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Comment by jerry1979 | Hacker News Reader

jerry1979

I had to clean up another person's poop because they pooped next to my car. I felt pretty angry about it because I hate poop, and I had a hard time understanding why this person left their poop on the ground instead of putting it in a nearby dumpster. Then I remembered they were probably high or had a mental illness. It takes a bit of stoic zen to get un-angry about cleaning up another person's poop.

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I would say it's all relative, dog owners and parents with infants deal with someone else's shit all day, every day, and only occasionally complain about it. Part of that is actively caring about the shitters in question, I assume. But as you say, it's work to extend that care to someone you don't know.

Yeah, that's all true. In addition, I know that infants and dogs literally don't have the capacity to clean up their poop - they couldn't if they wanted to.

If I, as an adult, can clean up your poop for you, then it escapes me why you, homeless but also adult, can't pick it up and put it in a dumpster. The logical conclusion is that you do not wish to.

One of the things I did to steel my will was to to think about the parents and the dog owners when I picked up other people's poop. However, thinking along those lines, I ended up connecting the idea that babies and dogs do not have free will, and I noticed that connection bubble to the surface when I saw homeless encampments. It colored the already dismal sight with a tinge of existential horror.

So, I'm not so sure that the baby/dog to encampment dweller connection makes the most appropriate vehicle for mentally dealing with the poop. Or, maybe, it is the right vehicle. I really don't know.

So homeless don't have free will ?

How would I know if anyone has free will or not?

When I rationalize my poop scooping duties by juxtaposing them with the duties of parents and dog owners, I end up placing the babies, dogs, and adult poopers in the same category. I don't know if that categorization actually reflects reality, and therefore I can't tell if that kind of rationalization will actually help me react to the poop in a constructive way.

How high are you right now ... :D

How free is their will? Can they choose not to poop? Can they choose to use a toilet when they have to poop? Can they choose to have all of the prerequisites to have their own toilet to poop in? (a stable location to live, an income stream to pay for it, freedom from addiction or mental illness that would disrupt their ability to generate income...)

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