Sunday, April 22, 2012

Don't wanna wait in line for BBQ? Just get a homeless guy to do it for you. (Wait, what???)

At 9:15 Friday morning, a buddy texted me from the line at Franklin Barbecue. (For those who've been living in a remote cave with no forms of communication, Franklin is kinda popular and the line to get in forms well before the door opens at 11. See picture below.) He said a man had just pulled up and dropped off a homeless man to wait in line for him. One person in line said the man in the car paid the homeless man to wait, and another person said he heard the man in the car tell the homeless man that he would feed him. Hearsay, but for purposes of discussion, let's just say both of those are true. (Matter of fact, to be fair to the man in the car, let's just assume the whole situation is true, instead of stating it as fact. Man in the car: If the "homeless" man was actually just your unemployed roommate, let us know, and we'll set the record straight. On the contrary, if the story is true, then you are really dumb. Paying the man ahead of time? Amateur.) So, what do we think about this? Troublesome? Is this out of "line?" Though there is no written rule at Franklin that says "No line holding" or "Those who bring homeless people to wait in line so that they can go back to work will not be fed" or the like, is it unethical? Though it doesn't violate the letter of the law, does it violate the spirit? Is this gaming the system (of waiting in line)? I had all 3 of my classes at UT discuss this (It wasn't off topic, as part of the course involves debating ethics.), and the general pulse of the students was that there's no problem with this. He paid the man, said he'd feed the man, and (we assume) didn't force the man to wait in line for him. Oh, about that, the man waited in line for 50 minutes & then left!

5 comments:

Drew Thornley said...

Facebook reply: "I don't think he has anything better to do. As long as you pay him or buy him lunch I think okay."

Drew Thornley said...

Twitter reply: " totally ok as long as you feed him. I'm def not homeless and I'd do it no questions asked. Free grub? Yes please"

Drew Thornley said...

Twitter reply: "no"

Drew Thornley said...

Facebook reply: "Only if he's a wifi hotspot. http://www.neowin.net/news/homeless-men-being-used-as-living-wifi-hotspots-in-austin"

Don O. said...

I've heard there are people offering to do this on craigslist.

I want to go over there on a Monday and stand in line and see if anyone cues up behind me.