That Was a Very Spicy Omelette!

Homelessness for Stupid People

The foibles of the most pampered homeless population in the Bay Area...

I sat down with my friend Linda this morning discussing this blog. I had just come out of the little shower at Vineyard Christian Fellowship. This is where Cornerstone Church's Serve the City project serves breakfast and runs showers for the homeless. We had the usual type of breakfast... part of which consisted of a spicy omelette, sausage and hash browns (which I found ironic considering the title of my last blog entry... but boy, it's a really good omelette!)

Anyway, Linda and I were discussing what I was trying to accomplish with this blog and I'm not sure I expressed myself very well, so I'll try again...

What had happened shortly before is that Judy, who I mention in my last blog post, read it... oh boy... Judy proceeded to blow a gasket and told me I was a piece of sh-t, an MF, and I had no right to repeat the lie she was spreading about Mr. and Mrs. C...

As I was sitting with Linda, we were talking about behaviour and how to deal with it. I told Linda the story of how Lenny tried to run away with my bicycle. Now, My bike is packed. It weighs a total of 80lbs because it has everything I own strapped to it. You might see me from time to time around town riding this black and silver Trek 7100 with bags mounted to the front and back wheels. (Shout out to Livermore Cyclery, where I bought all of it... you guys Rawk!) Well, while the Warming Centre was open last season, Lenny tried to walk away with my bike. People had to hold me back to keep me off him. The same thing happened just recently on a Monday morning at Vineyard. (Actually, both incidents happened at Vineyard, but that's beside the point). I got in Lenny's face and the lovely lady who runs the place told me I had to leave... so I did. I still have my bike, by the way, I watch it like a hawk.

So I was explaining to Linda that from now on, if I see Lenny, I'll be calling LPD and reporting his location as, very often, he has a warrant.

Well, here comes Judy, she plops down at our table and proceeds to inform me that I have no right to violate Lenny's privacy by reporting his location to the police. My friend Linda wasn't about to tolerate that, so the two of us got up and left Judy to stew in her own juices...

What I was trying to get across to Linda, and just about everyone else, is that tolerance of bad behaviour does a disservice to those behaving badly. Never mind that tolerance of bad behaviour is also offering aide and comfort to those who abuse people who are actually trying... (how much gets stolen at the Monday Morning Breakfast? Well, lately I have heard of no incidents, but I remember a while back there was a rash of things going missing...)

Intolerance of Bad Behaviour, however, will change lives.

Another lady I know wrote to me telling me I should write for the San Francisco Street Sheet. This is part of the Coalition on Homelessness. http://www.cohsf.org

I had no clue what that was when I received the note, but I did a google search and figured it out, and began to peruse the site... and I was shocked that this lady would ask me to write for people who are so diametrically opposed to where I stand.

You see, the Coalition on Homelessness will tell you the Government can solve everything. Mandate Low Income Housing, Prop C (The Housing Trust fund ) Prop E (The Pogressive Revenue Initiative ) etc, et al, ad nauseum. Where's the effort to change the attitudes and behaviour of the Homeless? Would I write for these idiots? There would have to be a very, very big figure on the pay-check I get for doing so... I support nothing they support because nothing they support makes a whit of difference to anyone except for the pick-pocketed taxpayers...

I run by two axioms. The first is this: Respect you deserve, Trust you Earn!

The second is that: your behaviour is my only tool to judge you. Your words mean nothing unless they match your behaviour.

Amongst the homeless, this is on full display all the time. Helping the homeless shed their bad behaviour will get us at least half way to solving the problem, if not a whole lot more.

Linda, I hope you see this... I hope a lot of people see it... and now that this is done, I think I'm going to go back and see if there's any more of that Spicy Omelette left... damn that was good!