TWIMC

I sent the accompanying comment (and photos) to the San Francisco Chronicle out of long standing frustration: frustration at how long this problem has persisted, frustration at how it has grown and metastasized, frustration as to how all concerned have proved so inept and ineffective at combating it. And this is just from the point of having to observe it on a daily basis, not live it as a recurring, personal reality.

I included the photos as a point of reference and emphasis. Some may call it homeless porn- yes, absolutely, 100%! If you know a better way to make someone look at and (hopefully) acknowledge something that we naturally divert our eyes from and strive to ignore- please, pass it along... These are but a small scenic handful of the multitude of examples of palpable misery beheld daily, as the city applauds itself for the bandaids it spews out annually, while the gaping wound continues to fester and grow.

 

Photo: © Stan Banos

 

Photo: © Stan Banos

 

Photo: © Stan Banos

TWIMC,

How long do we continue to ignore this, turn our heads, throw piecemeal, self absolving, non-solutions at a problem that has metastasized all around us, swallowing up whatever remains of our own humanity just as surely as it obliterates the lives we step around each day? How much longer do we ignore it, deny it, curse it and wait for someone to do what needs to be done? Every year it gets worse, while we're told not to believe our own eyes because, because... it's getting better! People literally incapable of taking care of their most basic of needs, defecating themselves, left to fend for themselves- in a city awash in money.

How long do we continue to ignore this?

Stan Banos

Addendum: No sooner had I clicked SEND, when a vague recollection came to mind- that of doing the same exact thing just a few years prior... sending an equally alarmed commentary along with a few illustrative photos. All of it ultimately garnering the same amount of feedback and reaction- silence.