Quote:
Originally Posted by PepsiFree
My office is located within the same radius, and I can tell you that there is zero concern or police calls from our office. I interact with the homeless people (junkies) in the area at minimum once a day (thanks smoking addiction!) and can honestly say i’ve never felt threatened or the least bit concerned. They’re just people, far as I can tell, and the worst that’s happened is being yelled at or getting stuck in some long winded conversation/rant about society.
Neither your nor my subjective experience is definitive or going to apply to everyone. But it’s worth questioning whether the problem lays with them or can be partly attributed to the perception people have of them.
I know that for myself at least, it’s pretty easy to avoid uncomfortable situations by just engaging with them, being as kind as possible, and listening when that’s clearly what they’re looking for.
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Ya, some people tried that approach at first. As a former smoker I used to be out there a lot too and I never had problems with them, but me being a 250 pound guy I personally feel a lot safer than some of the women in my office having to walk past these guys everyday.
Anyway, the being nice and talking routine led my boss to being stuck by a needle. Had to undergo a month of antibiotic injections or something like at as a preventative to HIV or Hep. Luckily he got a clean bill of health at the end but the standard office response is to call the police every time they are there now. I'm pretty sure this is a 3-4 times a week occurrence.
Like you say, neither of our experiences can be used as a blanket to all homeless or junkies in the city (and I'm not trying to classify all homeless people as junkies either). But it's good to be aware of how bad it can go, real fast.
I'm not even sure what should be done about this because I do like the idea overall of safe injection sites, I understand they save lives and save money for health care overall. But it would be nice if the site could be nowhere near where I live or work
