
An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin - jbaudanza
http://www.jonb.org/2013/02/27/An-Unremarkable-Event-in-the-Tenderloin.html
======
akaru
I've been homeless.

No one in SF is hungry. In a span of a few blocks a person could eat for free
5 or 6 times a day. Money is used for drugs or McDonald's.

My advice: don't give anyone money or food. If you want to help, give your
time.

~~~
dsrguru
As someone who hasn't spent much time in SF but plans to move there very soon
and doesn't want to live off of ramen, I genuinely want to know: where does
one get those free meals?

Edit: namank and iamwill beat me to it.

~~~
gee_totes
Most dumpsters/trash cans in big cities have tons of free food, you just have
to keep your eyes open.

~~~
sebcat
A couple of years ago, a couple getting their food from trashcans around here
got poisoned by the cooling agent you put in cars. They were found in their
apt. a couple of weeks later. The hypothesis was that someone was tired of
having them going through their trash.

They were not homeless. A criminal investigation was made. It is used as a
scenario in school, and that's how I know about it. The pictures were...
"interesting".

Not saying it's common, but if I ever have to get my food from trash cans I
will make damned sure that it's at least properly sealed.

------
djmdjm
What'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)
everyone's blase acceptance of it shocks me every time I visit.

~~~
dclowd9901
Local law enforcement has told us that, off the books, many East coast cities
have actually paid to fly their homeless out of their areas into other parts
of the country, California (namely San Francisco) because of their homeless-
friendliness.

People wonder what happened to all the crime and homeless in NYC? They were
flown out west.

~~~
outside1234
i can't believe that. it fails the conspiracy secrecy test - there would have
had to have been a bunch of people involved and eventually there would have
been a scandal.

my bet is that we have mild winters in California that are much less
Darwinian.

~~~
kingnothing
"New York has found a novel, if expensive, way of dealing with its overcrowded
shelters – buying one-way tickets for homeless families to leave the city."

[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/29/new-york-
homeles...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/29/new-york-homeless-
ticket-leave)

~~~
epc
From that article: “Families can qualify for the tickets if they have a
relative in another part of the world, including the US, who says they are
willing to house them.”

NYC also gets its share of people from outside the NYC region who actually
fall for the myth of NYC as ultra-socialist nirvana.

------
rosser
This 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).
You wouldn't believe how rarely that actually happens.

I don't spend a lot of time in the Tenderloin — though I do pass through it
fairly regularly — but actually being asked for food is pretty much the
opposite of "unremarkable" in my experience.

~~~
njoubert
I used to subscribe to this idea as well, until a friend of mine told me this:
"Have you thought of the fact that you're enabling people to be homeless,
thereby making the problem worse rather than better?". This really struck me,
since I agreed... I'd rather work on the causes than the symptoms.

~~~
bherms
"If you can heal the symptom, but not affect the cause, it's quite a bit like
tryin' to heal a gunshot wound with gauze." -- Phish, __Sand__

Had to plug my favorite group :)

~~~
lazugod
I don't understand the comparison. What are you supposed to do to a gunshot
wound other than prevent bleeding, which gauze would do?

~~~
bherms
It's talking about the reason for being shot in the first place... Gang
violence, war, etc.

~~~
lazugod
Oh, that makes sense.

------
ethikal
I think all of us battle with those feelings. In this circumstance, what you
did was the right thing.

On one occasion, I was driving through on Market St towards Castro when I saw
a disheveled younger man in his twenties with a sign "Don't want money. Just
food." As I pulled up to a stoplight, I turned to my girlfriend and asked, "do
we have anything?" And we did - two bagels and a croissant. We didn't mind
going hungry because once we gave him the food, he did a giddy little dance...
as if there were nothing else in the world that could've made him happier.

That said, on a totally different circumstance, while eating outside at Union
Sq I was approached by a bum who "just wanted food." After I got up from the
table and asked him to lead the way to the "pizza place" he wanted to grab
something from, he realized his bluff had been called and he walked away (he
was hoping that I would be lazy and just give him some money).

I guess this boils down to a bigger philosophical question, which is "am I
doing the right thing, or am I getting taken advantage of?" My solution is to
go the extra mile and assume the best of people. Just put the right checks in
place so that you can also avoid getting taken advantage of.

