Bus Report #275

Last night on the 38 Geary:

A homeless man got on our bus at Divisadero and Geary. He wedged himself into a seat between a large woman carrying packages and another woman with her arms crossed protectively over her purse.
The man immediately starts asking both women for money. The one with her arms crossed told him she didn't speak English.
The other woman said, "I'm not giving you any money." but then she went on to recommend he check out some shelters or soup kitchens. "Do you ever go to St. Anthony's?" she asked him.
He said he didn't, that he lived in an awesome shed out by the beach.
"Can you buy my coat?" he asked her. "Someone might pay ten dollars for this."
"I already have a coat," she said.
She got out at 6th and Geary. The man immediately turned his attention to a man in a wheelchair, who also had a cane for the blind.
"Excuse me sir, are you legal blind or partially sighted?" asked the homeless man.
The man in the wheelchair said, "I have no money for you, in fact I probably have less money than you do, so don't talk to me."
A few stops later, the man in the wheelchair said, "You know, I work for a living. I work hard. Why aren't you doing that instead of panhandling?"
The homeless man had no good answer, except, "I do what I do to get by."
I mentally awarded the man in the wheelchair 20 points.