By Peter Brinckman Santa Monica
Regarding Peter Shopay’s recent letter in which he wants the homeless banned from the Third Street mall, parks, and no doubt — in his best of all possible worlds — from the face of the earth.
As a homeless Vietnam era veteran, fifth-generation Californian and third-generation Santa Monican, I want to ban chicken hawk, cold-hearted, prejudice, ignorant, quality of life destroying transplants from other states, which I would bet my life Mr. Shopay is one. The following is directed to people, who unlike Mr. Shopay, actually think.
The homeless mainly consist of active or recovering alcoholics or drug addicts, ex-convicts (almost always for drug offenses), veterans, mentally disabled (such as myself with OCD), physically disabled, young people who think they are smart by working the system when in reality they are throwing their lives away, nice people with problems, mean people and the working poor.
As for children being endangered by the homeless in parks, etc., I have yet to read in the papers of this happening. I have, however, read of children being endangered by priests, teachers, neighbors and other seemingly upstanding employed citizens.
Ninety percent of the homeless are docile and just want to be left alone. It is against the law for the homeless to sleep in the desert, the forest, the city, on the beach, in parks, allies and other public places where they are harassed by “well brought up” young men like Mr. Shopay.
Aggressive panhandling is against the law, but if one is asked for money, all a person has to do is smile and say,“I’m sorry, but have a good day.” That way, you don’t make the person feel sub-human and, 99 percent of the time, they will smile back because you have treated them like a human being, which is more important to them than money.
Not all homeless look homeless, there are homeless people walking among you, who you never in a million years would have thought of as being homeless.
Granted the visual homeless are unattractive, sometimes smell bad, sometimes cause customers to shop elsewhere, and one way or another, consume tax dollars. But these things don’t account for the visceral, almost psychotic hatred people have for us. I think the hatred comes from a deeply buried fear within these people, that it could happen to them. I guarantee it can.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 14, 2006. Read the original PDF.