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Go back to your meal; Its not the Taliban

I don't have time to address this topic of the homeless in San Francisco in its entirety right now, I'm too tired.  But I did want to post a relevant clip (link in photo below) from an evening out in San Francisco.  Last weekend we went out with some friends to Thep Phanom, arguably the best thai restaurant in the city.  Thep Phanom is always packed, with ten or so people waiting for a seat in the tiny place that seats a max of 60. 

We were giving our order to the waiter, when from behind me a voice bellows and the whole place goes suddenly silent.  I turned around and my initial fear of danger melted away when I saw that it was just a harmless homeless guy.  Everyone in the place had the same sentiment.  There was no panic, no screaming, just looks of irritation. 

I think a couple people really just wanted to get back to their conversations, but since the place was so small we were forced to sit quietly and listen to the hustler's plea.  The jaded San Franciscans returned to eating immediately after some reluctant customers (way to go Geremy) lured the guy outside with the promise of a twenty for his prescription.   Apparently he's not new to this money making scheme - a friend at our table said he'd seen the guy do the exact same thing years ago. 

10.22.01

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