John Bubier, long familiar to people downtown and elsewhere in the Boston area for his outstretched arms and "Do you have any spaaaare change?" requests, died Jan. 11 at 68.
Bubier graduated Watertown High School in 1971. He was a member of the Gridiron Club and listed his plans for the future as "Business." He worked as a caterer for American Airlines at Logan Airport and as a laborer for the Boston Housing Authority, he told MassLive.com in a 2014 interview. After he was laid off from the BHA, he never worked a steady job again, instead turning to panhandling and SSI for money.
While most people regarded him mainly as a croaking background to their walks through Downtown Crossing, he had a darker side: He was convicted in 2011 and 2019 on charges of indecent assault and battery. He was arrested several times for failing to register as a sex offender - and for his predilection for trying to get onto the T without paying.
Donations in his memory can be made to the St. Francis House homeless shelter.
H/t Rich.
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Comments
He wasn't talking about their minimum wage workers
By SwirlyGrrl
Sun, 01/23/2022 - 11:10am
He was talking about the CEOs who are supposed to provide care, but make their money on not providing that care.
They didn't say that
By merlinmurph
Mon, 01/24/2022 - 8:25am
Social Worker said
Saying "but make their money on not providing that care" is a stretch. Besides, solving those problems is well outside the realm of the non-profits. These problems are systemic and require solutions well beyond what the non-profits do.
And I'm still curious what SW thinks is a lot.
I remember when grabbing them
By Boston T. Party (not verified)
Sun, 01/23/2022 - 8:13am
I remember when grabbing them by the pussy was condemned, not condoned. By many of the clowns in this circus.
Fvck him and you if you're an apologist for this sick freak. One less reason for women to fear public transportation.
Shall we ban families and friends?
By Daan
Sun, 01/23/2022 - 7:40pm
It is easy to believe the world is a better place because one person, a man who lived on the street, a man who lost the majority of his personal agency to mental illness, who committed a sex crime is dead. But what about the vast numbers of sex crimes committed by family members and family "friends." Should we ban families and family friends since they are proven to often be the sources of sexually violent individuals?
Or what about why sex crimes happen in the first place? Are there people born to automatically rape and molest? If so perhaps we need to develop methods to prevent them from ever committing the crime. Or is no one born to commit sex crimes but due to the direction of their life wind up using sex as a way to deal with their own personal horror stories?
An analogy: Are alcoholics born as alcoholics? Or is alcoholism an effect in folks with a propensity to alcoholism - AND - need to use alcohol as a way to cope with shitty lives? The fact that there are many people who are able to step out of the shadow of constant drinking strongly suggests that whether alcoholism is genetic or not, that it is possible to not drink. But these stories depend upon a vast system of support ranging from 12 step meetings to therapists to community support.
Are we so unintelligent that we can not figure out what supports are needed for people who have lost their personal agency and need help recovering that agency? Recovering the ability to choose to not engage in harmful behaviors against either self or others?
Normally I’m arguing the other side
By Bob Leponge
Sun, 01/23/2022 - 8:50pm
Normally I’m arguing the other side: that being mentally I’ll is not a crime, and that retribution is wrong: that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. But I will make an exception for those who violently abuse minors. To hell with all of them, and I hope the ride there is miserable.
I’m glad he’s gone.
Where your analogy breaks down
By Bob Leponge
Sun, 01/23/2022 - 8:52pm
Where your analogy breaks down:
Although alcoholics frequently hurt others as a side effect of their pathology, injuring others is not a central aspect of alcoholism. Violent sexual predators, on the other hand, harming others is central to who they are.
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