ettiquete around Homeless people in SF? (San Francisco, Fillmore: movie theater, live, price)

[green papaya]

for people that are not use to being around crazy homeless people here are a few tips if your ever in San Francisco

always keep your distance from a homeless person on the street, if they are blocking the sidewalk , make sure to never walk in between them, always walk around them, always leave enough space, sometimes if you get too close they will try to spit on you or hack up some phlegm and spit on you or blow some snot out a nostril as you walk by

they feel they own that part of the sidewalk and dont like people trespassing in their space

dont make direct eye contact look past them like they arent there

a homeless guy was hacking phlegm and just as I waked by he tried to spit on me but missed.

[froglipz]

Sounds like a nice area!

[green papaya]

not long ago a homeless guy randomly attacked another man with a hammer

[bmw335xi]

I agree, basically I just ignore them. A person should look confident and not scared. Just walk by and don't acknowledge them. If they talk directly to me as I walk by, I'll say "sorry" without looking or stopping. I've never been spat at or anything like that using this method. I gave my GF a taser to carry openly if she is walking outside at night though.

[clongirl]

Originally Posted by green papaya

for people that are not use to being around crazy homeless people here are a few tips if your ever in San Francisco

always keep your distance from a homeless person on the street, if they are blocking the sidewalk , make sure to never walk in between them, always walk around them, always leave enough space, sometimes if you get too close they will try to spit on you or hack up some phlegm and spit on you or blow some snot out a nostril as you walk by

they feel they own that part of the sidewalk and dont like people trespassing in their space

dont make direct eye contact look past them like they arent there

a homeless guy was hacking phlegm and just as I waked by he tried to spit on me but missed.

Wow. That's the way you talk about other human beings? (and yes, they're still human beings).

No doubt that there are some gross/nasty drugged out and aggressive folks amongst the homeless population, particularly in certain areas, but many are actually homeless veterans with PTSD and mentally ill people that have no choice in the matter. I actually used to be acquaintances with some of the homeless/panhandlers that used to hang out on Fillmore St. I'd chat to them on my smoke break (back when smoking was common). Most were very good people with very big problems. They never gave me any trouble and I know for a fact if someone tried to harass or mug me, they certainly would have come to my aid.

I also had a homeless guy live with me for a while (the brother of my roommate). He was bi-polar and had a hard time with taking his meds regularly for any length of time. His parents also lived in the City. They couldn't do much else for him. He was my age back then (early 20's). After he left, I saw him huddled in a sleeping bag in the doorway of a movie theater really disheveled. Nothing I could do for him of course but it was just so incredibly sad.

I know it's very easy to make light and joke about this kind of thing-- I totally understand where you're getting the attitude, but please try to remember that these folks are someone's child, brother, sister, parent. Some have fought wars for this country. They had a childhood once and treating them as less than human is just wrong. I totally get your disgust, but to go out of your way to mock them really should be beneath you as someone that obviously doesn't have these kinds of problems.

[Tulemutt]

Huh. Funny. No, not homelessness. Ignorant arrogance toward the homeless.

I interact with the homeless on a daily basis. On and off throughout most days. I never get "spat upon", threatened, or shouted at. In fact, for a fact, I never even get hit up for a "donation". All I get are grins and light-hearted comments about everything from weather to my dogs - and just lots of "how ya doin's?"

Yeah, really. I wonder what the difference is between me and the OP? You don't think - just maybe - that humans, like dogs, can pick up on when others are a-wipes, do you?

Obviously, if you see a loopy-crazy person doing loopy crazy crap you walk wide. Duh. Need advice on something that obvious?

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

Huh. Funny. No, not homelessness. Ignorant arrogance toward the homeless.

I interact with the homeless on a daily basis. On and off throughout most days. I never get "spat upon", threatened, or shouted at. In fact, for a fact, I never even get hit up for a "donation". All I get are grins and light-hearted comments about everything from weather to my dogs - and just lots of "how ya doin's?"

Yeah, really. I wonder what the difference is between me and the OP? You don't think - just maybe - that humans, like dogs, can pick up on when others are a-wipes, do you?

Obviously, if you see a loopy-crazy person doing loopy crazy crap you walk wide. Duh. Need advice on something that obvious?

perfect response

[ViolentDisasters]

Many of the homeless are native San Franciscans priced out by gentrification and the tech boom.

Others are LGBT people running away from unaccepting families/places, who come to SF looking for safety and community in a city known as the worlds gay Mecca.

Some are suffering from severe mental illness and come to SF because its always been a safe place for society's outcasts and oddballs.

Still others are addicts... but with such heartless jerks lurking the streets these days making cruel jokes about them, unwilling to even look them in the eye like another human being, I can hardly blame them. I'd wanna drink or drug my life away, too.

[2sleepy]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...psszpapxdt.jpg

[2sleepy]