Friday, July 27, 2012

Any Given Friday

8:20 PM Downtown Amherst

 
Amherst Police and Fire personnel tend to Christopher Lynch this evening, one of about a half dozen of the homeless who frequents the downtown, drinks too much, then falls down and cannot get up.


7.27.12 / 8:08PM / MEDICAL / S PLEASANT + MAIN - AMHERST, MA / PARTY WITH POSSIBLE BROKEN LEG / (DCN)

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Let's call it what it really is he's a drunking bum. Their like pigeons you keep feeding them and they keep coming back drunker than ever. There are a small percentage that are down on their luck but a mass majority are worthless bums that need to sober up and stop being an eye sore.

Anonymous said...

Larry, why don't you go after them the way you go after the UM kids? Track down all their sources of handout money, and all the rest?

Lets put an end to this garbage.

And unlike a UM kid being hauled to the hospital, YOU paid 100% of this run.

Anonymous said...

He is a drunk. He's also a vet. He says he drinks mostly for the pain. That would be the pain in his missing leg. I think he has a new prosthesis, not sure.

There but for the grace of God, go I.

Larry Kelley said...

Nothing excuses the amount of alcohol he consumes.

Anonymous said...

Has anyone (i.e. select board, town manager) noticed what is going on in downtown amherst? Seems like a lot more incidents involving homeless people - problems with businesses (the haircutter, the liquor store, etc) and harrassment. I am getting more and more wary when I am downtown.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, let's get these bums out of here. We want our world to be free of eye sores and beggars. "Are there no prisons? Are there no work houses?!"

We want our world to look good, nothing that reminds us of the shrinking middle class and the many recent war vets.

Anybody remember all that flag waving and all those Support the Troops signs we all plastered on our cars?

Yep, not in my back yard, though. God no. Are you kidding?

Anonymous said...

Don't worry, the new homeless shelter will send them to the north end of town. There's two package stores within stumbling distance. Also a bar across the street.

Anonymous said...

@7:56 you're not the only one getting wary. We were downtown mid afternoon the other day and two of the regulars were running around in traffic shirtless, screaming f-bombs, etc. Saw a family obviously from out of town (college visit probably) and they looked shocked. Great image for Amherst to present.

Anon. 8:44 please drop the smug righteousness. You want 'em in your backyard? Good, start building a shelter.

The Ponziville Karma Show said...

Come one, come all.

Come, discover what an open sewer this mirage utopia really is.

Anonymous said...

No. That's the problem, we built a shelter, and they came....

These guys are not from here, they are not our down-on-their-luck neighbors. They are professional addicts and panhandlers who come here for the easy pickings and the lovely shelter.

I am also a parent who is now concerned about letting my 13 year old daughter walk up town for a frozen yogurt.

The police reports tell the tale of verbal abuse, harassment, drunkenness, public urination, lewdness, sleeping in bushes,ATMs, doorways, etc.

Shut down the shelter and they will all go back to Springfield!!!

Anonymous said...

Enough!

Not all disabled vets lay around drunk all day harassing people. Here are some examples of ones who don't and aren't:
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/05/28/inhaling-fire-marine-in-afghanistan/
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/05/28/brothers-in-iraq-and-afghanistan/

I think it is time we start calling these folk what they are: BUMS. If UMass isn't friendly to veterans, and it well may not be, that is another thing, but they are supposed to have opportunities and it is their own damn fault for not taking advantage of them!

And how many of these so-called veterans actually ARE? Remember the guy Clinton authorized to be buried in Arlington until the pressure got too hot for even BillyBoy?

The Irony said...

Anon 314, what are you talking about?

UMass is the greatest home to veterans. Amherst College is too high brow, Hampshire College is too peace-nik, and the town of Amherst is so open minded their brains fell out years ago. UMass is the institute picking up the slack when it comes to education, including veterans. What other school has ROTC? What other school has a veteran only club? What other school performs honor ceremonies?

This is why as a UM student we hated Amherst. The knee-jerk reaction by the locals that we are all the same...

Anonymous said...

Dear Anon 12am,

I actually think that UMass students, who are allegedly tomorrow's leaders, should be held to a higher standard than these lost souls.

That's why we are so disappointed by them.

Anonymous said...

I must say I am appalled by the lack of understanding and compassion shown by many of the prior entries. These comments demonstrate only ignorance about substance abuse and addiction as well as mental health issues.

