Downtown

Older son and I were walking in downtown Portland this afternoon and we hear this guy talking loudly a few paces behind us. His language is foul and more than a little offensive, but kids these days, what are you gonna do? At first it sounds like he is talking to someone on a cell phone but it soon becomes apparent he is talking to himself, or the world in general, so that squashes any plan I might have to speak to him about his language. I mean, you never know how a conversation with a lunatic is going to go, and this guy sounded righteously angry. I can sympathize, I get angry enough to curse loudly on occasion, but I try to restrain myself when there are other people around. He followed us around a corner and when we came to our destination we stopped and pretended to have a conversation until he had gone by and on down the block.

We passed another guy lying in a doorway, covered with blankets, coughing his lungs out and smoking a cigarette. There were a couple of people sitting on the sidewalk near where I parked my car when I got there. They were lying down and covered with blankets when I left around 3PM. Are they sleeping this early because it's warmer during the day, or because they have nothing else to do?

I wonder about the homeless. I used to think that at least some of them were just down on their luck, but lately I am thinking that perhaps they just aren't up to dealing with modern life, that they are lacking some ability and that lack prevents them being able to keep a roof over their heads. Of course the ability they are lacking might be the patience needed to deal with the welfare bureaucracy, and I can't say as I blame them.

I still think that a negative income tax might be the solution. I came across a YouTube video the other day that was basically supporting the same idea, but something about the presentation just rubbed me the wrong way. It was full of how it would help the poor, and it just sounded like so much garbage. I couldn't watch the whole thing.

And then there is parking. I was able to park on the street in a space that is a loading zone six days of the week, but not on Sunday. But after 1 PM you have to pay ($4 for 2 hours max), at least according to the meter maid who was working nearby. I've spent $10 on parking in Portland this month, which is kind of a trivial amount, being as today's dollar is only worth a tenth of what it was 50 years ago, but the hassle of having to figure out whether you need to pay or not as dictated by signs, signs and more signs, and having to fiddle with the meters and little bits of paper is super annoying. I tell you, it keeps me from going downtown unless I have to.