------
brnstz
As others have said, in many cases the request for food is a bluff hoping for
money. There is a guy in my Brooklyn neighborhood who stands on the corner
every day asking everyone, "Hey, can I get $3 to get something to eat?" We
call him $3 guy. In large cities, there is not a lack of food for the
homeless. (Although, to be honest, maybe it's not so easy to get to the right
place at the right time, if you are strung out.)

I used to call the bluff, and have bought many sandwiches and slices of pizza
(except for that guy begging in the pizza place who said he didn't like pizza
[cash only, please]). At this point, I almost prefer giving out cigarettes.

This is case of "give a man a fish / teach him to fish" on a grand scale. I'm
far from an expert on homelessness, but I really like things like The Doe
Fund: <http://www.doe.org/>

Getting people out of drug/alcohol/crime/convict-status-induced homelessness
is not an easy task. Helping people get their shit together, finding a
purpose, and getting a job they can do is exhausting, soul-crushing work. The
people who do this work are saints. Buying a guy a sandwich is no big deal.

------
chao-
You can't help everyone you see, or even half the people you see, and still
have the time and resources to help yourself. What's important is to know what
you're comfortable with doing, why you're comfortable with it: Personally, I
_will_ buy or give food, but never give money.

Sometimes, when asked for money, I will offer to walk with them to get them
food instead.

Sometimes I remember that I'm pinching pennies on damn-near everything, to
have just one more month's rent, just one more week of food, and have that
much longer for my company to succeed. So I shrug and tell them the truth:
_"Sorry, right now I don't have an income either."_

Sometimes _"Zombie By The Cranberries By Andrew Jackson Jihad"_ starts playing
in my head and I'm too lost in thought to prepare a response in advance. By
the time we cross paths and they say something, I end up genuinely startled
and its awkward for everyone.

I also don't have a point to make. Like you, this kind of thing makes me feel
bad, and I just need to vent about it for a moment. At least we both can be
sure our sense of sympathy is functional.

~~~
Osiris
I agree. If someone asks for food, you know that they are hungry (they can't
turn around and sell the food for profit). However, if they ask for money, you
don't really know what their needs are.

My mother works at a seasonal food bank that provides meals in the winter and
I think that's one of the best services we can provide for people that cannot
provide for themselves. Food is also relatively less expensive than other
aids, such as rent controlled housing.

------
jianghong
I usually try to help out and give the less fortunate the change in my pocket
when I can, but this one instance really made me reluctant to continue giving.

He was inside starbucks and was walking out the door while I was waiting for a
chance to enter. He stopped me and told me his name was Marcus, he was really
hungry and needed some money for food. I gave him what was in my pocket, about
~2 bucks. He took it, looked at me and said "That's it?". He scoffed and
walked away.

I know, I know, one person can't represent everyone. It just stung and comes
to my mind whenever I think about giving.

~~~
CamperBob2
I see a lot of people in this thread who don't seem to have heard that many,
if not most, of these people are scammers.

I also see a lot of people who don't seem to understand that you get more of
what you subsidize, whether you want it or not.

Just putting that out here.

~~~
jrochkind1
What does it mean for a panhandler to be a 'scammer'? They're not really
homeless at all, they actually live in a mansion in Beverly Hills with a two
car garage, and manage to pay for it all by asking for change on the street
all day pretending to be homeless?

~~~
rdouble
It's more like a guy who has been living in a $400 rent controlled 2BD
apartment on Fell since 1991. He charges his roommate $800 a month, then goes
and scams people on Haight for pizza money, but mainly just for kicks.

------
twakefield
I'm relatively new to San Francisco and to a newcomer, the contrast between
neighborhoods is shocking. I came from New York so I was used to micro-
neighborhoods but SF takes it to a different level.

It seems that SF has decided to herd all of the criminal activity and
destitute people into certain neighborhoods and just contain it versus
solution based approaches. I have no idea if this is the actual strategy but
it sure seems like it.

~~~
cpeterso
You are correct. The SFPD effectively herds the "problem people" into the
Tenderloin. Something like "Escape from New York."

------
irollboozers
I don't know what it is, but posts like this make me feel like HN is waking up
and realizing the world isn't just 'social networks for dogs', and that there
are real social problems out there needing to be fixed. There is a trend
happening.

This post is powerful because it's recognition. The act was powerful because
it was recognition, which then led to real action.

If judging by recent posts on HN, hopefully posts like this lead to more
action. I want to think that this will lead to more smart thinkers here
spending time to use technology do some sort of action. Even if just like the
author, people think it's just one drop in the bucket unsure of any real
impact, at some point we might actually begin to fill this bucket. Eventually
sandwiches will turn into code. We need more of this.

