Nancy, this does interest me.  This was in Sunday's paper?  (My subscription just ran out).

Son needs to live on his own. He is a burden. The dogs definitely need to go. I take it the car does not run.

This is such a terrible situation. I feel sorry for the mother but the son does not get my sympathy.....he is an able body man and he needs to get a J-O-B!

What hit me was her son must be a real piece of work to still be sponging of mom while living in a car.............He looks like a tweeker to me..................

Must agree with you timec.  I though, feel sorry for their situation, not them.  The dogs should not be living in that environment either.  I didn't get the paper Sunday, so I know nothing of the article. 

However, why can't either one of these people work?  I know she's on a widows pension but does that mean she can't work?  But I'm not to judge because we don't know what put them in this situation.  Does anyone know anything else because I can't find the link to the story either.

Why shouldn't the dogs be living in that environment. The dogs are probably the womens best friends and her protector.........after all they are just dogs...

Gube, in a car? I just personally don't think people let alone a dog or 2 should live in a car, gross!!

Here's the link to the story.  It's in the Oildale redevelopment article but this sort of thing happens all over town..

http://www.bakersfield.com/...

Michele I agree that people shouldn't live in cars. With the economy the way it is we are going to see more of this.

Dogs living in the car with the women is gross.............My dogs live in my house is that gross to? I  am sure that the women feels safer with the dogs.......

The tragedy isn't the dogs living in a car its the women that is living in the car that sucks.

$600 doesn't "cut it"?  They live in a messy car, what kind of expenses can they have?  Other than food, which they can get a free meal at the homeless shelter.  So why not save money for a few months and have enough for a deposit and first months rent on a cheap apartment (I'm sure they can find a studio or one bedroom in Oildale for around $400) - oh wait, I bet the money is spent on drugs or alcohol and it's one of those "Poor Me" situations.  Why even make a news story about this?  Lame.

wow kindra I can feel the love.................are you a republican?

Yes , her dogs are protecting her but she would be able to find a decent place to live if her son and dogs were gone. Dogs living in a car is very unsanitary......yuk!

Dogs in the car is gross, they probably don't bathe either.  My dogs live in the house as well but I bathe them and they have open access to the backyard as well.  Maybe she does feel safer with the dogs more so than her son.  It's such a sad story all around.

"There, but for the grace of God, goes I" 

Although, my car would be cleaner then that and my grown child would be booted out. I was almost in this position back in 1969, but I had a 3 year old child.  I got lucky, found a cheap apartment on Calif. Ave and a job.  I was, however, close enough to this situation that it scared the hell out of me. It is beyond me as to why someone would even want to live this way as even $600 a month can get you a cheap motel on union ave for at least a couple of nights! Living on $600 a month? probably can't anymore. Spend $400 for a place to live - then what? PG&E? Water? Phone(optional)? Food?  $600 doesn't get it no matter how you slice it. Unless mom is handicapped, she and the "boy" should be working even if it is a fast food place.  Can hire on to clean businesses until something better comes along.

I now feel the same as Kindra. These people appear to be tweekers. I no longer feel sorry for her. I thought she was an elderly woman. I do feel for the situation.

Dogs living in your home is okay ..IF...you keep your house clean and they are potty trained. I try to stay away from nastiness so I don't have animals at all.

If a person is able to work they need to do just that. Nothing in life is free. If your 56 living in a car you have pretty much wasted your life. It is going to be extremely hard to get back on track...but it can be done. Kicking the drug habit would be the first step.....

I would feel sorrier for these people if there was any indication that either of them had made an effort to change their living conditions.  The woman is on widows benefits so I'm assuming that's SS.  No mention of any inability to work.  There is no mention of the son having any disabilities or any income of any kind.  Or that he's looking for work.

Yep, my dogs are potty trained, clean and spoiled. Kind of like my kids, wow, i see the similarities. 

There are probably other stories such as this womans and like Gube said we'll probably see more of it due to the economy.

So TBC had nothing to write about and just found these folks? 

Oh...and I AM a Republican.

The article wasn't just about this woman, it was about redeveloping Oildale and how there are new businesses popping up all the time.   I read the part about the woman and son and took exception to it.

Oh, I see Nancy. Thank you, cause I wasn't sure and didn't read about it.

The entire article is in the link above.  There's a new building going in at the intersection where Rite Aid, KFC, and Fast Trip are.  I was told it's a Little Ceasars but it's a pretty big building for just the one.  According to the article, due to the new terminal Airport Drive is getting really busy and the newer buildings are probably the result of increasing traffic along that street.  Between 4 and 5ish it gets really congested.

(gulp..had to get in there and fix the pizza guys name before Gube got me.)

So timec, why don't your brothers work? Aren't they able bodied?

Timec....... Whats a sweeker?

If this guy could pass a drug test he would be able to work oil field work. They are almost always hiring.

I have no sympathy for any druggy or anyone who got into a situation like this because of drugs, bad choices and plain laziness.

