A rant about life in Frankfurt

Here you can see what German in England think about England:

http://www.deutsche-in-london.net/forum/index.php

Some fairly strong opinions here, which is unsurprising given the subject matter.
The bottom line is that being on the streets without hope of any kind in your life is a shit situation to be in however you got there.
My experience of seeing this sort of stuff is restricted to Frankfurt + Bensheim (which is pretty mild compared to Frankfurt) over here, and Glasgow/ London / Edinburgh/ Manchester in the Uk.
I can only speculate on this, but I suspect Frankfurt is mild compared to some parts of the developing world.
As an infrequent visitor to Frankfurt I agree that the area round the HBF has got worse in terms of freakish / disturbing sights to be seen. London has the same problem only bigger, but they are better at hiding the problem from public gaze. Is it better to hide the problem? That's a tricky one.
The strangest thing I find - and this is just a personal opinion - is that I never feel threatened or at risk from any of these guys in Frankfurt. Can't say the same when I'm over working in London and out late in the evening.
Edinburgh, where I lived for 12 years, is very good at containing the drugs problem in the peripheral "schemes" (see Trainspotting). As for Glasgow, where I come from, well you can sometimes just be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Best to give anyone there who looks the worse from drugs (or drink) a wide berth.
I'd be prepared to bet a large sum of money that the junkies etc will be quietly moved on elsewhere before the World Cup gets going...and then they'll quietly drift back afterwards.

Willy, I think Tommy must come from Texas

I went on a visit to Frankfurt a few months ago and I agree that the area around the station isn't nice but how about Kings Cross in London or Zoo station in Berlin - are they any better? The people in Frankfurt actually seemed much less scummy and provincial and far more civilised and better looking than the Leipzig folk.

Wouldn't like to go to Leipzig if it's worse than here!!!

And another thing - at least there are good jobs to be had in Frankfurt - they're extremely thin on the ground in this part of Germany

Central stations in big cities are, unfortunately, always shady.
I have seen people smocking crack here near the HBF a few years ago but I think it's been cleaned up a bit since.
At any rate, compared to the central station in Milano (Italy), the HBF here is a 5 stars hotel. That's the city I was born in, and I am not happy to see how rundown it is.

I think the skag heads in Frankfurt tend to keep a lot amongst themselves, which I prefer to being hounded by someone after a late night at work.

Have to say I agree with Willy on this one completely (even though he last posted this thread in 2005). ...then I noticed he was also from Vancouver, hehe. After living in the same city as the downtown-eastside Hastings crew, my first impression of Frankfurt was honestly that its quite clean. I find the panhandlers, homeless people and junkies (the few I even see) to be very unintrusive and laid back compared to Vancouver. They don't chase and follow you with long crazy stories and then swear at you when you try to buy them the coffee they begged for instead of just giving them the $1.50.
I also agree that its sick and wrong to just try to sweep the problem under the rug. Your biggest problem is that you have the inconvienience of having to actually see something that is not pretty? Imagine what their biggest problem is. Consider yourself lucky. If you it really disturbs you then try to really help it in some way, not just "clean it up". There are organizations that and people that are dedicated to this.

Quiet an interesting thread..
Some really strong opinions and variegated points of view that are perhaps very close and / or far off from the roots of the problem of addiction, society and the individual.

Nevertheless, I can recollect vividly, on several ocassions, whilst taking the number 14 bus in Vancouver, which runs from the Burnaby area downtown through Hastings all the way to UBC, that there would always be one or two fellows taking a dump or peeing on the bus with delight, glee, abandonment and impunity.
Anyone here who has lived in Vancouver, can also recollect the absurd crowd that hangs out at the corner of Main Street and Hastings..! it pales in comparison to anything one might see here in any German city.

Casual observation might just indicate the problem of addiction, but a real deep closer inquiry as to why people find themselves within such a predicament or what pushes individuals towards such a direction in life would reveal a completely different picture.

In any case it is a deep problem requiring a comprehensive outlook at the multiple factors creating this spectacular phenomena affecting societies and individuals.

Perhaps, if the moral and ethical aspects could also be clearly and objectively distinguished from the psychosomatic and biological aspects of this social phenomena it might be possible to evaluate the problem correctly against other actions and activities of the individual in relation to society.

It might be surprising to find out that, perhaps the actions of a drug addict which as a society, we are ceremoniously and self-righteously condemning may not be so deadly and damaging to society in comparison say to the actions of the human warmonger, or the human billionaire who, deprives societies of the possibilities of freedom, happiness and peace, by cleverly controlling the means of existence, that is by amassing and hoarding money, goods, food, housing et cetera.

The point,
Whilst our opinions and thoughts might be very interesting to air and share, the important points that as individuals we should remember, is that in the overall context of cause and effect regarding society, our individual opinions and thoughts are always helping to shape and define actions and policies in the governance of society and man.
So in other words, equal, objective and critical scrutiny ought to be given to every human action and phenomena so there is a balance somehow.

Yo Tommy!

That was a good mini-rant! Made me laugh

i can't believe that so many of you point out the obvious faults of every major city in the western hemisphere,drug abuse is wide spread from naples to amsterdam.you can pick any street in any city and you will find it!!To run down Germany for the faults that are a result of society is wrong.I lived in Brixton,London for 12 years,give me a break,complaining about a few roads and a couple of smack heads,Jesus,Germany has a fantastic public transport system,the most civil people in Europe,and a sense of humour that sarcastic only defeats.I am amazed that these people that are able to cycle throu frankfurt without getting mugged for there bike have the audacity to moan .I think some of you have been spoilt,rant about something important next time,or to use a cliche get a life.

I agree...walk through roxbury or Boston where I'm from in the middle of the night and then you'll have something to complain about...