~~~
bitcartel
I posted this a few months ago. Worth watching.

VIDEO: [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/social-
issues/poor-k...](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/social-issues/poor-
kids/seras-story/)

 _San Francisco is the most expensive place in America to find a home, but
that doesn’t deter the 400,000 people coming each year to the Bay Area in
search of a new home and a new life.

Eleven-year-old Sera, her sister and her mother moved to San Francisco in
2009. But when the economy collapsed, her mother lost her job and the family
now survives on her $600 monthly unemployment checks.

After five months in a shelter and more than a year in transitional housing,
the family has moved to a one-room rent-subsidized apartment in the Tenderloin
— a neighborhood synonymous with drugs and violence — while they wait for
subsidized housing to come through. But they are just one missed rental
payment away from returning to the shelter._

~~~
SilasX
That came up on reddit too. Why are we paying insane prices to house these
people in the most valuable real estate in the world, when you could help 10x
as many by housing them in some place that actually affordable?

It boggles the mind.

~~~
bherms
I don't understand it either. If I live in a mansion and lose my job, I don't
ask for money to pay for my mansion, I move to an apartment. People who stick
around here aren't helping themselves at all, but a lot of that could be why
they're homeless in the first place.

------
nopassrecover
From a non-American perspective, the Tenderloin and SF's poverty generally is
baffling. As a caveat, I realise there are contributing factors to SF poverty
(homeless from other states) - this is more about the personal experience.

I haven't traveled a lot (~18 countries) but I've not encountered any poverty
in a first-world city that is comparable to SF. Sure there are homeless in
other cities (e.g. Rome's beggars) but not with the same confronting mix of
desperation and mental health issues that I encountered in SF (I've been told
NYC is worse, but I haven't been).

What exaggerated this reaction was that SF was my first US exposure. From an
outside perspective we're talking about a nation with the world's largest
economy since the 20's that prides itself on being a bastion of success and
freedom.

The social reaction was likewise confusing. Avoiding the center of a modern
city because law and order cannot be upheld was an unfamiliar concept to me,
but the fact no one (police or civilian) seemed bothered that there was
effectively a "no-go zone" in the middle of their city was even more
surprising.

~~~
drstewart
That's because it's a not a no-go zone. Maybe if you are extremely sheltered,
which it sounds like you may be?

~~~
bodyfour
I would definitely tell someone just visiting SF (especially from a foreign
country) that the TL is a "no-go". I've been there many times, but it's not
the kind of place I'd want to be lost and disoriented.

------
mjallday
Is SF atypical in the number of mentally unstable homeless people? I moved to
the US a year ago and am still blown away by the shear number of drugged up or
crazy people living in the middle of the city. I've seen plenty of homeless
people on my travels around the world but usually they are poor, not mentally
unstable (to my knowledge).

~~~
eob
Yes. It's shocking for Americans from other parts of the country as well.

------
kjackson2012
At the Safeway where I live, there are nuns that stand outside with a grocery
list of food they ask people to donate for them. I didn't know if they were
really nuns so I asked the cashier, and they confirmed it, so it made it a lot
easier for me to go ahead and donate food. They make food for the homeless and
the donation goes straight into feeding these poor people so it's a lot better
than giving food or money directly to the person, who will likely use it for
drugs, etc.

~~~
jrochkind1
I liked the sentence in original post, "Maybe it was because we had something
in common: we both wanted a sandwich. Except that I was actually going to get
one. I can have as many sandwiches from Subway as I want." Sometimes what I've
got in common with a homeless panhandler is that we both want a beer.

