My buddy Terence turned me on to this
aggregate website last night. It looks very promising, with an Arts and Letters slant that strikes my fancy.
Too Tall and I were outside in the beer garden of a local pub when approached by a high-tech guy from Phoenix here on a working junket. Doing some business related to Intel, evidently.
Man, was he impressed by Oregon. His business in town ended yesterday, and he was ruing having to return to hot Phoenix today.
I started thinking. Most of the people I know in town are from someplace else. Terence, for instance, is from Florida. My pal Lucas was born and raised in Chicago. I know few real Oregonians any more.
People tend to come here for a visit and end up staying.
Have to admit it. Oregon this time of the year is indeed sensational. The only thing that left the Phoenix fellow with a negative perception of Portland is the homeless population here. In all seriousness, he wondered if most of the young and seemingly healthy homeless panhandlers were perhaps druggies looking for a meth fix.
I turned it back on him. Well, perhaps, I said. But on the other hand even the homeless are attracted to Portland in this type of weather.
Plenty of places to sleep outdoors (unless you try to camp down town). Food can be found if you know where to look, etc.
I don't understand why people rag on the homeless so much. Hell, not everyone is able to get a job with a company that sends them to Portland to train in some facet of the high tech industry, like Mr. Phoenix.
Homelessness is just around the corner for a lot of folks. I've been there, perhaps you have, too.
True, people are lazy, unmotivated, mentally ill, unfortunate, unskilled, uneducated, crazy, fucked up, stubborn, etc., etc. Not much cure for all of that under present conditions.
If you have a job you love, consider yourself lucky. Most don't. And a lot can go wrong under such conditions. If you have nothing to begin with, the odds are against you.
Sometimes the bootstrap you're trying to pull yourself up by is too short or tattered. Doom and failure are aspects of the realm, friends.
All of this is serious stuff, but who is addressing the issues? America would rather have its bombs and give foreign military juntas fat paychecks to protect the interests of the industrial class than deal with the homeless.
Point--the poor enjoy the scenery here just as much as well-heeled tourists from Boston and beyond.
Besides, taking advantage of the weather, many of the homeless youths hit the road to winter in better climes. Probably not Phoenix, as it seems a bit hostile to poverty in general, from what I've read and heard. Of course, poor people are there, but they're encouraged to stay out of sight. Or perhaps encouraged isn't the right word...
Regarding panhandling, I told the high-tech guy it was his choice. Give or don't. Nobody is telling you what to do when confronted with a panhandler. If the beggar is too aggressive, tell him to fuck off. Be prepared to fight if you have to; it's a tough world.
If you give, don't expect your beneficiary to spend the money the way you'd rather he spend it. If you have doubts, hold back.
I rarely give panhandlers money myself. There are so many of them that I'd have nothing left from my meager income if I did.
Last thing I have is guilt over it.
America is pretty much a basket case now, with more poor than since the Great Depression. Infighting won't change anything.
Until something fundamental about capitalism changes, not much can be done.
TS
