Naked Man Reported at Expo

Ben is a good friend of mine and has been for quit a few years now. Ben has been struggling with some personal issues lately. He has made some mistakes in his life lately, he recognizes that he's made some poor choices, and is learning lessons as he struggles to correct the mistakes he has made. John S. Mccullough posted some very judgemental and exaggerated comments on May 19, 2012 at 11:06 am in a discussion about those types of people. My friend Ben is not a creep or pathetic as he so put it, he's just having a difficult time in his life right now. I agree, he should have made better choices and handled things differently, but he didn't and he can't change what's already done. He can only go forward from here. That day at the fairgrounds, Ben was just trying to clean up before he went to work. He was homeless and was doing exactly what many homeless people do as well as myself a time or two in my life to get by. We have to look presentable when we go to work, so how can we make that possible when we are homeless? We find a public bathroom to use to wash up so we don't smell and change our clothes. When I was 17 I had run away to San Francisco and was homeless. Just because we are homeless and on the streets doesn't mean we have to look and smell like the bums sleeping on a piece of cardboard on the sidewalk begging for change to buy alcohol. I went to a bathroom at Pier 39 every morning at 6:00am, before the crowds arrived, and cleaned myself up. I sponged bathed in the sink, put on a clean pair of clothes, then washed the clothes I was wearing in the sink, dried them with the hand dryer on the wall, combed my hair, put on my makeup, cleaned up any mess I may have made, gathered all my things, and left to go start my day. No one knew I was homeless cause I didn't fit the description of what society imagines most homeless people would look like. Ben was simply trying to clean himself up and change his clothes. Granted maybe he should have gone at a time when the least amount of people would be around, ok. He certainly wasn't trying to freak anyone out or cause anyone any problems. As far as John S Mccullough is concerned, Ben is nothing like the picture he painted of his viewpoint of what these types of people are. He stated, "These people often have violent histories and are found to armed with firearms and/or knives." (Ben is not a violent person, he doesn't own or carry a gun, and if he has a knife , it's a pocket knife for use as a tool just like most all other men who carry a pocket knife.) "These people are not harmless. Pathetic? Yes. Need help? Yes. At the expense of our collective safety? No!" (I guess it's true. We fear what we do not understand! By: Wanda Sykes - Stand Up Comedian) " Also, I have several occasions to visit Humboldt County (not what you think...lol) and have had a chance to observe what it's local culture has really spawned, giving me a chance to reflect on the long-term effects of the 60's. There are many pathetic, marginalized souls wandering around, inhabiting the streets and town square areas (Arcadia, for instance). It is filthy, among other things. Lots of multi-generation abuse problems. A sad way of life for many. The Latino population has many connections available for drug use." (He talks about these types of people as if they had mutated into a subhuman species, no longer human beings. Just pathetic, marginalized souls wandering around, inhabiting the streets and town square areas. I'm feel kind of sorry for him. It has to be hard living in such a limited existence such as his and it caps the number of options he has when making a life decision. When you claim to be an expert and have a full understanding of a subhuman class of people. You can't and you wont be taught any different because you have already convinced yourself that you know everything there is to know and there isn't anything new that you could teach them. Therefore, they have limited and capped their learning ability to become any wiser than they already know that they are.