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Originally posted by: DonDiego
Hey ! Bums are people too.
DonDiego treats each derelict encounter individually. Most of the time DonDiego retains whatever moolah is on his person regardless of the race, creed, sexual orientation, or age of the presumed vagrant. DonDiego usually acknowledges whatever greeting is offered and declines whatever request is made, without incident. But there are notable exceptions:
__One time DonDiego was strolling on N. 3rd Street making his way from Fremont Street to the Lady Luck Hotel and Casino, his residence for the night, . . . before this street was closed and beautified into a semi-park-like environment, . . . back when it was just a dimly-lit street with a shadowed sidewalk. DonDiego was alone. An eight-foot-tall, 400-pound unsmiling gentleman of the Black persuasion in disheveled, soiled attire and smelling of demon-rum approached poor old DonDiego with his hand out. DonDiego fished two Lady Luck $1-tokens from his pocket and offered them to this fellow. No words were spoken. No smiles were exchanged. Both parties continued on their intended path. DonDiego trudged on to the Lady Luck, none the worse for wear. Lest the reader mis-interpret, he'd've done the same for a White person.
__Another time, after N. 3rd had been closed but before its beautification DonDiego encountered another Black gentleman, a younger lad who hailed DonDiego and explained his plight, . . . something like he needed some cash to pay the youth-hostel where he was staying what he owed them so he could stay another night, because he was going to an interview the next day which was almost certainly gonna change his life for the better, and much, much, more. This youth and DonDiego conversed a bit and exchanged pleasantries for an enjoyable few minutes. Anyway the young man was very well-spoken and spun a good yarn, . . . and whether it was a scam or the truth it was well-performed and entertaining. DonDiego gave him a $20-bill and the two conversationalists wished each other a good evening, shook hands, and parted, . . . forever.[/
You are what is known as a "mark".
Anyway, people SHOULD exercise caution in these "urban" situations.
Before anyone goes off about how I am overly scared and blah blah blah....I willingly live in Downtown LA where theres a large number of homeless and normally I'm the one calling people unecessarily scared. But there is a degree of safety that people should be concerned with and if you are not used to an urban environment, you may not have the sixth sense that tells you when a situation can turn bad.
I have had a knife pulled on me by a homeless person and also have been in a couple situations that could have turned bad very quickly. Someone naive would not have recognized how bad those situations were as they were simply me being approached by someone. But they were bad, and for instance, a lone female in those situations likely would have been mugged.
