san fran homeless crack heads!!!

stone roses

hi all

i only got back from san francisco great city, good vibes and a super holiday but the homeless and crack heads where all over the place, i like most irish have traveled the world and lived in austrailia but never seen so many scumbags and crack heads in one spot!!

biko

Thanks for sharing, I guess.
Welcome home.

FearDark

Ya should see Limerick.

Jesus Wept

pics/gtfo

Suryavarman

Cool story bro!

Any chance of some tickets for the reunion tour?

stone roses

biko wrote: »

Thanks for sharing, I guess.
Welcome home.

never slag ireland again!!

Kevin Duffy

stone roses wrote: »

hi all

i only got back from san francisco great city, good vibes and a super holiday but the homeless and crack heads where all over the place, i like most irish have traveled the world and lived in austrailia but never seen so many scumbags and crack heads in one spot!!

Most Irish haven't travelled the world, or lived in Australia. Most of the world's major cities, probably all, have some obvious drug users, so it's not news really, is it?

mikemac

Milk was on RTÉ last week or the week before

Wasn't a great advertisement for the city or the people

TheyKnowMyIP

I make blanket statements too. It's easier that way.

stone roses

Suryavarman wrote: »

Cool story bro!

Any chance of some tickets for the reunion tour?

oh yes im on it 15yrs of hurt!! :-P roses all the way

Crazy Horse 6

stone roses wrote: »

hi all

i only got back from san francisco great city, good vibes and a super holiday but the homeless and crack heads where all over the place, i like most irish have traveled the world and lived in austrailia but never seen so many scumbags and crack heads in one spot!!

Dolphins barn has San Fran beat.

rebel10

Actually, I stayed in San Fran as a student a while back. I was told the reason there are so many is because of the mild climate in the city (never gets too warm because of the fog and also never gets too cold), and apparently during the Olympic games in Atlanta, the homeless there were bused out of the city, many to San Fran. One other theory, many of the homeless would be of the generation that enjoyed the summer of love there, and possibly never really got help with their addictions.

stone roses

Kevin Duffy wrote: »

Most Irish haven't travelled the world, or lived in Australia. Most of the world's major cities, probably all, have some obvious drug users, so it's not news really, is it?

it was bad brother, very bad , you know somethings wrong when you see a pair of legs in a bin or a fella crawling across the street on his hands and knees with no shirt on , every corner a scumbag till you hit union square thats were the big money is, a real contrast of rich and poor but never so blatant

mackg

mikemac wrote: »

Milk was on RTÉ last week or the week before

Wasn't a great advertisement for the city or the people

Damn right, who wants to live in a place where they elect gays?

My_left_leg

stone roses wrote: »

hi all

i only got back from san francisco great city, good vibes and a super holiday but the homeless and crack heads where all over the place, i like most irish have traveled the world and lived in austrailia but never seen so many scumbags and crack heads in one spot!!

all very interesting i'm sure but can you tell me,

were these crackheads wearing flowers in their hair?

kumate_champ07

Ive been in San Fran, the people over there seem to be more friendly towards the homeless. I stayed in lower Haight. People left shoes,clothes and matresses out on the sidewalk for them. I wouldnt call them scumbags. There are scumbags in all walks of life

opinion guy

stone roses wrote: »

hi all

i only got back from san francisco great city, good vibes and a super holiday but the homeless and crack heads where all over the place, i like most irish have traveled the world and lived in austrailia but never seen so many scumbags and crack heads in one spot!!

did you go to any crack baby basketball games ?

stone roses

rebel10 wrote: »

Actually, I stayed in San Fran as a student a while back. I was told the reason there are so many is because of the mild climate in the city (never gets too warm because of the fog and also never gets too cold), and apparently during the Olympic games in Atlanta, the homeless there were bused out of the city, many to San Fran. One other theory, many of the homeless would be of the generation that enjoyed the summer of love there, and possibly never really got help with their addictions.

loads of young men also and girls on the street!! its a shame such a nice city!!

rebel10

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

Ive been in San Fran, the people over there seem to be more friendly towards the homeless. I stayed in lower Haight. People left shoes,clothes and matresses out on the sidewalk for them. I wouldnt call them scumbags. There are scumbags in all walks of life

Yes, they definitely aren't scumbags, many of them are Vietnam veterans who are still coping with mental issues since. Lower Haight would be an area I would associate with shelters and things, so I can imagine you have seen a good few in that area! Went back to San Fran this summer, accidentally wound up on the Tenderloin during feeding time in the shelters, not an experience I would like to relive anytime soon!;)

mikemac

Anyone reading this thread and automatically start humming the Scott McKenzie song?

