'To your bone you’re cold': New York homeless shelters filled to capacity |

'To your bone you’re cold': New York homeless shelters filled to capacity | US news | The Guardian



I remember,as a kid,in Scotland we had a number of homeless people in our town. They slept were they fell down having been drinking all day.

The clever ones headed for farmer's barns.Others just picked a bush.

So when Winter came they had a problem. There was nothing in the barns to keep them warm and the bushes were covering with snow. Having no chance of every getting work they received weekly cash from Social Security. They would feed up,drink up and smash a large shop window. Then they would sit down and await arrest!!!

Inside they got health care,cleaned up,three meals a day and a warm bed. It was luxury to them. I heard one funny story one particularly bad year. One of the team was sentenced to 14 days. He then complained, bitterly. The Judge says, 'but that is the sentence.'  So the guy slapped the cop next to him in the dock. Does that get me more?  It did he got another 28 days.

It got so bad with these guys that big store managers would have a junior at the door watching for these guys coming.!  The Manager would run out and bribe them to hit some other shop window instead of theirs !!!!