The Homeless Aren't People, Apparently

A few nights ago I listened to a call-in radio show about what is going on in Humboldt County right now; people are signing petitions to get the local police to remove the "transients," as if they are garbage instead of people. I know that homelessness is a problem, but I know forcing people who have nowhere to go to just go away is hardly the solution.

A local transient known as Coffee Jim was given a warning to not loiter. He was told that he better not be found there again. Exactly 24 hours later he was arrested, for "loitering" in a completely different part of town, sitting under a tree in the lawn of a local church. He was not drinking or drunk, he was not under the influence of any drugs, he did not have any illegal substances on his person. He was sitting under a tree. And he was arrested for it.

Another woman had a similar experience, someone who was born here, who has family here, who has never lived anywhere else, has been arrested repeatedly because she is supposed to leave. She doesn't have anywhere else to go. Does anybody bother to help her find a place to be? It seems that they just tell her to disappear. A bystander said she overheard the woman quietly asking the arresting officers how was she supposed to just disappear? "Do you know how hard that is?" she asked them.

This just makes me sad. The hour-long program featured many of the local transients, who told their stories a bit, as well as other locals who know these folks, and it was a really human experience. These are people. Signing petitions to have them removed from the area is not the solution to the homelessness problem.

It's HOT!, plus Riding the Bus

It's definitely in the mid-70's here in Eureka, which is so not like Humboldt County any time of the year. And it's only going to get warmer according to The Weather People.

Yeah, I'm enjoying it. It's funny to hear people "complain" about it though. Maybe their lives are just so good they have nothing else to complain about ... but I sort of doubt it.

So, I have been riding the bus into work in the mornings, which has been truly wonderful, because:
a) I get to read a book instead of fight traffic and/or
b) I get to stare out the window and look at the lovely bay
c) it's actually much cheaper to ride the bus right now than to buy gas that is well over $4 per gallon
d) I'm helping the environment
e) I have a stress free commute (OK, this is similar to reasons "a" and "b", but whatever, I like stress free, OK?)
f) I don't have to try and find a parking spot in downtown Eureka, which is only two-hour parking if there is no spot in the lot, which means I spend all day moving my car around every two hours, which is LAAAAME, plus I have forgotten several times, and a $20 parking ticket is not nice.

So, there it is. Why I love the bus.

But this morning I had one of those, what do you say, Uncomfortable Bus Moments. You know, the ones where you don't know how to act, or not act, what to say, or if you just ignore it altogether.

I went the ignore route.

I don't know if the man in the seat next to me was talking to me, himself, or a tiny cell phone chip implanted in his head, but all of a sudden the relatively normal looking guy I sat down next to starts mumbling angry expletives under his breath. I didn't feel like they were meant for me, especially since when I glanced out the window he stopped and just sat there looking like nothing was going on. I couldn't make out anything that he was saying except the "f-bomb" and the "s-word," but what I could understand is that his tone was very angry.

So, I'm trying to focus on my book, but it's hard. And then I realize that I am actually letting this guy get to me, and I'm feeling really hot in the face, like the feeling you get when someone is yelling at you. So I tell myself, inside my head, of course - otherwise I wouldn't have thought this was weird behavior - that I REFUSE to let this guy get to me, that I REJECT his poison.

It worked. I felt much calmer. I considered putting my ear phones in and listening to some music, but we were getting pretty close to my stop by this point, and I also worried that it might be really obvious if I suddenly whipped out my MP3 player. So, I just ignored the guy.

I don't know how I'm supposed to treat this kind of a thing. Just like I haven't figured out if I'm "supposed to" ignore homeless people or say hi to them. Saying hi to them often gets them following me asking me for money. It makes me feel uncomfortable and guilty. I help when I can, but I worry about getting taken advantage of too. There is quite a drug problem in Humboldt County, and no, I'm not talking about weed. It's hard to differentiate between the honest-hearted down-and-out homeless guy and the tweaker who is just trying to get a fix. And really, who am I to judge anyway? I'm just trying to go to work!

Anyway, I still love the bus either way. And excuse me if I sound naive, which I'm sure I do, but Wisconsin just doesn't have the homeless problem that northern California (all of California?) has. It's not like I have a problem with the homeless people, but I do have a problem with the systems in place that force people to live on the streets and beg for their livelihood. But that rant is for another time.

By the time I got done writing this, the weather increased 10 degrees. It's hot, y'all! My hair is rebelling, i.e. frizzy as all get-out (I don't even know what the phrase "frizzy as all get-out" means). But that rant is for another time too.