I use some portion of MY money for drugs (including beer), I don't see why it
should bother me if a homeless person does too. Whether or not they're going
to use it on beer, I know they're a lot less comfortable than me either way,
and I'm not hardly going to miss the 50 cents or $1 I contribute.

~~~
drewrv
My concern isn't that they'll use it for drugs or beer, my concern is that the
beer/drugs are what made them homeless in the first place. Giving them money
for this stuff is potentially making their problem worse.

------
andymoe
I live in San Francisco too and I have to say it's OK to just buy the dude a
sandwich if you feel bad or go ahead and help them up if they have fallen over
instead of just walking by (I'm looking at you startup kids in south park and
SOMA). And you know what, screw it, I even give them a five or a ten if I have
some cash on me. It sucks being poor and it has to really suck being homeless,
possibly drug addicted and maybe mentally ill and I may not be helping in the
long run but you know what? They just care about the food or the a couple
bucks for whatever and I care about not feeling like a tool walking by a
destitute person and doing nothing for them when I know I can make their day a
little better with money I'm just going to spend on overpriced coffee.

------
stuntgoat
I was shocked when I came from NY to SF. The streets are incredibly dirty and
some of the homeless are in really bad shape. Someone posted this link on
Twitter (I saw it here on HN a bit later), and I got some insight as to why
this is the case.

[http://www.sfweekly.com/2009-12-16/news/the-worst-run-big-
ci...](http://www.sfweekly.com/2009-12-16/news/the-worst-run-big-city-in-the-
u-s/)

------
ixacto
I tried to give a homeless person information on DSHS where they would be able
to recive $200 month in food benefits (WA) plus who knows how much in TANF
(welfare), and got told to fuck off to my face.

My pity for the homeless has diminished since then.

------
nose
I think <http://currywithoutworry.org> is an excellent solution to the
problem. I think it makes a huge difference in the community. People in need
are able to interact, and help each other without worrying about dinner once a
week.

------
dgmistry
I'm working on a project with United Way in NYC that's addressing the data
issues around food banks and shelters. We could use some additional tech help.

It started after Sandy hit. All of the major charitable organizations would
send resources to the areas impacted the hardest. This resulted in over
servicing these areas and left about 30% of affected areas without any
services at all. Also, people would be directed to food banks and shelters
that were full, out of stock, closed for the day, or shut down. While other
shelters and food banks remained underutilized. No one had the necessary
information to direct these people to the right places.

A hackathon yielded some interesting solutions for disaster recovery - one of
which was a text message system (data services were unavailable for a while -
coincidentally, many homeless people have phones, but not smart phones) to
coordinate volunteers and service providers. We've begun to coordinate with
many of the largest service providers, non-profits, local government agencies
and corporate sponsors on this.

There are so many needs of the homeless population that can be addressed by
technology. We have no money to contribute, we're a struggling, over-worked,
early stage startup, but we've found that even just a few hours a month makes
a difference. Entrepreneurs and techs talk poorly of lawyers, but how many
hours of pro-bono work do we perform each year? It's not all sexy work, but
sometimes just cleaning some data one evening can impact thousands of people.

If anyone would like to volunteer for this effort, or initiate a similar
effort in their community, please reach out to me: community (at) 42stats.com

------
yankoff
They sell you an opportunity to feel good about yourself.

------
trotsky
_I don't know if that was the right thing to do, but I did it. Maybe I'm a
sucker._

I think spending time doubting yourself for performing one of the most basic
acts of human kindness is way over thinking things. It only reduces the likely
hood you'll do it again, and i think you'd agree the tenderloin is not
suffering due to an over-abundance of kindness.

It's hard for me to be sure exactly what negative result you're worried you
could have caused. I guess it's probably that by feeding him you're
encouraging him to rely on others instead of resolving to seek self
sufficiency. By the numbers that's vanishingly improbable - the vast majority
of the seriously down and out homeless are suffering from some kind of
debilitating mental illness which often gets in the way of even being able to
obtain basic social services.

You don't have to help everybody or anybody and however you do help you could
have always done more. You can't get wrapped up in that, you did good full
stop.

------
cpeterso
I feel bad too, but I instead give my money to local food banks. I know my
money is actually feeding people. Plus, the food banks' economies of scale
multiply the value of my donation; the SF Food Bank claims "every $1 you
donate we'll distribute $6 worth of food".

------
benwerd
Every so often, I'll buy someone a meal: Subway, or some noodles, or something
like that. Or I'll give them $5 for the BART, or whatever. Absolutely no skin
off my nose; a big deal for them. And every single time, the look of joy and
surprise on their faces completely cuts through any cynicism I might have had
about the interaction.

I figure, every single person who's out there begging is in need. I wish there
were better programs out there to help them, and I wish our community could
help out. I sometimes wonder if the people selling Street Spirit could be
selling a product that people actually _want_ instead (even if it's just a
magazine like the Big Issue).

I don't know the answers, but it makes me sad, too.