I have a family member there in Bakersfield that used up every bit of help from her family (lots of it!) and still threw it all away because she was fat a** lazy!

Oh, and I must say... Animals are NOT nasty! But Oh! Some  People are!!!

GUBE...

A CRANKSTER!

OB

If you don't work you must have other skills to feed yourself and pimping is a skill....j/k Honestly my brothers need jobs. If and when people stop taking care of them they will have to get a job. Trust me ....they are not broke, they have all of their teeth, and they would never live in a vehicle as long as I am breathing.

timec its called a tweeker not a sweeker......come on get your dope lingo right kinda like crackhead not trackhead!

I am not up on dope lingo like I thought I was....thanks for the lesson.

Animals are nasty! They can't clean up after themselves. I don't want anything or anyone living in my house that can't clean and pay bills......... ..so I will pass on a dog, cat, bird, fish, and on and on............Different strokes for different folks.

Nope, not a republican :)  I just have a hard time tolerating pitty pot types.  I'm the type of person who will give you a hand up, but that's it - I've learned that enabling people just adds to the problem.  I'm a member of couchsurfing.com and frequently host weary travelers for a night or two.  If there is a kid in the neighborhood who wants to make $5 bucks they know they can come to me and I'll find some leaves to rake or weeds to pull to earn it.  I'm also an ordained minister and won't charge you an arm and leg to officiate your ceremony.

I've had my share of hard luck (currently I can't pay my mortgage this month, I'm a single mom, work 30 hrs a week for the county so I can be home when my daughter gets home from school, did notary loan signings on the side, with the housing market the way it is those loan signings have been few and far between so now I'm looking for a side job for the evening and weekends - I will wait tables, mow lawns, etc. if that is what it takes to pay the bills, and I've already applied at multiple places), but I will not sit around and get to the point that my two dogs, two cats, child, and I are living in a car. 

My point is, if this mother and son really wanted to get themselves out of their situation and into a better one, they could.  They just have to WANT to.  Apparently they are currently satisfied with their current position and feel no need to make a change - so highlighting them in the news is just a waste of reading material. 

You know, walking away from a mortgage is starting to look better and better. Of course, you'll have to walk, since you can't afford the gas to drive away from one...

Hey, with gas prices what they are, do you suppose the value of this woman's "real estate" should be higher than it is?

Animals are nasty! They can't clean up after themselves.

They are a lot cleaner than some humans timec.

I had a goat once. That sucker would scavenge anything! When he got tired a that, I had an old  thousand gallon tank layin on its side, and that sucker would get up on top of it somehow and just stand there like he was king sh*t! He was lookin for more victuals!  I never figured out exactly how he got up there though. Jackie Chan with two Sherpa's and gear couldn't a done it!

Butt, he couldn't resist wife's ample backside and one day he just put his head down.......... knocked her fer a loop! She was maddern' hell -- good by Rocky!

He not only kept things purty clean, he accomplished somethin I'd dreamed about fer years.

Scared me half ta death though. Always wondered what happens if that happens to ya twice...........

Kindra, you hit it on the head: "Apparently they are currently satisfied with their current position and feel no need to make a change - so highlighting them in the news is just a waste of reading material."

Can you imagine the smell in that car - ugh!!!

I'm almost 50 years old, and hold down two jobs.  I get so angry when young, able-bodied men like the one in this story, hit me up for money.  Timec is right......they need to get J-O-B-S!!!!

etbartley,

Too funny! Perfect !!!!

I'm glad my daddy taught me how to work.  A little expectation goes a long ways.  Of course cars were much roomier back in those days!  It might not have been that bad cept we just had AM radio (Couldn't afford the 8 track)  in that dirt brown LTD.

God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest.  ~J.G. Holland

But Pam, what about timec's brothers?  (no jobs)

Or is that bruthus?

This story may well explain part of Obama's problem vis-a-vis the Clintons BTW:

"Two beggars are sitting side by side on a street in Rome. One has a cross in front of him; the other has the Star of David. Many people go by and look at both beggars, but only put money into the hat of the beggar sitting behind the cross.

A priest comes by, stops and watches throngs of people giving money to the beggar with the cross, but none to the beggar with the Star of David. Finally, the priest goes over to the beggar behind the Star of David and says: "My poor fellow, don't you understand? This is a Catholic country, this city is the seat of Catholicism. People aren't going to give you money if you sit there with a Star of David in front of you, especially when you're sitting beside a beggar who has a cross. In fact, they would probably give generously to him just out of spite."

The beggar behind the Star of David listens to the priest, turns to the other beggar with the cross and says: "Moishe, look who's trying to teach the Goldstein brothers about marketing."

In the absence of the complete facts regarding this pair, it seems unfair to pass judgment on them based on pure assumption.

One or the other or both could be victims of a vast variety of circumstances preventing them from working or otherwise being productive members of society.

Hundreds of thousands of people, for example, can be found homeless on the streets and unemployable for a number of reasons including debilitating psychological or physiological issues.

