The homelessness has become a bad stigma to the beautiful city of San Francisco. I don't think there is any easy solution to this issue. Having lived there for 3 years, I, personally have seen strange sights around here. In this case however, I think you did the right thing.
An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin
121–130 of 216 posts
Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin
#122This is just me, and my approach to the homeless or destitute, but if someone asks me for money, the answer is some form of no (if I even acknowledge the asker). Yeah, you tell me you're hungry or whatever, but I'm not going to risk participating in your next fix. If they ask me for food , however, it's always a yes, assuming I can do it right then (not late for something, have money or my card on me or whatever). Yo…
I think a lot of beggars do it not just for the money, but because they like interacting with people. So it's good to acknowledge them. Nothing wrong with offering some food if it's done in a way that gives the person some good interaction. And, anyone could get tired of eating in the same places, so it can be a treat.
But money should absolutely never be given. My technique, instead of lying and saying "I don't have anything," is to simply say "I can't help you."
Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin
#123As a regular visitor to SF, coming from Miami (whose homeless population has increased since 2008 real estate crash), what amazes me is that with such a crazy amount of wealth in the bay area and individuals with resources that no one tries to "solve" the homelessness and poverty issues in SF. You probably have more billionaires in the area than anywhere other than NYC. I know there is no easy solution, but it just strikes me as sad that such an in your face and wide spread issue is largely ignored.
Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin
#124This is just me, and my approach to the homeless or destitute, but if someone asks me for money, the answer is some form of no (if I even acknowledge the asker). Yeah, you tell me you're hungry or whatever, but I'm not going to risk participating in your next fix. If they ask me for food , however, it's always a yes, assuming I can do it right then (not late for something, have money or my card on me or whatever). Yo…
Food isn't as fungible as change, but there's still opportunity cost. Each dollar they don't have to spend on food is a dollar that can be spent on drugs instead.
True, but it's not like they're eating at expensive restaurants. Anyone can get a full stomach with $2 or $3 at a McDonald's or Taco Bell. And just an hour of begging on a major pedestrian area will get you enough for that, a pack of smokes, and a bottle of whisky.
Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin
#125What's remarkable about this is how the poster finds these casual encounters with homelessness "unremarkable". No other western city that I have visited has the massive, in-your-face homelessness as SF. I don't know enough about the causes of this phenomenon in SF to suggest what can be done about it; I'm sure they are complex, multi-factorial and politically fraught, but the level of homelessness in SF and (almost)…
You should check out Portland or LA. Or DC. It's a thing.
Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin
#126I like how it is just an observation, plain and simple, and not a pretext to announce some world-changing theory of poverty/homelessness.
Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin
#127This is just me, and my approach to the homeless or destitute, but if someone asks me for money, the answer is some form of no (if I even acknowledge the asker). Yeah, you tell me you're hungry or whatever, but I'm not going to risk participating in your next fix. If they ask me for food , however, it's always a yes, assuming I can do it right then (not late for something, have money or my card on me or whatever). Yo…
I think a lot of beggars do it not just for the money, but because they like interacting with people. So it's good to acknowledge them. Nothing wrong with offering some food if it's done in a way that gives the person some good interaction. And, anyone could get tired of eating in the same places, so it can be a treat. But money should absolutely never be given. My technique, instead of lying and saying "I don't have…
I think you're right. Often times people in the Tenderloin will ask me for the time. When I give it to them they say "Thank you" and move on, with no followup request for money or food.
It's possible they genuinely need to know the time. It's also possible they are trying to get me to take out my cell phone. But I think the most likely answer is that they want to have a normal human interaction.
Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin
#128Earlier quoted context omitted.
Some cities in the US just make it illegal to be homeless. Problem solved.
Or you can be a bit more subtle about it, Suburban Texas Style™, and simply design the homeless away: 1. No public transportation. 2. Unreasonable distances between gathering places (e.g. grocery stores) and often long stretches of no sidewalks. 3. Public park curfews with police sweeps of said parks at night. No way to get in, no way to get food, no way to stay. When I realized, as a teenager, that this was why I wa…
Except for #3, I don't think these measures could be considered intentional. However, I imagine they have a large effect and go a long way to explain the difference between SF (or NY) and most of the midwest/mountain/central US.
Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin
#129What's remarkable about this is how the poster finds these casual encounters with homelessness "unremarkable". No other western city that I have visited has the massive, in-your-face homelessness as SF. I don't know enough about the causes of this phenomenon in SF to suggest what can be done about it; I'm sure they are complex, multi-factorial and politically fraught, but the level of homelessness in SF and (almost)…
The main cause is pretty simple. The police in San Francisco just do not bother them in certain neighborhoods. In most other cities police routinely pick up the homeless and dump them some place far. So the absence of homeless is usually not a sign of better humanity, it is usually a sign of cruelty. This is especially the case in the US. There are other countries where they have better treatment for poverty and ment…
> homeless
> police
recently the former, most retarded, mayor of Sao Paulo used police on the city's 'tenderloin' (called cracoloandia ...literal translation to crack-land... you get the idea) it resulted in a city wide chaos as those figures, usually restricted geographically and living with their own morals and codes, scattered all over the place and freaked out when found in a situation worse than they were already at, resulted in far worse crimes than the littering they were committing before.
Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin
#130I have a friend who's a realtor who told me the story of a local homeless man in our town. "Toonie for some soup" he would ask people (I live in Canada, a Toonie is a $2.00 coin). He was always polite, and made regular appearances all around town for years.
One day this homeless guy came to visit my realtor friend. "I'd like to buy a house" he said. After years of asking for Toonies, he managed to amass $84,000.00
My friend sold him a mobile home just outside of town.