Women in a Blanket on Dirt Road

Ken Anderson said:
Call me heartless, but I am more careful about who I render aid to now than I might have been several years ago. I've never been a fighter, but my muscles used to work a lot better than they do now, so I might have felt less vulnerable. I would be cautious about offering help to someone who is acting odd unless I was familiar with them or the situation. I have friends who act odd, so that's not always a deal-breaker, but odd people often do odd things, and some of these can be dangerous. It's been many years since I have even seen a hitchhiker now, as that is no longer a thing, but since I had spent a year and a half hitchhiking around the country, I felt obligated to pick up hitchhikers for quite a while, unless they seemed off in some way. Even as a hitchhiker, I didn't accept rides from everyone who stopped; some seemed off, and I would opt to go with my intuition, and I'd do that with people I offered rides to, as well. Today, like many other people, I try not to take notice of strange people in strange places. I have helped a fair number of people in my life, so I don't feel obligated to help everyone who seems to need help.
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Ken ,we are careful and if that doesn't work,, we are armed at all times.
 
I used to feel for homeless as I was temporary homeless myself at 25 ..3 kids …got a bus from where I was born / raised ….with a bus ticket the St Vincent de Paul gave me , I slept in a hard wooden bench ..opened up the suit case for 2 of the kids to sleep in ..other in the pram
waited till 4 pm the next day to,get a bus to a town called Berri in SA some 300 km from Adelaide , i was heading there for a seasonal job in a cannery .

My mother / step father found me a house that was $5 a week ….it leaked like a sieve so only the kitchen and small lounge was useable ..but hey it was only an hours walk back to the house after I finished work at 9 pm ……the kids were left in the house while I worked ….when i think of it now ….it scares me what could have happened ….they were quite young …2 , 4 and 6 …it was the early 1970’s …..but what could I do ….i was getting $14 a fortnight for myself and the 3 kids to live on ….as my ex was in prison …for 5 years for rape …..he spent most of his adult life in prison…and died in his mid 40’s
I’d divorced him ..by then ..the kids never knew him due to him being locked up ….a year here and there ..but the 5 year term was a good escape for me ..to leave my old life behind ……i was still living in the same town…. in ( Berri ) 1986 …..when I met my hubs
So I know what it’s like to be poor ….but there’s professional beggars / scammers, who have it down to a fine art to fool others into thinking they are homeless and want cash for food
 
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I had a goal in life when I left my home town in NSW , it was to have my own home where I’d feel safe ,after growing up in a home with alcoholic parents …..I’d left NSW with $10 in my purse …..and a med size case of cloths for the kids ….and one change of cloths for myself

My eldest turned 60 in Jan……he was born 2 weeks before my 20 th birthday in Feb ….7 weeks early ..due to starvation ( me) he was 1.5 pounds

I achieved my goal at 42 years old … I had a fully paid for home ….sold that in 2004 and it fully paid for this home ….where I’m now and been so for 20 years in June , so in saying that I could have very well ended up the same as my other siblings ….but I had a determined streak in me no one could break

The cannery work was seasonal canning soft fruits ….as the area of several towns all on the banks of the huge river Murray is known as Australia’s fruit bowl ….it grows grapes and all other stone fruits as well as citrus.

Of course it was closed many years ago ….and many of our canned fruits …now come from China 🤢🤢🤢….
 
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