I was born & raised in South Austin, been here for 54 years. Growing up we didn't have homeless/street people as we see now but we did have hobos passing thru. My experiences were with train hoppers since we lived close to a train track. These folk, mostly men, would come up to the house and ask to speak to my parents. They would politely ask for water and/or a meal but offered to do some work in exchange. The work could be raking leaves, picking up workshop trash, splitting wood or just a good conversation with my parents. Now, for the most part, it's a sorry lot of liars-druggies-drunks-lazies that take advantage of one of Austin's mistakes: allowing/protecting them with little demands from them. When they try to hit me up, I try not to acknowledge them, say no or wave them off.