I blogged about this guy before, but he has gone from a minor annoyance that I saw maybe a few times a year, to an everyday presence in my daily commute. Yes, I admit that I should not have stopped and taken his picture, but I couldn't resist doing so, last Friday. I don't know if he is aware of the fact that I took it, I hope not.
On my walk home in the evening, I pass this parking lot that he has decided to stake out as his own. Bad enough, but I would just go further into the lot and manage to avoid him. Well, the business just added an iron fence around the perimeter, so now all people walking have to walk on the sidewalk and thus, I end up passing him every evening. It has gotten so bad that if we see other people we work with, on the street, we band together, long enough to pass this guy. We talk and ignore him, so that he can't do his begging.
When not bugging us on the sidewalk, he walks out into the street, with a grocery bag in his hand and that babushka hat thing on his head, asking the cars that are stopped at the red light, if they will give him some money. He is in black and I am sure the cars have a real problem seeing him. So far, he has managed not to get himself killed yet.
I actually went into the store one morning, to protest the adding of the fence and that's when I was told they were forced to put in this very expensive fence. They were upgrading their store and it was part of the permit granted by the City of Los Angeles. It does look nice, but I would greatly appreciate a small space for us walkers to sneak through and get into the lot.
Oh well...it's ALWAYS something...
I can't remember where I read it or if there was some greater point being made, but recently I came across an item where someone was commenting on the difference between street beggars in NYC vs. LA. The gist was that in NYC such folks don't object if you ignore them and walk on by, that they're used to it and kind of expect it so it doesn't bother them. But in L.A. the observation was that the they expect some sort of acknowledgement if not actual personal interaction and can get gruff about it if ignored. I have no idea if there's anything to that, of course, or if it was even a credible source, but it's what I read.
ReplyDeleteI can't even remember now if I read it in the newspaper or on the internet. Come to think of it, it's even possible I didn't actually read it, but heard it on the radio. For some reason NPR is ringing a vague bell in the back of my mind, but I can't be sure.
Anyway, I particularly enjoyed seeing the "Home of the Angels" sign in the pic for obvious reasons.
Thankfully, this guy doesn't seem upset when we ignore him. I just hate doing that.
ReplyDeleteYes, I guess it is "Home of the Angels". :-)