Do Hobos in your city suddenly have serious back problems

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In 1993 Vancouver Canada, only one opiate user I was aware of walked with his torso parallel to the ground and crooked. A few were a bit off, but nothing like now. And a lot of people did heroin in the DTES back then too.

Now, going full parallel, its pretty common. Im suspecting Heroin does contribute, but Fentanyl is what is taking it to a whole new level.

Posted in politics, because I think it is for political reasons that searching this online is off to a very slow start.

In America we don't call this "walking ". You Canadians sometimes have an unexpected way of communicating.

Havent visited skid row in a long time. So I am not up on the latest trends in either walking style or in drug use of the inhabitants the way you seemed to be.

I saw a respectable looking old lady walk bent over into a restaurant we were dining at once forty years ago. Grandma was with us. She immedediately straightened up when seeing a lady her own age with that kinda back problem. But Ive never noticed homeless folks (ie "hobos") walk around bent over.

Drugs can do bad things to you, but ive never heard of drugs causing you to walk on your knuckles because you're bent over with your spine parallel to the ground.

In short: I dont know WTF you're talking about.

I've noticed the the bums in my area seem to be stooped over when they hobble.

i notice very few of them i've seen walk erect and proud. they all have the look of the thoroughly and permanently defeated.

Haven’t heard the term hobo in a while.

Many homeless people walk hunched over—either because they have back problems, or they’re nodding off on heroin and other opioids.

A "hobo" is an itinerant worker who travels from place to place seeking employment.

A "bum" is a person who does not seek employment, and who relies upon the kindness of strangers for support.

Both types are among the "homeless".

Hobos, at least in the old days, used to hop freight trains to get from one place to another.

The character Charlie Chaplin played was called a "tramp." I would call him somewhere between a hobo and a bum.

The term "bum" is used less and less these days. Though I still use it sometimes----especially when a homeless person gets aggressive with me (not to the homeless person, though).

In truth, there aren't too many true "bums" amongst the homeless population. On average, they are cleaner than they used to be. This is partially because there are drop-in showers available, and donated clean clothes available.

20 years ago, virtually every homeless person stunk.

Couldn't some of them also be bent over because of carrying their heavy possessions around on their back the whole time? Good backpacks are expensive so they have to make do with what they can get.

And then there are "tramps".

Hobos and tramps are both said to hop freight trains. So I am not sure what the difference is.

But a "tramp" can also mean "a loose woman".

Roseanne Cash sang a country song about how "My Boyfriend thinks he's train", and among the symptoms of his delusion is that "he picks up any old tramp".

Ah, "transients" sound a tad more dignified, if looking for synonyms...

You would be surprised how many homeless folks have pull-suitcases. Many more than even a few years ago. Some of them still use shopping carts and the whole bit, though, which makes it even more difficult.

Even with the pull-suitcases, homelessness is a hard life. One reason is because many of them don't have the means to go to the bathroom when they feel like it. Another is because they can't get sufficient sleep because cops are always waking them up.

What advantages do they have by living mainly in the urban jungle or inner city areas? Wouldn't this be less of a problem in rural areas or woods, where they get more privacy and could sleep in peace? They don't generally get bothered here in South Africa yet are mostly seen in heavily urbanised areas.

If I took to the road I'd prefer exploring the beaches or countryside! Especially if making use of the railroads...

Last edited by envirozentinel on 09 Sep 2021, 12:29 am, edited 1 time in total.: Duplicate post edited

more likely to find food and shelter [even if the food is from the garbage and shelter is under a bridge] than out in the sticks where i live.

That needs its own thread, I love camping.

It would have been really hard for me twenty years ago, with lower welfare rates and far strickter disability hoops.

also, -5 celsius is easily dooable, but -15 may be pretty tough to pee at night and get going in the morning.

That takes out all of canada except the west coast for winter, and it rains like f on the west coasts