As if it weren't already fairly obvious that cellphones have gravitated from the "luxury" to the
"necessity" category, the Raleigh News & Observer is reporting that even homeless folks are becoming
regular mobile users, with a full one-third of the people sporting handsets in a shelter that they visited. Beside
wanting phones for the same reasons everyone else does, in some ways they are more vital for the homeless because it
gives them a permanent contact number for giving to potential employers. Phones also provide people on the street, who
are frequently targets of crime and violence, with some measure of security by giving them a lifeline to help. While
the majority of homeless phone owners seem to go the prepaid route, for obvious reasons, the N & O mentions one
woman who has maintained her Cingular contract even after losing her house by making payments over the phone.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Businessman @ Mar 31st 2006 11:11AM
LOL, funny to see this. Unhappy for me, I didn't see it before :(. But if think more it's because of "necessity" and I understand them
Kamil @ Mar 31st 2006 11:12AM
How do they charge their phones?
One of those hand cranks I guess? :|
URL @ Mar 31st 2006 12:30PM
Fellows? How about a little sensitivity and respect eh?
phlavor @ Mar 31st 2006 3:17PM
Working in the Civic Center of San Francisco and living in SF in general, I see a lot of homeless people on a daily basis. Yes, I've seen cell phones and even ATM usage but unfortunately not as much as I've seen needles and crack pipes.
As for how they keep them charged, when you sleep on the street and basically got nothing you tend to get pretty resourceful. Most people dont know that if a bus shelter has lighting, it has a good chance of having an electrical socket somewhere out of sight. Or they could plug in at the library or on the occasion that they stay at a shelter. But if you were to walk around in any given city and really looked around, I bet you would find dozens of publicly accessible outlets.
Kelly @ Mar 31st 2006 5:52PM
Hell, I have a couple of old phones with pre-paid SIMs. Makes me wonderif some local shelters would be interested in the donation.
ex-homeless @ Mar 31st 2006 5:53PM
I used to be a homeless as I own mobile phone with bluetooth and use unlimited data plan and ton SMS plus PowerBook. I was a warrior travel! :P
Nick @ Mar 31st 2006 6:21PM
I've spent time on the street (never been homeless, but been "out of a home" before...long story), and I found that if you just stop and use your eyes, there are AC outlets EVERYWHERE that anybody on the street can use.
Heck, if you don't smell that bad, you can walk into a bookstore and recharge off of any outlet near a bookshelf while you catch up on some reading. McDonald drive-thru's also have exposed outlets (at least here they do). Warehouses, factories, business parks...they all have exterior outlets. Just don't try to mill around a residential area looking for free AC or you'll wind up with a paranoid housewife calling the cops on you.
Word to my crew on the streets ya'll.