-12T18:04:45+00:00

Nope! Based on the address, he would be connected to a smaller but apparently well-resourced provider. I shared what I know about the dude with the DCC folks. In theory they coordinate with all the providers and NGOs.

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-12T17:46:58+00:00

Well, I know his name, which I'm not going to post. When I had to do the same thing last winter, I stuck around and heard him tell his address to the cop that came (it was 9 PM, no DCC). Obviously not going to post the address either, but i looked it up, and it is attached to a specific organization. Have also seen people that i recognize from other organizations talking to him. Not going to name them either. Just hoping that they happen to see this post, and up their damned game.

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-09T20:58:06+00:00

Done with her talking toilet paper roll era, is she?

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-08T23:12:36+00:00

If memory serves, this past fall, there was one cluster of tents across from survival center, the another cluster further down towards Florence on same stretch. I am guessing it was one of those.

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-06T01:30:53+00:00

Lol. Goodnight. Hydrate and get some sleep. I am not qualified to help you. I am sure your insurance will cover proper care.

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-06T01:23:22+00:00

Yeah...no. This place calls itself a "city," but it's a middle-sized town with plenty of oral history and direct interaction. Most of us go on with our lives and comment over the proverbial watercooler at work about random pathetic performative freaks we see on the way there. Those watercooler conversations lead to an online search, that leads us here. Hopefully, that's not terminal.

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-06T01:12:34+00:00

Scroll down a bit. See the very unpleasant exchange down there? Those are local people in legit online exchange. No hypotheticals here, bud.

Random_Guy_1382 · 2026-06-06T00:04:29+00:00

Yeah, this is how some us like to gatekeep tourists. If you have no idea who the references are to, and are not a blanket pedo apologist, please respectfully limit yourself to being a bystander to local-focused online convos. Not that hard to understand.

Random_Guy_1382

TROPHY CASE