Forced to fend for themselves without treatment for their illnesses or help of any kind since Reagan's purge of our mental healthcare system, they can be found inhabiting cardboard box "houses" on city streets, under freeways and bridges or - if they're lucky - old cars in vacant lots.

It's much easier to dismiss or condemn people of lesser fortune as druggies or worse than it is to help those people in need.

In Scroogistically sour humbug logic, harsh and sometimes grossly unfair judgment of others relieves one of the social responsibility to help do anything about  it.

Hopefully, one's uncharitable, unChristian actions in life will not be as harshly judged in a deistic hereafter lest he be condemned to a worse fate than living in an old Oldsmobile.

"Scroogistically"  Interesting word.  Thank you for your attempted lesson in humility.

Now spend your days working with these folks.  Barring that, see to it that the newspaper articles are accurate and complete.  No mention was made that either of these people had any disabilities that would keep them from working.

I guess it's easier to be judgmental of people criticizing than to be judgmental about people who "apparently" make no effort to improve their lot.  Seems it depends on which side of the street you walk on.

Oh, and the reason it took me so long to respond is that I've been out of town since Thursday morning.  In Coloma.  In gold country.  In God's Country.  In a "cabin" on the American River.  On my days off from working.

There's gotta be more to this story than meets the eye..after all, she is receiving a widow's pension..and paperwork had to been processed for that...so I don't understand why she hasn't applied for any other assistance.....I don't think that we received the full story.....gotta be more to this

Why aren`t they out in the fields pickin, why don`t they work, They should send them back to where they came from.. they are just freelaoding off us, probably stealin stuff in Oildale every night, what about the vagrant law... they are white illegals...

No doubt there is more to the story but I'm reminded of a film called The Wall Of Denial where one of the speakers talks about how he found a ping pong table in a field and found some old carpet that he draped over it and settled into his home in the weeds.  He said it was better than a lot of the "hooches" he had in "Nam.  He said he and his buddies would sit there in the weeds, smoking pot and drinking wine while they solved all the worlds problems.  And he said he was happy there, no responsibilities, no worries.

His arrest was the only thing that got him out of his "hooch" and into recovery.   Most of the people who are homeless are there by choice.  No..I can't give you statistics and you can't give any either.  There's no way of knowing how many are there by choice and how many by chance.  The point is, no one's circumstances are going to change unless something changes.    It's an old SA saying.  If nothing changes, nothing changes..and people have to want change for it to work.

Yup..let's legalize pot so more people can become amotivational and sit in the weeds in a hooch and solve the words problems.

Ooops..sidelined..another topic for another day.

Maggie, try not to be silly, there are a lot of jobs where people with no education can work.  McDonalds, Taco Bells..whatever.  Even with minimum wage it beats what he's bringing to their little "family" right now.  The article said they were living off HER 600 monthly.  Is he not able to sweep a floor?  Make a burger?

Maybe they are borderline retarded or something like that.  Otherwise, they could at least crash for a night or two at different foreclosed homes around town.  They could pull it off if they're less noisy than a bunch of partying teans, and if that Oldsmobile will carry them there.  And so what if the police get them?  They would be inflicting less damage to the house than the partyers that get released, and even if they were arrested, it would mean 3 hots and a cot and a roof over their heads.  The downside, I'm assuming, is that crank is more expensive in jail than on the streets of Oildale. Edit: Or the streets of my hometown, Taft.

Well hell Maggie the have already been deported to Oildale.......

There's a young man who works at Walmart who is challanged.  In fact, the Californian ran an article on his a few years ago and explained what a fine worker and valuable employee he is.  IF, they are mentally challanged people who wanted work, there are orginizations to help them train and find jobs.

I know you guys think it's cute to use Oildale as an example when talking about meth but let me introduce you to The Faces Of Meth... from a series in the Oregonian.  It would be all fun an giggles to allow yourselves to hope Oildale is the cradle of crime and addiction but you might want to read the paper when busts are made and see exaclty were all the crime and drug activity is in this town.  For those of you who think you're above it all, think again.  It's in YOUR neighborhood.

But I guess it's ok to keep using the 'Dale as a scapegoat for all the the theiving and crankster stories...it keeps you from having to face the reality of drugs.   And after all, ya gotta blame someone 'cause we all know it couldn't be YOUR kids or YOUR family involved.

NIMBY

Nancy I don't want a guy living in a car cooking my food......do you?...........Last time I checked a shower didn't come with a car........health hazard.........

Gube..in all reality you have no idea who the people are who work in fast food.  You don't know when their last bath was of if they brush their teeth.  None of us do but I've known a few of them.  If the idea of them fixing your taco, they can still sweep a floor, make a bed in a motel, wash dishes.  People who truly want to work can find something beside walking around wanting to wash your windshield for change.  The article didn't say he even did THAT come to think of it.  At least that's some sort of effort.

Maybe their on a waiting list for section 8 housing......