No Witty Pun For This One..

One of the bigger ironies I've noticed out here, is that for all of the laid back, mellow folks who don't seem to work but so much, there is a remarkably industrious homeless population. For real. There's no comedic sarcasm behing that statement whatsoever.

In my neighborhood, there is a curiously high number, relative to the relative comfortability of my 'hood. It's not Bel Air, but it's not the wrong side of the tracks either. One certainly would not expect to see a bona fide "population" of homeless. But there they are. And they have clearly carved out a niche of sorts, as it is the same folk daily that you observe.

Unlike New York's homeless, this group does not strike you as potentially dangerous. There are no train tracks to get pushed in front of here, but if there were, I don't think they'd do it. No, the homeless here actually have agendas. There's a tiny, old Mexican woman and her dog. I see her SEVERAL times a day, like clockwork rummaging through the garbage cans of the area. In between her, are several others who make the daily rounds at the same cans. God help them if they come across our kitty/pig litter, but they seem to find recyclables and enough food to get by. Hell, I even saw her help herself to a few flowers in our yard the other day, for wherever she lays down in the evening, she wants it to stay fresh.

Then, on my commute, there's a significant intersection I go through twice a day, maybe 2 minutes off the 405. High volume, long lights, so a couple of savvy homeless have co-opted the intersection as their own. Smart business acumen. High volume = High profits. I see them every day, same signs asking for money in tow, during the evening rush hour. But what freaked me out was, the other day I had to pass by around 1, running an errand, and there they were. My point being, all these folks might be homeless, but they keep regular hours, respecting it like a job almost. The New York homeless stayed in a perpetual stupor, looking for change to stay high or whatever. They'd unabashedly get in your face, and offend or scare you without regard. But out here, whatever their plight, they seem to generally take it as THEIR plight, for better or worse. They do what they can to survive, but basically don't throw it in your face.

Hopefully, this isn't sounding offensive. It's just a different vibe to a particular sub-culture that DOES exist, here, New York, and everywhere.