Saturday, July 01, 2006

Oogah-Boogah!

When I was younger my family and I went on a little vacation to San Francisco and nearby areas. It was one the first big-city visits in my life so there were a lot of new experiences in store for me. Some of the things I remember the most from that trip was; Alcatraz, really fast cab rides up really steep roads, self-cleaning public restrooms, and paying $2.50 for a soda refill. I also remember the homeless people very vividly. San Francisco has a huge homeless population, and I guess since there are so many of them, and there is so much competition for begging money, the homeless have to get creative if they want money. I saw one guy who would hide behind a big tree branch and scare people as they walk by. Onlookers enjoyed it so much they would tip the hell out of him. Another guy tried to tell us bike parts or as he called them "sprockets" which is also what he told us his head was missing. I was, and still am, a little impressed by some of these guy's creativity.

When I came to Chicago I was a little dissapointed in the lack of creativity of our homeless population. They all just sit there, and literally half of the ones on Michigan Ave hold a sign over their face that says, "I'm just hungry." They're very unoriginal.

Just the other day though I actually came across a San Fran type homelss guy. He held a sign that said, "Why Lie? I need beer money!" and he held a bucket from a Huck Finn-esque fishing pole. I didn't give him any money, but I appreciate his creativity and honesty.

1 comment:

Charlie said...

You guys lost the war, Cohen.