Homeless Clean Consequences

Well, it was a close one.  At 8pm I walked down to my sleeping area to find that the cops had already arrived and were chasing everyone away – with ticket books in hand.  If I had shown up just 15 minutes prior, I would have been caught up in this mini dragnet.   I watched the scene for a couple minutes before heading back here to the cafe.  It happened about 3 and 1/2 weeks ago there as well, but that time it was in the morning.  Over the past 3 weeks the number of people sleeping in this area, across the street, and trolley tracks, from the library, had returned and was slowly growing.  With tickets given to these homeless violators of the law, I’m sure if they are caught sleeping in the same place again, they’ll get a worse punishment.  I’m speculating of course, but why else would the cops even bother.

The sad part of all this is that the area is the safest of all the homeless sleeping areas.  It is safe for the very reason that it’s also highly visible to the people who live near by, and it’s a high foot traffic area.  The sidewalk is very wide and the sleeping homeless don’t create any hazards by being there.  Still for the sake of those people who feel put out by having to see homeless people, the homeless are being shooed away.

And that “away” is a problem.  Just because you can no longer see the homeless does not mean the homeless are no longer homeless.  It only means that these people are being forced to go deeper into hiding.  The bad thing is, these “hiding” places are a great deal more dangerous for the homeless.  The criminal element is encouraged to ply his craft when he thinks there’s a good chance he won’t get caught.   In these deeper hiding areas the homeless get mugged, their few meager possessions stolen, their bodies broken by fists and baseball bats and knives, they are set on fire, they are killed.

The city of San Diego does not have enough shelter beds for all the homeless, and all the shelters have long waiting lists.  But sure, go ahead San Diego, and try to sweep the homeless under your proverbial rug.  Maybe if you ignore the homeless in your city, eventually they’ll go away [/sarcasm].

So much for getting a good night’s sleep.  If you have ever wondered why so many homeless people appear lethargic, it’s because the good city will not allow the homeless the chance to get the rest they need.

Now I have no idea where I’m going to sleep tonight.