~~~
walkon
> I figure, every single person who's out there begging is in need.

Then you've figured incorrectly. There are absolutely a high number of these
people who are scamming. A major reason they persist and misdirect resources
from those that _are_ truly need, is because of those who blindly assume
"every single person" is in need.

------
jmspring
I won't speak to specifics of my interactions with homelessness, the
unfortunate interface of drugs, gangs, homeless services, and criminals in
Santa Cruz is f'd up right now. Recent other events are exacerbating my
feelings on that even more.

So, I will focus on a positive example of charity and goodwill. Ryan Hupfer
(@hup) of iSocket has been blogging about his interactions with an individual
named Mo in the city. It has been an amazing read. Hup's blog is at
<http://ryanhupfer.com/>

Stories of Mo are interleaved with other entries.

------
INTPenis
I also heard you have tent cities in the USA.

Seriously guys, stop fighting brown people and start feeding your own people.

/ Your allies in europe =/

~~~
drstewart
Well we need practice since you guys are starting up your Nazi parties again.

/ Your allies in the US =/

~~~
INTPenis
I know we're being half ironic and all but I just can't let this one slip.

We're starting up nazi parties? Really? That's what you're going to go with?
We also started the Pirate parties, and the fact that we're starting any
sustainable party at all besides the two primary ones should be amazing to
you. :D

/ Sincerely, Europe.

------
entelarust
In seattle we have a ton of missions and shelters in the downtown area. Most
have a one night limit, or a weekly one night limit. But Seattle is also very
walkable and there is enough shelters to round-robin and have somewhere to
stay/get a meal every night of the week.

We also had a downtown "free ride" with our bus system which let you take the
bus within the downtown area free of charge to promote downtown
living/working. But this ended up being dominated with loitering homeless.
Luckily, they finally got rid of this last summer.

~~~
stephengillie
Seattle also has 6 or 8 tent cities, each literally about 200 people camping
in a church parking lot or city park for a 2-week span.

This part of the planet is mild enough to support human life with a minimum of
shelter. Areas with this attribute will always have humans trying to survive
on fewer resources than average.

------
mikebracco
Sort of off topic but related...

I wonder how the homeless will fair when we become a cash-less society. This
may be far off but it's inevitable.

While initially one might think the homeless will be worse off, I can imagine
technology actually improving things. Imagine some sort of NFC chip or ID a
homeless could obtain from a shelter that would allow someone to give money to
them from their mobile phone...and then perhaps gamifying the goodwill
(leaderboards based on city or social graph) for the donators.

~~~
Finbarr
This is interesting. What if all homeless people in SF were issued a cash
card. The balance of the card would be controlled remotely and it could be
(de)activated at any time. People who want to help the homeless could pool
money together and the funds could be put onto the cards at the point of need.
Perhaps retailers would be able to request the balance on behalf of the
purchaser somehow - phone, web, etc. If people stopped giving cash to
homeless, a system such as this could restrict the flow of money to drug
dealers and liquor stores.

~~~
kalleboo
Food stamps?

------
eshvk
That was heart wrenchingly sad, thank you for doing this. I live in the Haight
and I see people shivering in the cold and realize how good my life is. I am
never sure whether to help people or not. I have heard contradictory stories
of trustafarians and the whole philosophy that giving people money doesn't
help them. Ultimately, despite all the bustle of tech, it feels like we are
letting down the poorest of the poor by not helping them someway or the other.

~~~
rdouble
Haight is mostly scammers and trustafarians. Well... 'trustafarian' is the
wrong word. The gutter punk type kids don't really have trust funds.

When I lived there from 2006-2009, there was a very short african american guy
who would pretend to be mentally retarded and everyone would give him money.
However, he would totally be chillin' non-retardedly after hours at Escape
from New York pizza and Milk Bar.

Most of the homeless people in the Tenderloin are legitimately down and out.

~~~
Osiris
I used to walk down Market street and pass guys sleeping at 12pm in a beat up
sleeping bag with a garbage bag of stuff next to them. It's hard to believe
those people are 'scammers'. But what do you do? Most have metal disabilities
or other problems that prevent them from contributing back to society.

~~~
rdouble
Market street is a different scene than the Haight.

