A conference in San Diego brought some street level observations into focus. First, the number of homeless in this city is large and from what I can see, there isn’t much in the way of a safety net for them to fall back on. But then, I’m conferencing and staying on the affluent waterfront, what would I expect? A walking tour took me to the upper part of the city and the location of the homeless shelter. As I passed a man was yelling obscenities at no one in particular and appeared in desperate need of mental health counseling. I scurried past.
On the waterfront, the USS Midway is a spectacular museum piece with a variety of naval aircraft on display to chronicle the history of carrier-based aviation. In the tiny park in front of the USS Midway a sometimes-large collection of the homeless have found a place to congregate and sleep. I sat and spoke with a woman.
“Where are you from?” I asked her.
“Here there and everywhere. Mostly Cincinnati is where I grew up.”
“What brought you here?”
“It’s just where I ended up.”
“Do you like living here?”
She looked long and hard. “Expletive. Do I look like I like living here?”
The San Diego homeless population is divided up into homeless urbanites and homeless agricultural workers. The urban homeless make up the bulk of the two groups currently estimated to be 6,300 persons in San Diego proper. The woman I was talking to started to become agitated so I dropped the probing questions.
“Have you eaten today?”
“Just the ‘expletive’ people leave in the trash. You know you people leave food around like it doesn’t matter. Yur kids eat a corndog halfway and toss it. I never lived that way.”
“We do have a lot.”
“Damn right you have a lot. You have no idea how much you have.”
On the waterfront, the USS Midway is a spectacular museum piece with a variety of naval aircraft on display to chronicle the history of carrier-based aviation. In the tiny park in front of the USS Midway a sometimes-large collection of the homeless have found a place to congregate and sleep. I sat and spoke with a woman.
“Where are you from?” I asked her.
“Here there and everywhere. Mostly Cincinnati is where I grew up.”
“What brought you here?”
“It’s just where I ended up.”
“Do you like living here?”
She looked long and hard. “Expletive. Do I look like I like living here?”
The San Diego homeless population is divided up into homeless urbanites and homeless agricultural workers. The urban homeless make up the bulk of the two groups currently estimated to be 6,300 persons in San Diego proper. The woman I was talking to started to become agitated so I dropped the probing questions.
“Have you eaten today?”
“Just the ‘expletive’ people leave in the trash. You know you people leave food around like it doesn’t matter. Yur kids eat a corndog halfway and toss it. I never lived that way.”
“We do have a lot.”
“Damn right you have a lot. You have no idea how much you have.”
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