Denizens. . .
I met this pair of "locals" on Farish Street as Nils and I were on our "culture crusade" Saturday.
The first thing out of the mouth from the guy on the left (#1) was some long rambling story about how he needs money and I should help him because he is a poor, homeless man. I explained to the gentlman that he looked to be in perfect health and should find a job. Needless to say, after a brief millisecond ponderance of my reasonable, logical response, he proceeded to berate me as a hater, explaining to me that I "ain't skraight" nor "down" so on and so forth. So, I gave him $20, miscalculating ever so slightly that this might shut him up and he might get along with his miserable life. Wrong.
Then, #1 begins to tell me that he needs $40 to be able to stay in the boarding house down the street for a week, to which I respond, "See, if you had that job I was talking about, you'd have the $40 and then some." This only elicited more extemporaneous blaming of "the man" for all his ills.
As I listened to this guy, person #2 walks up and wants to know why I'm giving out money. I tell him it's because I am a nice, thoughtful and generous person. All the while, person #1 is still going on about his perceived persecution. #2, not wanting to be left out, demands money. I tell #2 that he can split the $20 I just gave #1 (thinking in my dark, twisted mind that a fight might ensue that I can photograph). #1 rejected this idea wholeheartedly. So, I gave #2 $20 too.
I wasn't all that concerned about my safety as I knew Nils was lurking nearby, always quick with a blade, and not to mention the .357 magnum digging into the small of my back. I presumed that at nearly point blank I probably wouldn't miss. Plus, it was worth the risk to really piss off a couple of worthless individuals.
Alas, nothing terrible happened but I received no appreciation for my charity and #1 had the gall of actually saying as he walked away, "I don't give a fuck about no whitey taking pictures", when #2 pointed out that I was taking his picture again.
What's the old saying about helping the helpless? I think it goes something like, "Fuck them!"
Toast, we need you here in L.A. There are countless "homeless" people here who need your kind of "schooling".
Needless to say, San Pedro, my home town, just happens to be the Homeless center of Los Angeles. It seems the street people gravitate towards the Harbor District since there are countless shelters and food banks here.
As far as the two clowns you encountered, you should have pulled your piece and inspired these two assholes to perform the world's fastest colon blow.
Twenty bucks is twenty bucks Toast. If they couldn't appreciate your kindness and generosity then piss on em! With fucked up attitudes like that it's easy to see why they're panhandling. Who'd wanna hire a couple of Donkey Dicks like them.