------
amorphid
A few years ago I learned a lot about trying to help homeless people with
money, food, housing, and employment. Here's a blog post which details my
experience of trying to help two random people from the streets of San
Francisco:

[http://captainrecruiter.blogspot.com/2010/10/cathy-and-
lance...](http://captainrecruiter.blogspot.com/2010/10/cathy-and-lance.html)

------
jcr
To the author, Jonathan Baudanza (jbaudanza), helping others doesn't make you
a sucker, in fact, the opposite is true; helping others makes your life rich.
Thank you for buying him a sandwich.

And before the peanut gallery does it's usual thing, I've spent a few years as
a volunteer for a non-profit dedicated to assisting the victims of fraud. I
know better than most how many greedy and deceptive people are out there
trying to take advantage of others. Even with all the deceptive malice I've
seen, I still say that giving and helping makes life rich.

I have no idea how to make a meaningful and lasting change for all of the
homeless people, and yes, this makes me sad, both their situation, and my
ineptitude. I can't help them all, but I try take solace in the small
victories. Your act of kindness is one such victory. A hungry person got
something to eat. You made a difference.

------
jaggederest
Knew a guy in my hometown who drove a BMW every day to the corner where he
begged for change. At the time, he made more than I did.

On a completely separate note:

You can't help homeless people by subsidizing and enabling homelessness as a
lifestyle. There is enough housing to go around, we just allocate it more
efficiently than effectively.

------
phatmann
I at one time carried around some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches which i
offered to street people when asked for a handout. I got about a 50%
acceptance rate and on the sandwiches. so, i think it's not all for drugs. If
I missed a couple of paychecks, it could be me on the street end

------
pmorici
For those that haven't been around long enough to remember this being posted
here is an article by a guy who experimented with being homeless for a few
days...

<http://www.nevblog.com/category/homeless-experiment/>

~~~
cpeterso
A similar "homeless experiment" is documented in Adam Shepard's book "Scratch
Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream." After graduating
from college, he moved to Charleston, South Carolina with just $25 and a
sleeping bag. He had the systemic advantages of being an educated, white male,
but he created a back story about leaving a broken home and did not use any
particular skills or contacts from his education.

He started in a homeless shelter and worked as a day laborer. After 10 months,
he had an apartment, bought a pickup truck, and saved $5000. His story is just
one anecdote, but it is an interesting one.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scratch_Beginnings>

------
caublestone
I find it appalling that the apriori assumption to this conversation is that
all homeless people are suffering on accident. Many homeless suffer from
mental illness and drug addiction. These are problems that transcend being
homeless and should be looked at carefully. However, I spoke with a few
homeless in the Tenderloin (where I live) and the common amswer to the
question "Why do you live here?" is "It feels safe. It feels like home"

I guess I'm just asking people in this discussion to stop and talk with
homeless people sometime. As many people that have gone through depression
know, beinf acknowledged is one of the most important feelings when you
believe you have been sequestered to a lower level.

------
jurassic
A man outside the Central Square McDonald's in Cambridge begged me for
something to eat once. I brought him out a cheeseburger on my way out and he
wept with joy. Some people really are hungry.

------
brianbreslin
As 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.

------
bluepanda_
Nobody knows what circumstances lead these people to the kind of lives they
have now, but if unlike most of us, they were just unfortunate, then you
definitely did the right thing.

I live in NYC, which doesn't lack homeless people either, and like you, I find
myself saying no too many times. So sometimes, I just act on instinct and give
away that Valducci's Original pizza slice or Boston Kreme Donut I have been
craving all day, and it actually feels better than satisfying my hunger.

------
milesf
I 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.

~~~
petekp
$84,000 in Toonies:

• is 42,000 coins

• would weigh 648lbs / 294 kilos

• at a rate of 10 a day, would take ~11.5 years to amass

/stats :)