I am anyway

My_left_leg

For Christ's sake you went to America and saw a few homeless bums.

GER OVER IT!

stone roses

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

Ive been in San Fran, the people over there seem to be more friendly towards the homeless. I stayed in lower Haight. People left shoes,clothes and matresses out on the sidewalk for them. I wouldnt call them scumbags. There are scumbags in all walks of life

i hear ya scumbags in all walks of life you got that right!! cheers

stone roses

My_left_leg wrote: »

For Christ's sake you went to America and saw a few homeless bums.

GER OVER IT!

few bums ya right!!

opinion guy

OP can I recommend Detroit as your next holiday destination !! You would love it

krudler

oh theres bums everywhere in san fran, go to the castro district and you'll see some pantless ones too, only thats intentional

Badgermonkey

It is noticeable in SFO that the feel and atmosphere downtown can alter fairly radically from street to street and block to block.

Perhaps the long standing liberal ethos of the city council and wider populace precludes them from an Giuliani-style clean up.

krudler

just stay the hell out of the Tenderloin area

saywhatyousee

You have to laugh at the blatant double standards in after hours if this story was about Dublin you would be all over it like a rash calling for sterilization ect.

RichieC

I got so much crack in my bones,
That my friends just call me Crack,
When I'm walking down the street they go "Hey Crack",
I go "Hey Steve, what's goin' on?"
I got it in my heart,
And I got it in my socks,
When my woman and me are fighting,
I just give her a couple of rocks!

Everybody loves crack!
(I love crack!)
You on crack! You on crack!
Everybody's on crack!
Everybody - it's a matter of fact,
Your momma's on crack,
Your daddy's on crack,
That's why I love that crikity crikity crack crack crikity, bom-bom-ba-dickity love that crikity crack! Watch my back while i do my crack …… I'm comin back like Lojack for the crack!

Alter-Ego

This thread needs more Super Hans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRS41-7MTSs

df1985

California in general has a lot of homeless people, the weather means they never have to worry about freezing to death in the winter, hence a lot of homeless people end up there.

Ive been to San Fran, yes there is a lot but the vast majority are harmless. it looks bad for tourists etc but i never felt unsafe even when there were loads of them.

Simon Adebisi

krudler wrote: »

just stay the hell out of the Tenderloin area

Scary place at night. Lovely city by day though. The burrito's in the mission are unreal and Amoeba music in Haight Ashbury is without a doubt the best music shop in the world.

Saila

which is worse, being called a crack head, or an arsehole or are they the same?

rebel10

Simon Adebisi wrote: »

Scary place at night. Lovely city by day though. The burrito's in the mission are unreal and Amoeba music in Haight Ashbury is without a doubt the best music shop in the world.

+1 on Amoeba:)

derra

krudler wrote: »

just stay the hell out of the Tenderloin area

This documentary/film would confirm that suggestion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Tar_Heroin_%28film%29

stone roses

df1985 wrote: »

California in general has a lot of homeless people, the weather means they never have to worry about freezing to death in the winter, hence a lot of homeless people end up there.

Ive been to San Fran, yes there is a lot but the vast majority are harmless. it looks bad for tourists etc but i never felt unsafe even when there were loads of them.

a lot of homeless dont have to worry about freezing in san fran? what about starving to death, rape, being attacked with guns and knifes , drug overdose, you dont just end up on the street over night either! hate to sound mean but i never done crack or hard time so lets not get to nice on there ass, they are on the street for a reason and its not from working hard getting up at 6 in the morning and paying the bills!! i loved san fran but i never seen anything like the homeless, it was sad to watch and it makes me wonder where is all the money to help these people, to fire a rocket from an f-14 jet costs one million $$$$ so wtf??

mikemac

Well some are veterans and they are not getting the help they need
It's nothing new, people coming back from wars have had issues readjusting or need help with their mental health since wars began

It doesn't explain everyone in San Fran but it does for some.

Voodoomelon

San Fran has a huge amount of homeless on the streets, digging into every single rubbish bin collecting bottles and cans. Poor chaps.

stone roses

mikemac wrote: »

Well some are veterans and they are not getting the help they need
It's nothing new, people coming back from wars have had issues readjusting or need help with their mental health since wars began

It doesn't explain everyone in San Fran but it does for some.

yes id say theres a lot of veterans on the street in san fran, these guys were easy to spot mainly old timers or weary veterans from nam poor guys!! but it was the younger ones the crack heads and scum who would do anything form money thats what i noticed the most!! its really sad and i dont know why they are on the street but i know one thing! they will blame the world but never them selfs!!

