This Is our Village

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Is this what we have to look forward to?

Friday night (last week). It's Karaoke Night. People shuffle in, mostly regulars coming to sing or to hear the singers. Some come just to dance, some for both.
Usually people bring some sort of snack, maybe a drink or two.
We find that when food is present, our circle of friends increases. This is not a problem under normal circumstances. We don't mind sharing with our friends, and if anything is left over we offer to those around us.
The problem I have is when someone that looks like he spent the day on a corner begging for change is hanging around the Club House and starts begging for food IN the clubhouse from people trying to enjoy the amenities of living here without being accosted .
I have issue with beggars in the streets and feel there should be a city and county ordinance preventing it.
Some people make a good living doing it. I saw a woman the other day, that I see regularly on a corner with her husband or boyfriend. She usually works the corner without her teeth, looking down to emphasize her "sadness". I saw her walking out of a store, dressed very nicely, smiling with nice dentures carrying bags of clothes from the store with a couple of very nicely dressed kids in tow playing on their cellphones.
Looks like she makes a good living, making more than many in this village.
Shame.

4 comments:

  1. I remember the beggar I saw several years ago at the intersection of Military Trail and Okeechobee Boulevard. He was on crutches, had a beat-up old sign that said something, and was there day after day panhandling. Until one late afternoon when I saw him getting on a bicycle he had stowed under some bushes. The crutches were tied to the bar on the bicycle, the old, beat-up sign was carefully wrapped around the whole affair, and he was merrily pedaling away, his day's "work" now apparently done.

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  2. As WPRF owns the clubhouse, why not have Security eject him? Are you saying this food beggar lives at CV and has an ID card??

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  3. If he is in the clubhouse, one can only assume that security has already check for an ID.
    Maybe we should start some kind of food bank in the village for people that are having a hard time making ends meet, but of course something like that would quickly be abused by those that don't need it.
    If anyone is interested in starting one, feel free to contact me.
    This would be for donations for canned foods and volunteers. I will have to get in touch with Eva and David to find a space to put it in.

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  4. I have been commenting for years about renters in C.V. If folks are panhandling, it is EXTREMELY unlikely they meet the basic requirements for ownership in C.V. Renters can have NO more rights and/or NO less rights than an owner. In a figurative sense, renters "stand in the shoes of an owner." Accordingly, they should meet all ownership/residency requirements of a unit owner. The fact that this well settled principle is being ignored by some condo corps lends itself to detract from the use and enjoyment of the facilities by those who abide by the rules.

    If C.V. is doing so well in the real estate market, there should be no reason to look the other way when it comes to renters.

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