Homeless People Wanted: Must Be Open to Demeaning, Illegal Work

What are they thinking? People obviously don't see the homeless as human or they wouldn't attempt to hire them to do most of the insane, demeaning and illegal jobs out there. Here's a small sampling:

Rob dead bodies. The Aokigahara forest at the base of Mt. Fuji in Japan is the site of 50 to 100 suicides a year. The forest is too large to patrol, and authorities sweep the area only once a year. According to this documentary, the Yakuza (Japan's organized crime syndicate) pays homeless people to sneak into the forest and rob the corpses.

Murder people. He's not the only husband to order a hit on his wife, but he's one of the stupidest and most famous. The Food Network's "Calorie Commando" Juan-Carlos Cruz reportedly gave homeless men ten $100 bills, each cut in half, to kill his wife. The other half of the bills were promised to the men once the deed was done. Of course, the men reported his offer to police and Cruz was arrested.

Dumpster dive for identity theft. Police say a man named William Frelix hired homeless people to search through dumpsters at Nashville hotels to find customers' credit card information. Frelix used the numbers for over two years to buy more than $100,000 worth of stuff. The homeless didn't get much of a cut.

Assist with suicides. Jeffery Locker, a motivational speaker who apparently fell on hard times, hired a homeless man to kill him so his family could collect life insurance money. Locker, who lectured on how to deal with stress, allegedly offered the homeless man his debit card in exchange for stabbing and strangling him.

Political placeholder. Lobbyists hire the homeless to hold their place in line for seats at important Congressional hearings. At the last minute, the hiring lobbyist shows up to swap places with the homeless placeholder and walk into the hearing to do whatever lobbyists do.

Don't forget the "bum fights," drug dealing, prostitution and rent-a-picketer.

There are plenty of real, legal, dignified jobs you don't need an apartment or car to do. Some cities hire "homeless liaisons," homeless people who work with the homeless (but at salaries from $57,864 to $82,353 in some areas, they're not homeless for long.)

Telling murderers and criminals not to target the homeless for dirty jobs is useless. But telling people who are assuming just because someone is homeless they're willing to be humiliated for money just might make them think twice and pay a respectful and healthy wage for a dirty (but legal) job.

Photo credit: Stockfresh