[zach]

Let me be gentle about this. I think Craig is primarily looking for someone with the skills to practice dedicated work. Homelessness develops one's skills in different areas. I don't think working long hours in ag country would be a good match for big-city homeless folks.

[dcurtis]

You mean to say that homeless are lazy and have no work ethic?

That's true of most homeless, I think. But a small minority of them probably are good physical laborers who just lack the ability to find good jobs. I wonder how one could weed these out of the general homeless population.

[wallflower]

Unfortunately, a sizeable percentage of homeless also suffer from mental illnesses that directly impact their ability to hold down a job. A friend of mine who works at a metropolitan hospital constantly sees homeless people there, by their entrance not to beg but because they want to be admitted, to get treated, to get off the streets.

[zach]

I'm only speaking about the experience, not the people themselves. If you want to learn how to live workfree (I think that may actually be a thing) in the US, being homeless on the streets of Santa Monica would teach you a lot. But if I was Craig, I'd be looking for the guys who work at a Hormel plant in Kentucky instead.