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Scott Ruben... huddled under filthy blankets not 20 paces from the elevator shaft.

ThaedThaed
edited January 2009 in Everything Else
This story is getting a lot play on the internets. Detroit is a very tough city. I'm surprised it's news. This quote caught my eye though, even if it's not spelled the same way. Hobo Scott!
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Comments

  • ChurbaChurba
    The picture that accompanies that story is pure WTF Mate.
  • HungryJoeHungryJoe
    edited January 2009
    Rule 86 Scott Rubin freezes better than you.

    Lemma: Everyone loves Scottcicles.
    Post edited by HungryJoe on
  • RymRym
    Detroit is a very tough city.
    Having spent my childhood there: yes, yes it is.
  • meat and cheesemeat and cheese
    My mom's cousin lived in Detroit and got shot in the face with a 45.
  • ChurbaChurba
    edited January 2009
    Having spent my childhood there: yes, yes it is.
    "The CIA thinks they can infiltrate the Mountain of Dr. Klahn!"
    "You can't scare me, you slant-eyed yellow bastard."
    "Take him to... Detroit!"
    "No! No, not Detroit! No! No, please! Anything but that! No! No!"
    Post edited by Churba on
  • Loganator456Loganator456
    edited January 2009
    This quote from the article sounds like something straight out of a stereotypical mystery novel:
    "Yeah, I seen him," Ruben said. The snow outside howled. The heat from the can warped the landscape of rotting buildings and razor wire.

    Did he know who the dead person was?

    "I don't recognize him from his shoes."

    Did he call the police?

    "No, I figured someone else did," he said.

    "There's lots of people coming through here with cameras and cell phones. I don't got no phone. I don't got no quarter. Things is tight around here."

    His shack mate, Kenneth Williams, 47, returned at that point with an armload of wood.

    "Yeah, he's been down there since last month at least."

    He was asked if he called the police.

    "No, I thought it was a dummy myself," he said unconvincingly. Besides, Williams said, there were more pressing issues like keeping warm and finding something to eat.

    "You got a couple bucks?" he asked.

    Waiting for a response

    There are at least 19,000 homeless people in Detroit, by some estimates. Put another way, more than 1 in 50 people here are homeless.

    The human problem is so bad, and the beds so few, that some shelters in the city provide only a chair. The chair is yours as long as you sit in it. Once you leave, the chair is reassigned.

    Thousands of down-on-their-luck adults do nothing more with their day than clutch onto a chair. This passes for normal in some quarters of the city.

    "I hate that musical chair game," Ruben said. He said he'd rather live next to a corpse.

    Convinced that it was indeed a body, this reporter made a discreet call to a police officer.

    "Aw, just give 911 a call," the cop said. "We'll be called eventually."

    A call was placed to 911. A woman answered. She was told it was a reporter calling. The operator tried to follow, but seemed confused. "Where is this building?"

    She promised to contact the appropriate authorities.

    Twenty minutes or so went by when 911 called the newsroom. This time it was a man.

    "Where's this building?"

    It was explained to him, as was the elevator shaft and the tomb of ice.

    "Bring a jack-hammer," this reporter suggested.

    "That's what we do," he said.

    Nearly 24 hours went by. The elevator shaft was still a gaping wound. There was no crime scene tape. The homeless continued to burn their fires. City schoolchildren still do not have the necessary books to learn. The train station continues to crumble. Too many homicides still go unsolved.

    After another two calls to 911 on Wednesday afternoon (one of which was disconnected), the Detroit Fire Department called and agreed to meet nearby.

    Capt. Emma McDonald was on the scene.

    "Every time I think I've seen it all, I see this," she said.

    And with that they went about the work of recovering a person who might otherwise be waiting for the warm winds of spring.
    Post edited by Loganator456 on
  • JasonJason
    "The CIA thinks they can infiltrate the Mountain of Dr. Klahn!"
    KHLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!
  • meat and cheesemeat and cheese
    Detroit is this ongoing joke among Michiganders. Anytime the city comes up in conversation it's mandatory that somebody makes a statement about getting shot or dealing crack. We all, however, love the Pistons and the Red Wings, they rock!
  • ChurbaChurba
    KHLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!
    That was a joke of Extraordinary Magnitude. You have our Gratitude.
  • AprecheApreche
    We all, however, love the Pistons and the Red Wings, they rock!
    How 'bout them Lions and Tigers?
  • VigaViga
    "Stone-cold dead."

    Fitting words alright. Not sure if I would use them.
  • Kate MonsterKate Monster
    That poor man, those poor people. The article is heart wrenching and gut wrenching. I don't understand why all the people that came through taking pictures didn't call the police. This is disgusting and heart breaking on every level.
  • NuriNuri
    That poor man, those poor people. The article is heart wrenching and gut wrenching. I don't understand why all the people that came through taking pictures didn't call the police. This is disgusting and heart breaking on every level.
    The same reason no one calls the police when they hear a gunshot in a big city? Haven't you seen Last Action Hero?
  • Kate MonsterKate Monster
    That poor man, those poor people. The article is heart wrenching and gut wrenching. I don't understand why all the people that came through taking pictures didn't call the police. This is disgusting and heart breaking on every level.
    The same reason no one calls the police when they hear a gunshot in a big city? Haven't you seen Last Action Hero?
    No, I have not. I would call the police if I heard a gun in a big city and hope it wasn't just a car backfiring.
  • RymRym
    I would call the police if I heard a gun in a big city and hope it wasn't just a car backfiring.
    In New York: yes.

