The Bums of San Francisco

I’ve visited San Francisco regularly for decades and I know that the City by the Bay takes great pride in their bums. Their rights to stink, urinate on sidewalks, harass and panhandle are protected by law, and the city goes to great lengths to feature them for the tourists.

I was recently at a large computer conference, and despite their best efforts, there was a distinct shortage of bums in San Francisco.

The streets of San Francisco are covered with streams of urine and you can see the piss-trail where bums piss in the doorways and it dribbles across the sidewalk and into the curb, quite charming . . .

Our dog (Noel) was anazed that in San Francisco, people mark their territory too, and she went nuts checking her pee-mail from the bums:

Bum Psychology

I remembered Harvard Psychologist Roger Brown’s amazing book “Social Psychology” and his research that showed how panhandlers maximize their revenue with “props”:

- Fake wheelchairs – People feel sorry for cripples, and I saw load of bums rolling-out their wheelchairs, unfolding them and sitting down for a day of begging.

- Urgency – Bums have fake handkerchiefs with a blood-like substance and they hit-up their marks, saying that they were attacked and need $20 to get to the hospital.

- Cute animals – Many bums have puppies and kittens, a surefire way to gain sympathy.

They often offer to "work" for money, but when I tried to offer one a job, he snubbed me!

The bum came up and asked for a "nickel". I want something in-return for my cash, and I said that I would give him five dollars if he would entertain me by barking like a dog. He refused my offer!

Pooper-Scoopers for Hobo's

I was walking through the tenderloin and I saw a bum drop-trou, squat and take a steaming dump on someone’s entryway. Gee, if San Francisco loves their bums so much, you would think that they would give the dogs pooper-scoopers for the bums.

Of course, not everyone is sophisticated enough to appreciate the appeal of the San Fransisco street bums.

The Bums of San Francisco Blogspot

Quoted:
I always donate to The Bushman

That is entertainment.

Quoted:


He scared the crap out of a group of Japanese tourists that were in front of us last summer.