------
norswap
I like how it is just an observation, plain and simple, and not a pretext to
announce some world-changing theory of poverty/homelessness.

~~~
jbaudanza
Thank you!

------
janineyoong
I loved going to the Tenderloin to eat good Vietnamese until I was almost-
mugged a few months ago: <http://janineyoong.com/post/34007583330/invincible>
It's sad, but I can't quite look at a homeless person on a quiet street
anymore without the impulse to walk faster.

------
ricardobeat
We get used to being asked for money and saying no, and there's always a good
chance you're being conned, but at least you know you didn't let someone down.
Giving out food instead of money is a much clearer-cut situation, though I've
witnessed a dirty, homeless boy throw just-purchased food away - he wanted the
money :/

------
clivestaples
You did the right thing. Hunger pains suck.

------
gtani
I occasionally did the same. I would buy a couple big boxes of Cliff Bars at
Costco and give away the flavors that I didn't like. I think if you're not
going to help the Glide Memorial or St Anthony's or one of those, giving Cliff
bars is tne next best thing (protein, B vitamins, solid sustenance)

------
hy3lxs
I don't know if you did the "right" thing, whatever the hell that means, but I
think you did the humane thing.

------
tapatio
Try going to Ocean Beach or Santa Monica, same thing there. I think helping
out with food is better than with money. As a side note, I recall a National
Geographics photographer that traveled the world taking pictures ended up
killing himself because what he saw made him very depressed.

------
Anil-Shrestha
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.

------
willthelaw
And that is why I am happy to be out of the twitterloin. It was generally
deeply disturbing. I still do not know what to do. I desperately hope we can
find something to do - there is so much money and innovation yet here, yet so
many are in unbelievable shape.

------
gadders
As an aside, one thing I noticed recently on my walk from London Bridge
Station to my office is that when it snows or is very cold, I see more
beggars.

It's almost like (gasp!) they come out especially in the cold weather as they
can expect more money from begging.

------
xentronium
If a homeless wanted to do some simple work (e.g. cleaning) in exchange for
food and shelter would he be able to do so?

Aren't there modern-day monks? Wouldn't people rather spend their life doing
honest work with church than beg on the streets?

~~~
JabavuAdams
> If a homeless wanted to do some simple work (e.g. cleaning) in exchange for
> food and shelter would he be able to do so?

Probably, but why would you risk hiring them? The fact that they're homeless
speaks to a lack of self-control. Even a perfectly healthy person who becomes
homeless will get at least a bit messed up due to stress.

> Aren't there modern-day monks? Wouldn't people rather spend their life doing
> honest work with church than beg on the streets?

I've wondered this. We need secular monasteries, not just retreats for the
wealthy. On the other hand, you can't really use your own motivations to
understand why people are homeless. If they were thinking clearly and had a
support network of friends / family that they weren't ashamed to reach out to,
then they wouldn't be homeless.

------
vegashacker
I've been to a couple of these: <http://www.projecthomelessconnect.com/> They
take place in San Francisco and seem pretty good. Next one is on March 20th.

------
jameslevy
I just gave a slice of chocolate cake to a homeless man on University Ave. in
Palo Alto today.

A man who has nothing except for a slice of fancy cake. Just a couple blocks
from Palantir, where Facebook was a few years ago.

~~~
Torgo
There used to be an old guy camping out behind a building, near where I
worked. I started talking to him and offered to buy him food for which he was
grateful. He never asked for money, he was happy to get a sandwich and a large
bottle of water so he'd have something to take his numerous pills from the VA
with. He told me, after I inquired more about him that he was a Vietnam vet
among other things. I know this is a cliche, but it wasn't information he
volunteered out of the blue. He was my dad's age and I believed him. The last
time I saw him he shook my hand and thanked me. I remember his hands were
enormous and the skin was hard like rock.

I don't have a reason for sharing this other than your post reminded me of
him.

------
lucian1900
My mother taught me that the only thing one can safely gift to strangers is
food, (non-alcoholic) drink or clothes. At the time I didn't dwell on the
advice too much, but it makes sense to me now.

------
chrisbumgardner
Thanks for writing this. I work right by there, walk to work from my home, and
know how you feel. As jaded as it can become on a daily basis, empathy is
always a good thing in my opinion.

------
chrismaeda
As a rule I never give anything to beggars in the neighborhood where my
children live. Find another part of town to beg in.

But I always give money to veterans.

------
slosh
I feel that we have enough smart people in this city to fix the problem.
Something about the old homeless women breaks my heart the most.

------
wavesounds
Got my bike stolen today not to far from the Tenderloin, pretty bummed about
it I loved that bike.

------
free652
I don't give anyone money, but if a some poor soul asked for food I'd buy /
give in a heartbeat.

But never cash.

------
joezhou
Next time, perhaps talk to the guy?

------
TheSisb2
Moments of beauty, as I see them.

------
zoowar
I say, "No, but thanks for asking"

------
stephenhandley
blog post

------
densone
Damn, I hate subway.

~~~
bluepanda_
Lol.