Instead of condemning these individuals, perhaps it would be more productive to pitch in and volunteer to help them or, perish the thought, go after the root causes such as poverty, trauma, etc.

But, perhaps that's too much to ask as it actually requires some of the compassion missing here.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Don't worry, the new homeless shelter will send them to the north end of town. There's two package stores within stumbling distance. Also a bar across the street


The Survival Center is not planning to be a shelter- is it?

Anonymous said...

Compassion (or even a willingness to withhold judgement in order to gather more facts) is often in short supply at this site.

Anonymous said...

I must say I am appalled by the lack of understanding and compassion shown by many of the prior entries. These comments demonstrate only ignorance about substance abuse and addiction as well as mental health issues.

I must say I am disgusted by schmucks who take the "ignorance" and "lack of compassion" route. Screw you!

Do you have any idea what other people have dealt with -- and how much easier it would have been for them to have gone the "oh, poor me" route? Do you have any idea how much you are INSULTING them with this stuff?

I am disgusted by people like you -- and YOU are part of the problem. Yes, you want to have a dependent population to justify your jobs and taxpayer-paid largess but you actually are part of the problem.

The middle is not going to hold much longer -- and some of us aren't all that far from the Chinese solution to substance abuse -- China did end its Opium problem, didn't they????

Tough Love said...

Lynch is at least 60 years old.

If he really was in Vietnam, it was more than 40 years ago. That is four decades to get his act together, to find some cure for "the pain" and the rest.

At this point, I think involuntary commitment to a locked ward is the solution. Clean up your act or we lock you up.

Or euthanasia. That's what we will be seeing a LOT of under Obamacare, lets just start early...

Anonymous said...

These guys are bums. And the only reason they're here is the shelter. Close it, and they'll follow each other to the next stupid town that allows their bad behavior. You people who make excuses for them embarrass the vets who come back, wounded or not, and are productive citizens. These guys are bums. Give them a one way bus ticket to Springfield.

Anonymous said...

a person can be compassionate to addicts and homeless people and still be concerned about being safe downtown and the safety of their children. both problems need to be addressed.

A+ Place to Leave said...

Anon 408,

Rest assured we were told Amherst was the best college town in America. We are just reflecting what we found.

Us students are a product of our environment.

Anonymous said...

Chris Lynch is NOT a veteran. That is a LIE he tells people to buy him (drum roll) BOOZE!! He actually lost his leg in a motorcyle accident years ago. Dude never served.

Dont be fooled.

Anonymous said...

Ed, please do us all (not to mention yourself) a favor, and finally GET A LIFE.

Anonymous said...

Are you serious? You are recommending murdering homeless people (euthanasia) so that you have have your quaint, little sleepy village?

Most of you folks seem to be sick, petty, ignorant and selfish. You're the ones who should be "locked up." These bums are the only diversity we have in this whitebread town!

Larry Kelley said...

I think he was borrowing from Jonathan Swift.

Anonymous said...

Anon 11:03 And just what does this little piece of diversity contribute to the whole of society?

mg said...

12:08 PM,

I don't know... real life, perhaps?

Anonymous said...

I think he was borrowing from Jonathan Swift.

Or Sam Kinneson.

Anonymous said...

Yeah,so according to many of the posters on this site,homeless people are nothing but sub humans. Many of these people had a life at one time. Things happened to them,their mind,etc etc. Can you imagine all of the vitriolic hate that you spew at these people. I volunteered there several times and met some very good people that stayed there. They are not Subhuman "Bums" and Derelicts as you describe. They do not utter poor me,poor me over and over again. Many of the older guys at one time had lives. The poster who said let us put an end to this garbage. What does that mean? Exterminate Homeless People?Are you entertained when you see videos of people beating and burning and killing homeless people on the Internet? Please,explain to me what you mean.
To these posters,you are,in a word,sick and scary people. Because someone does not posess the same things as you do or might have lost their mind does not make them any less human than you are. F----k you. You make me vomit. You are Evil.

Anonymous said...

LOVE IT WHEN NARCISSCISTIC DECENDENTS OF THOSE WHO MAKE VETS HOMELESS ARE RUDE INSENSITIVE AND CANT USE THEIR REAL NAMES MAKING SUCH STATEMENTS .. WEAK