JONJO THE MISER

opinion guy wrote: »

OP can I recommend Detroit as your next holiday destination !! You would love it

Aww Detroit brings back so many.........

maxfresh

Maybe they should dump all the crackheads out to alcatraz, problem solved ,take the bad look off the place

mawk

I worked in sf for a while, right in the middle of the city. Homelessness and drug addiction are very visual problems. Its amazing to walk along market street.. At 4th its giant apple stores and old navy, by 5th its theatres and galleries and by 6th and 7th its porn cinemas, prostitutes and pawn shops. Its amazing the change in 60 seconds of walking. Pretty jarring

smurgen

go to Santa Barbara, coolest homeless people and crack heads in the world! They even had I pods, where they charged them all the time I dunno!

Balmed Out

Apparently there are lots of charities who fly them to California away from the colder northern cities and San fran seems to be the most popular pace for them there. Ive never seen so many people taking crack in my life. My mate ran a hostel in a very dodgy area, you would constantly see people shooting up. The poor bastards are really competitive at the begging each with some sort of street performance act and the whole downtown area has a stench of stale urine.
The only place i have seen with more homeless or at least a higher percentage of beggers would be siam near ankor wat in cambodia.

chopperbyrne

stone roses wrote: »

hi all

i only got back from san francisco great city, good vibes and a super holiday but the homeless and crack heads where all over the place, i like most irish have traveled the world and lived in austrailia but never seen so many scumbags and crack heads in one spot!!

You've never been outside Tara Station or on the boardwalk on Eden Quay so.

Cuddlesworth

chopperbyrne wrote: »

You've never been outside Tara Station or on the boardwalk on Eden Quay so.

They aren't homeless. They are just adult versions of teenagers hanging out on street corners, drinking and doing drugs. They go back to their council flats in the evenings.

emeraldstar

I was in San Fran two weeks ago and also noticed the sheer number of homeless people. And weirdos. Lots and lots of weirdos. Several who would just randomly start following me...

I was a little glad to hop on the plane back over to New York

yupyup7up

FearDark wrote: »

Ya should see Limerick.

somebody has never been to Dublin.

GO_Bear

stone roses wrote: »

hi all

i only got back from san francisco great city, good vibes and a super holiday but the homeless and crack heads where all over the place, i like most irish have traveled the world and lived in austrailia but never seen so many scumbags and crack heads in one spot!!

We stayed in an Asian Hostel in the Tenderloin district ( a particularly notorious area ) Seen some strange things, like the infamous basement of our hostel ... we never ventured down but ... we seen on occasion complete crack head homeless people walk into the hostel and get the lift down too the bottom floor never to emerge again !

Also one homeless fella who I made the mistake of giving change to , two days in a row. We called him Zimmer man, and his zimmer frame gave of a distinctive scratching noise as it made its way along the street ... I could of sworn I heard it in our room one night ! ( after a few too many beers ! ) still gives me nightmares, he used to wait outside the hostel for us then and follow us expecting more money for a week after that !

Staying there almost made me give up smoking as the frustration of stepping outside for a ciggi would result in being accosted by AT LEAST 5 different people asking for channnnnge/smokes/my cloths.

Don't get me wrong I give money too some homeless people when they meet the criteria but that was all a bit overwhelming

Leftist

rebel10 wrote: »

Actually, I stayed in San Fran as a student a while back. I was told the reason there are so many is because of the mild climate in the city (never gets too warm because of the fog and also never gets too cold), and apparently during the Olympic games in Atlanta, the homeless there were bused out of the city, many to San Fran. One other theory, many of the homeless would be of the generation that enjoyed the summer of love there, and possibly never really got help with their addictions.

So they're all about 70 years old? 70 year old crack heads.

Or maybe, just maybe, its the same issue that has plagued many cities in California.

Poverty!

GO_Bear

Leftist wrote: »

Or maybe, just maybe, its the same issue that has plagued many cities in California.

Poverty!

As far as I know they all flock to California cause its climate is "mild" all year round as opposed to the East coasts cold snaps in winter and heat waves in summer.

Also, and don't quote me on this, but I heard that crack addiction is seen as an illness there rather then a fault of character so they get extra social welfare ? ( can anyone confirm/refute ? )