At Saturday’s Believer/Tumblr event at the Makeout Room, there were more than a couple of stories about encountering crazy people on the streets of SF. Turtle-enthusiast/multiple-dog-owner Mills Baker read this entertaining piece about an aspiring religious musical songwriter and future mother of quintuplets:
Now that I think about it, everyone I know who lives in or has visited the city has a favorite crazy person story. I guess that’s one good thing that came from the Reagan administration.
Back in the day when cell phone head sets were all pretty new I used to think people were talking to themselves all the time until I noticed they had a thing in their ear. One time, on the 22, I noticed a kind of grimy homeless looking guy get on, talking to himself. Or so I thought. Did a double take, he had one of those headsets with a microphone that wraps around to your mouth. Then I noticed that the cord of that headset was just kind of hanging, flapping around, not connected to anything.
I’m sorry, does anyone else find this clip infuriating? Where to even begin…first of all, seriously, is it really that much of a novel experience for you to interact with someone on the street who is mentally unstable? Really? Novel enough to not only write about it but also read it in front of a live audience? This is a daily occurance for most. Wow…clueless suburbinite much? Newsflash, San Francisco has a terrible problem with homelessness, and yes, many of them, as you so snidely dubbed them are “crazy.” But hey, I’m glad you were able to use your amusement with your brief encounter with human suffering for your witty little antidote. These people need advocates and services, not some smug, sheltered, ignorant, callous, jackass mocking them for attention and a laugh. To the author: why don’t you get some human decency, compassion, and empathy…it might just improve your writing.
Newsflash, San Francisco has a terrible problem with humorlessness.
By “author,” I was addressing the man in the video, not you Allan. However, I was disappointed by your support of something so obviously disconnected and negative towards those who need the most support in our community. I honestly don’t see what is humorous about a destitute women on the streets, and it was uncomfortably obvious the audience at the Makeout Room agreed for the most part.