Nobody tell U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, but the hobos have their own convention!
The website Buzzfeed features an article by staffer Matt Stopera, about things he learned at the annual Hobo Convention. The most important lessons: Hobos are not bums, and they don’t like bums!
Heller’s hobo connection came in 2010, when the then-congressman questioned whether the government’s extension of unemployment benefits was creating “a nation of hobos.” For the record, hobos were people who wandered the country — usually by hitching rides illegally on trains — so they could move from place to place and do odd jobs.
But if the hobos now have their own convention, maybe Heller was right, and the government has created a nation of hobos! In any event, since the word is used so rarely, I’d suggest to the hobos that they invite Heller to keynote next year’s convention. He’ll probably go, but only if they offer him a prime-time speaking slot.
Tags: Dean Heller
Hobo’s did not just begin holding conventions. Look at the sign, they have been held for 112 years.
But government has created bums. Multigenerational bums for that matter.
I recall my grandfather telling me that “Hobo” was short-hand for “Homeward Bound”
Oops, should have said read the caption on the photo. That convention has been held for 112 years.