On and off the road
October 10, 2011 at 7:04 pm in Grand Forks Herald
A new kind of hobo is helping harvest the sugar beet crop in the Red River Valley.
Lately, however, they have been more hoping than helping, stymied by the warm then wet weather that has delayed digging of beets by American Crystal Sugar growers. Continue Reading
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Gee, I’m sorry they don’t meet your expectations Capt Amerika. I’m sure they’ll lose sleep at night knowing they’ve failed to live up to your standards.
I, on the other hand, have no problem with people who are out and about looking for work and making their way through life their own way. I’d never try it, but if it works for them for now and they’re not hurting anyone with their lifestyle, go for it. It’s a free country, regardless of how judgmental and dismissive some people might be.
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In the 70′s a lot of us hitch hiked around the country doing day jobs at temp places like Manpower (Or Rent A Bum as some called it) and occassionally selling our plasma when cash got really low…..I did it for a while when I was 18 and then a couple months when I was 19….It was a good experience….However some of us don’t get the wondering out of our systems and become truck drivers…..
And Cap……Somehow even your folks were allowed to breed…So what can you do?
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Capt Amerika, at least they are trying to earn a living and not complaining that the government isn’t doing anything for them like millionaires do
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They’re citizens, just the same as you or I. If they meet residency requirements, they can vote. (Not that they’d probably ever live in one place long enough.)
I kind of figured this story would draw dismissive and derogatory comments. Seems like some people haven’t figured out the whole “live and let live” thing yet. Sad.
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And, I just realized you meant the online voting. I need my morning coffee…
My second point still stands.
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Why wouldn’t they? Nobody ever said they don’t know how to use a cell phone.
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So people who are actually trying to do work and have jobs are being disparaged by a few on here. Wow! How is that even possible. So often I hear people telling others of a person who looks different or dressed different that the person should get a job…well they are getting jobs and they are pursuing life either the way they see fit now or trying to make ends meet. The American Way is not a text book definition. It comes in many forms- I hope they have a good stay in the region and are able to find fair wages for their labor that allows them basics such as food and health. They may not look like us or live like us- but they want to work- and there is a lot to like about that.
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I have no issue with these people at all. It’s the Herald’s use of the misspelled “hoboes” that offends me.
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Some people’s worlds are really small. These young travelers world is not. They’re not sucking off the system or breaking the law, they’re waiting for their jobs to begin.
I often times have wondered what life would be like if this country sunk into a depression much like the Great Depression. I wonder what I would do. How far I would go to find work to support myself and those I care about. If or when that happens these young people will have a leg up on the rest of us who can often times be soft and complacent in life.
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I agree. Many in North Dakota don’t realize how bad it is in some other states already. These kids have come in from places where there are zero jobs. We have it very good here in this state. Hats off to these cheerful warriors.
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these are the same hard workers that have been sitting on the curb begging for money for the last month and a half! I have watched that dreadlocked girl with the dress and the guy with the dog beg and beg and beg in multiple places throughout grand forks.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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If you’ve nothing better to do than to watch them for six weeks, maybe you should join them?
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If you see them constantly begging- why don’t you take the time to actually help them? Not just hand them money but really help them? Provide shelter? Clothes? A hot shower? I’m just asking.
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Maybe because it’s so much easier to put down people, than it is to actually get involved?
Jesus wouldn’t be real happy.
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Why would i help someone who does not want to help themselves. They put themselves in a situation where they have no home, no money, no family, and no work. While they were bumbing around I went to school, I worked various jobs to create a resume, and I now go to work everyday and Earn money to support myself.
While they are out “seeing the country and working hard” the rest of the country goes to work or school and contributes to their communities and society.
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Many of the positions transient folks fill temporary or difficult to fill. I doubt someone with your education and resume would be willing to herd goats for the summer, weed fields, or stand in the freezing rain at 3 a.m. to unload a beet truck. People who fill such positions are also contributing to communities and societies, just not in a way that is acknowledged as valuable by some.
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You are indeed grouping the people in the article with those who may be truly homeless because of the economy and may have turned to pan handling. Not everyone wants to go on to higher education right after high school because some of us wanted to go out and experience life on our own first to get a better perspective on what we might want to settle down to later. Some have found ways to utilize natural creativity while others have discovered trades they enjoyed (Well at least in my day it was more possible to start working someplace with little or no training and eventually learned and worked your way up…I don’t think that’s possible in too many companies today since so many require some outside training before they will hire).
The two troubling aspects about the article is hitch hiking and hopping freights today….The 70′s was a bit safer because of the hippie culture where it was just customary to pick up other long hair hippie types whenever you seen them…..This isn’t the 70′s and there’s a whole lot of crazy out there on both sides of the ride. As for riding the rails…I tried that too, but even back then there were getting to be fewer and fewer box cars. I don’t know what they are riding other than possibly coal cars and that’s quite dangerous
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Did the article say these young people didn’t have any higher education? With as lousy as the job market is I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them had some higher education.
You’re right about employers not wanting to train. The Bachelor’s degree is the new high school diploma. It’s an employers market. Why wouldn’t they hire some with a 4 year degree as opposed to a high school diploma or a 2 year degree? Four year grads are a dime a dozen these days.
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Boy Capt. Amerika,You shouldn’t judge a book
by looking at it’s cover or a person by how
they look.I tend to judge a person by how they
act.I have actually hung out with the young
people who are in these pictures.They are very
nice young adults who are simply trying to
make a living while they explore the country.
And they support themselves by doing jobs that
you or myself might not consider doing.
And as far as Hugo goes,I also saw the dogs
that they have with them.They are look very
healthy and are very playful.They are clean and
do not appear to underfed.
As far as ris goes,i have not seen any of these
young travelers begging for money or food.
And here are quotes from the artical…
“But the young travelers are a more recent, slice of
American working life,part of a kind of counter-culture
not unlike the hippies of the 1960s, Sorensen said.
“But they are hard workers,” he said.
“Adriane wanted that point driven home”.
“Because we are hoboes and ride the trains and hitchhike, people think we are lazy bums,”
Adriane said. “We are not lazy bums. We work hard.”
“It’s a willingness to do about any work that makes them valuable,Sorenson said”.
“I don’t accept handouts anymore,” Jena said”.
These young travelers are here working,not begging for
handouts. Nuff Said.
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They have been begging outside of target, kfc, and along south washington.
2 wouldn’t even give there last name for the article, what do they have to hide if they are such upstanding young people?
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Maybe we oughta build a great big wall all along the North Dakota border. That way nobody can get in unless they meet our small minded expectations and our fear driven definition of what is and is not acceptable in life. A propensity towards negativity will undoubtedly help get a foot in the door.
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I like the wall idea maybe it will also help keep the Canadians away for a weekend
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