San Franciscans are just so 'goddarned' (not a word as would normally use, but hey, when in Rome;) friendly. The first time we left the apartment, in the dark, to go to Safeway, the first guy who walked past me said hello. In a city of 700,000 people, he said hello to me - crazy!
Alex was so happy to have one of his dreams realised when we walked out of the supermarket with our groceries in brown paper bags, just like on the films. We told the cashier guy how excited we were about the bags and he seemed excited for us too - he was so friendly (Alex's other ambition was achieved in Barcelona when we ate takeaway noodles straight from the white cardboard boxes - it felt like we were lawyers, working late on a case in 'The Practice').
Even the homeless people in San Fran are friendly. The first day, a homeless guy passing us, said, 'hi family, enjoy your vacation' (can't think how he knew we were tourists, with our shorts and sunglasses and cameras around our necks, walking four in a line like the Brady Bunch).
There are a LOT of homeless people in San Fran. Now, we have been out and about recently and have seen homeless people in France and Italy, begging outside the churches, and homeless people in Miami, begging outside the McDonalds, but the San Franciscan homeless people have taken the homelessness lifestyle to a whole new level.
Here are some of the placards we have seen held aloft, to try to convince us to part with our hard earned money.
'Smile, I need a beer!'
'Please spare some change 4 alcohol research.'
'Why lie? I just need a drink.'
And, my personal favourite, and I think he deserved a dollar just for the sign...
'Plastic surgery is expensive, I need all the money I can get.'
One guy came up to Alex in the queue for the Cable Car and asked for a dollar bill, in exchange for his various sizes of coinage, probably amounting to 34c. But, he wanted Alex to hand the $1 over before he relinquished his coins! God loves a trier - Alex just smiled and gave him the dollar.
And, I think they must all be saving up their dollars for the tram, because there are always a few unique characters on there. It costs $2 for the tram, but let's face it, half the time the machine is broken and the other half of the time you can pretty much just slide in the back door and hope there isn't anyone checking, and it has to be warmer and more interesting than the streets. You have to be careful where you sit, but sometimes you have no choice because they sit next to you. The other evening, a particularly eccentric homeless type dressed in a top hat and his friend (who was having trouble walking - maybe his signs were working) struck up a polite conversation with Alex, tonight, another unique character was pushing his toy tram up and down the aisle of the tram, shouting, in a crazy but jovial way 'Come on everyone, cheer up, stop looking down on people, thinking you are better than them!'.
San Franciscan people just accept the fact that as they walk down the street, there is distinct possibility they will be shouted at or sworn at by crazy people, but hey, what can you do? Our friends Monique and Derek, who have just moved to San Fran, explained to us that the winters are mild enough here to be able to live on the streets all year round, and that makes it an attractive place to live for a lot of less fortunate people.
Of course, it is not a laughing matter, it is so very sad. There is obviously a mental health issue here, and care in the community is lacking. It is strange for us to see real homelessness here, as opposed to NZ, where there is so much support from charities and shelters and soup kitchens. Here, many people seem to have just fallen through the gaps.
There is a gentleman on our block, who lives in a garage doorway. We have seen him there three nights since we have been here. He is in his fifties, with grey hair, and he looks pretty smart. It was strange to walk past him two nights ago, at around 7.30pm, and see him lying in his sleeping bag, putting on his glasses, and picking up his book. I felt like we were intruding on his personal space. It was very strange.
Love
Est xxx
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