Using Hobos As Wireless Hot Spots Might Be The Best Idea Of The Year
BF – At SXSW, the annual tech startup conference in Austin, 13 homeless men are hanging around the conference center wearing white shirts that say “I’m _____, a 4G hotspot.” Each is carrying a wireless internet device, and for a PayPal donation, will provide conference-goers with internet access for as long as they want. The men are part of a campaign called “Homeless Hotspots,” devised by a marketing firm called BBH. It effectively debuted today, and started backfiring immediately. The first person to flag the stunt as a little off was the New York Times’s David Gallagher, who called the plan it “a little dystopian.” Since then, the Internet’s been aghast: The story has been both amplified and deprived of context, inspiring thousands of knee-jerk responses. It’s really not going over very well at all.
How anyone could view hobo hotspots as a negative is beyond me. This is literally the first time homeless people could be genuinely helpful to us. Normally the most helpful thing he does is tell me a bad joke I’ve heard already (“DO-nation!”) or hold a door for me that I easily could have done myself, but bums as wifi access points? Now we’re actually getting somewhere.
Without this program, this dude’s shirt would have to say “I’m Clarence and I smell like pee” or “I’m Clarence and I’m gonna make you and your friends uncomfortable until you give me some money” to be accurate. But now Clarence is a hot spot. He’s a SOMEBODY. He’s helping me check my email and stalk that girl from high school with the big titties who just put up a new profile picture. He’s useful now.
Oh sure it’s a little dehumanizing I guess. But you know what else is dehumanizing? Being COMPLETELY IGNORED BY ALL HUMANS. That’s what he was before, but now he’s important. He’s got a job. He’s a hotspot. Now go collect a handful of your “houseless” hobo buddies and stand close together so I can download this cat video, Clarence.
PS – How come there aren’t that many homeless women? Is it because somebody, somewhere is willing to bang them?
PPS – Last week I was in LA and San Fran — SO MANY HOMELESS. If hobos became zombies everyone in California is dead.
You can last a long time as a homeless in Cali. Weather’s nice. That shit don’t float on the East Coast. Winter kills, bro.
Are people really calling it inhuman, disturbing, ect..? Yet, we walk right by them on the street, sitting in their own piss and shit and that seems just fine? Begging for money is just fine with society, but holding a device and getting paid is a fucking cushion job. If anything is demeaning, it’s waiters and waitresses, getting me everything I ask for as quick as they can, so they can receive a little bit of money.