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Hobos?
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"No Jules, you're gonna be like those pieces of shit out there who beg for change. They walk around like a bunch of fuckin' zombies, they sleep in garbage bins, they eat what I throw away, and dogs piss on 'em. They got a word for 'em, they're called bums. And without a job, residence, or legal tender, that's what you're gonna be -- a fuckin' bum!"
- Vincent Vega, Pulp Fiction
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But I digress. So there are bums and then there are hobos. A hobo might have been considered a bum, but he was a little different. Unlike the homeless person of today, standing on a street corner and yelling at pigeons, a hobo was a product of the Great Depression, when there really weren't any other options. Maybe they lost there job and had to "live off the land" until better times came around. Maybe they got sick of the soup kitchens and decided to see America. I know it's a Walt Whitman/Jack Kerouac stretch.
In my romanticised version of it, hobos were the first people to live off the grid - back when the grid was just getting started. I am sure that most hobos didn't want to be that way and would have preferred to have a job, house, and all the rest of it, but I like to think that there were some who got a taste of "tramp life" and didn't want to go back.
Hobo Sign Language
When hobos traveled around the country they used a graphical sign language to give other hobos information about the area. The below diagrams show some of these symbols and there meaning.
I am not sure if there are any true hobos still out there. With all of the current anti-terror legislation it's probably a lot harder for someone to just jump onto a train and hobo there way across country. Or maybe it isn't.
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What You Need to Be a Hobo
- Stick with bag on the end of it (bindle stick - see below for crappy rendition)
- Piece of chalk (for the aforementioned signs)
- Clown make-up (optional, but not preferred)
- Tin can oven
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A Hobo is a person that travels to work
A tramp is a person that travels and wont work
A bum is a person that will neither travel or work
From - CyberHobo
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Related Links
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