Some Big Concerns for San Francisco (Updated Version)

Have you ever been to Downtown San Francisco? If you have been visited there, chances are you might be asked for money, especially in the area on Market Street between 4^th and 5^th Streets, near the San Francisco Shopping Center and Powell Street Cable Car Terminal. "Sir, can I have change?" "Ma'am, can I have 50 cents?" You will hear those "requests" almost everyday when you walk to there. What do people do if they are asked for money? Some will give the beggars money, but some will refuse to give. What is the reason of giving beggars money? I can tell you, mostly not for kindness, but for making concessions to avoid the trouble. Some people afraid that they will be revenged if they don't give money, and some beggars are looked like intoxicated by either alcohol or illegal drugs or even both, some people afraid with those intoxicated beggars, because they will suddenly become mad. If you refuse beggar's request, then he or she may attack you! Just about two weeks ago, a man was assaulted by a beggar in the City's Tenderloin neighborhood because that man refuse to give money, according to San Francisco Police Department.

More and more beggars or panhandlers are now connected to street crimes in the City, such as battery or assault, like I said at the beginning, those panhadlers have been intoxicated when they commited a crime. Couple years ago, if you was asked for money, just walked away or refused the request, then the panhandler would leave you alone. But now, it is becoming impossible!

I am always being harassed by the panhandlers, sometimes if I refuse to give money to them, they will yell at me with threatening word, "You better be careful!" On September 19, 2008, at around 11:30 am, I got out from the San Francisco Shopping Center after I browsed at something I wished to buy in there, at the moment I stepped out to the sidewalk adjacent to the shopping center, my horrible experience began. A crazy white male approached from somewhere near Powell Street BART Station Exit to me, he looks like a homeless person, and then the crazy man yelled at me. I didn't even understand what he yelled. That crazy man then punched my glasses with his closed fist, and he punched me so hardly, my glasses broke immediately and fell on the street. Not only were my glasses broken, but also my left eye just above the eyelid was cut by the broken glasses, and bled... You may know that the San Francisco Shopping Center and the surrounding areas are one of tourists' hot spots in the city, so lots of people, residents and tourists witnessed the incident. Many nice walk-by people, security guards from the shopping center, and street merchant gave me some basic treatment on my wound and helped me to call an ambulance. A Mandarin speaking street merchant gave me her chair to rest, and then a security guard from the shopping center gave me a bag of ice to heal my wound. All of them were trying to make me feel better; what I could do at that time is keep calm, don't be panic. A few minutes later, police and ambulance arrived, a police officer asked me some questions about the incident, and then I was sent to the Chinese Hospital for further treatment, about half an hour later, I was released from the hospital.

The beggar problem of San Francisco is not a fresh issue. Couple years ago, Mayor Gavin Newsom introduced a program called "Care Not Cash", but it didn't fix the problem from the root. How can the City fix this problem? Obviously it is not the priority at this time, because there are lots of other problems waiting for the City... I really want to ask, when will these problems get solved?

Sources:

Homeless Outreach & Medical Emergency (HOME) Team, San Francisco Fire Department, May 15, 2009

Mayor Gavin Newsom's Official Website, May 15, 2009

San Francisco Police Department Website, May 15, 2009