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Joined 21 days ago
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Cake day: March 21st, 2025

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  • There’s a park in my town where homeless people tend to gather because it’s one of the few places with benches and shade. My friends and I threw a cookout at the park and went around inviting everyone in and near the park to join us. We don’t have a huge homeless population here, but there were a dozen or so homeless folks that joined. Cops showed up and harassed us for a little while, but luckily a sergeant showed up and let them know that no laws were being broken. It also helps that I used to work for the Medical Examiner’s Office, so a lot of the cops know me from being on scenes together. It’s not exactly a “get out of jail free” card, but they do treat me with a little more respect than the average person gets.

    I don’t know about the laws in other places, but here in Florida when you hand out food, the cops use the excuse of “food safety” to shut you down or even fine and arrest you. It’s all bullshit of course, but that’s their legal backing. But when you’re throwing a cookout, it’s food that you are eating, and just happen to be sharing with guests. There’s not a damn thing they can do about it.

    People should have more cookouts in public parks, invite everyone, and make sure that includes people who are struggling. Then it’s just a party, and like you say, the guests situation otherwise is irrelevant.