    In Detroit: gunfire at night was not uncommon. In fact, it was a common enough event that there was little point in reporting it.
  • Kate MonsterKate Monster
    I would call the police if I heard a gun in a big city and hope it wasn't just a car backfiring.
    In New York: yes.
    In Detroit: gunfire at night was not uncommon. In fact, it was a common enough event that there was little point in reporting it.
    Just because something is common doesn't mean that my basic concern for my fellow man goes out the door. I would call the police.
  • AprecheApreche
    Just because something is common doesn't mean that my basic concern for my fellow man goes out the door. I would call the police.
    You would be on the phone all night, and the police would never show up.
  • Kate MonsterKate Monster
    Just because something is common doesn't mean that my basic concern for my fellow man goes out the door. I would call the police.
    You would be on the phone all night, and the police would never show up.
    All night? I doubt it. I wouldn't expect the police to show up to see me, just to information about a reported incident.
  • AprecheApreche
    All night? I doubt it. I wouldn't expect the police to show up to see me, just to information about a reported incident.
    The police can hear the gunshots also. They would much rather have you not call. You're just giving them extra paperwork.
  • RymRym
    Now, when I lived in Detroit, if I had found a body, I would have anonymously tipped off the police. But I routinely ignored gunshots.

    The scary times were holidays. You would seriously hear automatic gunfire all night as people "celebrated."
  • Kate MonsterKate Monster
    All night? I doubt it. I wouldn't expect the police to show up to see me, just to information about a reported incident.
    The police can hear the gunshots also. They would much rather have you not call. You're just giving them extra paperwork.
    Not if they aren't in that area at that time. If it is so ubiquitous, then others (like yourself) may not report it. I would report it and the POLICE would never be bothered, only the people that work at the emergency line.
  • AprecheApreche
    All night? I doubt it. I wouldn't expect the police to show up to see me, just to information about a reported incident.
    The police can hear the gunshots also. They would much rather have you not call. You're just giving them extra paperwork.
    Not if they aren't in that area at that time. If it is so ubiquitous, then others (like yourself) may not report it. I would report it and the POLICE would never be bothered, only the people that work at the emergency line.
    They'ld be bothered when they had to come arrest the crazy lady who calls 911 constantly.
  • Kate MonsterKate Monster
    All night? I doubt it. I wouldn't expect the police to show up to see me, just to information about a reported incident.
    The police can hear the gunshots also. They would much rather have you not call. You're just giving them extra paperwork.
    Not if they aren't in that area at that time. If it is so ubiquitous, then others (like yourself) may not report it. I would report it and the POLICE would never be bothered, only the people that work at the emergency line.
    They'ld be bothered when they had to come arrest the crazy lady who calls 911 constantly.
    Crazy? To report a gunshot? I think not.
  • RymRym
    Crazy? To report a gunshot? I think not.
    Seriously? Gunshots were common enough to where everyone just ignored them. In an urban environment like that, it's practically impossible to tell where they originated or even what vague direction they came from. You'd just hear them off in the distance, echoing through the buildings, along with the yelling and screaming and every other Detroit-esque bump in the night.
  • Kate MonsterKate Monster
    Crazy? To report a gunshot? I think not.
    Seriously? Gunshots were common enough to whereeveryonejust ignored them. In an urban environment like that, it's practically impossible to tell where they originated or even what vague direction they came from. You'd just hear them off in the distance, echoing through the buildings, along with the yelling and screaming and every other Detroit-esque bump in the night.
    But if no one reports it....?
  • VhdbloodVhdblood
    Crazy? To report a gunshot? I think not.
    Seriously? Gunshots were common enough to whereeveryonejust ignored them. In an urban environment like that, it's practically impossible to tell where they originated or even what vague direction they came from. You'd just hear them off in the distance, echoing through the buildings, along with the yelling and screaming and every other Detroit-esque bump in the night.
    But if no one reports it....?
    It won't matter. Not only is the person who fired the gun probably gone, you don't even know where he was to begin with.

    Just drop it. It's a natural occurrence. You'd be up at all hours of the night calling the police non-stop because of all of the gunshots.
  • RymRym
    I'll sum this whole thing up:

    Detroit is a rough place. You would do well not to live there.
  • AprecheApreche
    Most Americans want to move, live in a different city. Places most wanted to move to? Denver, San Diego, and Seattle. Places most wanted to move away from? Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Detroit.
  • RochelleRochelle
    Places most wanted to move to? Denver, San Diego, and Seattle. Places most wanted to move away from? Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Detroit.
    Woohoo! Go, Seattle! ^_^

    Is it just a coincidence or perhaps a correlation that people want to go west US cities and leave east US cities?
  • AprecheApreche

    Is it just a coincidence or perhaps a correlation that people want to go west US cities and leave east US cities?
    Well, San Diego is obviously because of weather. Also, the west is generally newer and shinier in terms of infrastructure, technology, houses, etc. Denver is also basically a resort town, if you like to ski.
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