Homelessness for Stupid People
The foibles of the most pampered homeless population in the Bay Area...
“One of the worst beatings I've ever seen,” said one of Livermore's finest. He was talking about our friend Eric, who back on June 13 was beaten in the Mocho Creek area near AM/PM on Stanley and Murrieta.
The story is that four to six
teenagers, all underage, wanted Eric to get tobacco for them from the
AM/PM. If he agreed to do it or not is unclear. Apparently there
was some disagreement between them and Eric was beaten with in an
inch of his life with one or more baseball bats.
Officers who investigated it were
universally horrified at Eric's condition. He's since undergone
several surgeries to repair his jaw, which was shattered, with more
to come. He also sustained several other injuries, enough that
those at the scene were dubious about Eric's survival. Eric was
taken to Eden Hospital where he's still being treated.
I apologize for not having all the
details, wish I did. If I manage to speak with Eric directly I may
have more later...
Right now I'm just curious. I know
I've been out of the loop for some time, but this story hasn't been
reported anywhere! Not the Patch, not B.A.N.G.,
and certainly not the boob tube... Homeless Man Severely beaten by
Juvenile Scumbags... shouldn't that be a headline SOMEWHERE?
Nor has there been much more than
rumour about amongst the homeless. It simply hasn't been much on
anyone's radar. I found out about it a week and a half after it
happened, and usually this sort of thing is on everyone's mind.
Eric isn't a saint. But he is well
liked by most, including me. He has an issue with his legs that I
can't remember whether he was born with or if that came about at a
young age, so he walks with an interesting gait. Other than that he
could be an Abercrombie model, yes, he's that good looking a kid.
And he just tends to be a very, very likeable guy, unlike yours
truly, who tends to be more abrasive.
Having seen “Midnight
Express” I'm fond of saying most American Teens need to spend
time in a Turkish Prison, and this story reinforces my attitude.
Teenagers in this town seem, more and more, to be either the few who
are decent human beings, and the majority, who are those worth
avoiding at all costs. That's not news to anyone paying attention,
even if it should be.
What is far more disturbing is that
this incident is not on anyone's mind. How horrific does it have to
get out there before Livermorons buy into the notion that this town
has some very real social problems that are making this town not a
good place to be?
I'm tempted to go on an extended
rant, but I think I'll resist it. I know, for instance, that there
are those who truly do give a rats-rear-end about these things,
though they seem too few. These people are so rare, it seems, that
when I encounter one that does it's both uplifting and refreshing to
the point that I become very, very attracted to that person's
energy... It's infectious and inspirational to me. Yes, Henry, I'm
talking about you.
That leaves us with the idea that the
vast majority just don't care...
For those of you who don't, I have a
message for you: nobody lives in a vacuum.
Eric, and whoever knows Eric, please
fill us all in on his current condition. He should be in everyone's
thoughts and prayers.
Just to follow up on my last
posting... I did say I would report what happened at the Homeless
Summit last April and I would have had there been anything of value
to report. Other than the fact that a bunch of people with
Government Funded Lives spoke with top-down “solutions” that
amounted to...well, not much at all, I couldn't bring myself to talk
about a whole lot of nothing...
I did suggest to one of the leaders
of an important volunteer group that they should have their own
summit independent of the Government Funded types... this particular
volunteer was originally invited to speak then dis-invited... which
I found very interesting...
What would be worth seeing are some
of the private outfits getting together and having a public
conference on goals to work toward... it would be nice...
