I realize that many people have a very hard life and do what they can to get by. However, I am getting really fucking sick and tired of having my window on my car washed four or five times a day!
Anyone who lives in a big city (or has been to one) probably knows what I am talking about. It is the bums who lurk at street corners and rush out to wash your windshield while you’re stopped at a light. Make no mistake either, these guys are bums and not some nicer euphemism for bums.
You might think that I’m complaining about nothing since I should just tell them I don’t want my windshield washed. I invite you to try that. These guys are downright aggressive. I’ve sat there shaking my head, saying no, moving my car forward a foot or two, even shouting. How do they respond? By squirting shit (usually water but sometimes actual cleaning solution) on your windshield. At this point they may just leave it there till you ask them to get it off and sometimes they just start having at it. Either way they fully expect to be paid for their work whether you wanted it or not.
So don’t pay them you now say? Again I invite you to try that. I have to drive through a not so good area of town on my way to and from work and I really don’t want to get into it with a likely drug addict over some change in those neighborhoods. On occasion I’ve had one stand in front of my car not allowing me to go (without running him over which I considered) till he saw money in my hand. On a few occasions I’ve literally had no money or only a twenty and got fairly worried as the guy kept pressing me to give him something.
All this might not be so bad if it happened once in awhile but the route I take to work sends me through an obstacle course of these guys. I have tried slightly different routes to no avail. Unless I want to seriously lengthen my already considerable commute I’m stuck with this.
I’ve now gotten to the point where I slow way down prior to a red light waiting for it to change before I get there and have to stop. If the light is still green I’ll do anything I can (within safe reason) to make sure I get through it. Of course, I still get caught now and again.
I suppose I should be happy that these guys are doing something to earn some money rather than just beg for it but frankly I think I’d rather have them beg. Beggars can’t demand money of you. These guys, since they have done some work on your behalf, do demand payment. This morning one of these guys came for my car after getting the car in front of me. I was shaking my head no but on he came. Thankfully the light turned green and I started to move. What did he do? He squirted my windshield as I moved by (I wasn’t moving very fast yet). Did he expect me to stop in rush hour traffic so he could squeegee my windshield? I guess so because he yelled at me as I kept going.
It’s probably an UL but I once heard that some smaller cities would ‘export’ their beggars to San Francisco. It is hard to credit such a thing but last time I was in San Fran I was shocked at the number of beggars making almost believe that story is true. Chicago has its share but it doesn’t hold a candle to San Francisco in this regard (either that or all the beggars congregate in one small area making it seem as if there are more than there are).
Heck…maybe it isn’t all that unfounded. When the World Cup came to Chicago four (8?) years ago Mayor Daley had all the bums picked up so the city looked nice. There was a bit of a stink over that but Daley treated them well for the few days the Cup was in progress before letting them all back on the streets. Not quite the same as shipping them off somewhere but clearly mayors aren’t completely above shuffling them around when it suits their purposes.
I’ve never heard that UL, but it’s true that the homeless problem in San Francisco is staggering. I’m hardly an expert, but I imagine it’s likely as a result of extremely pricey housing and reasonable weather (ie, you’re not gonna freeze to death if you sleep on the street in San Francisco in February, as opposed to Chicago or New York). City government is constantly making noise about doing something about it, but typically, nothing real ever happens.
I have encountered these window washers at their most aggressive in Mexico City. At one point, when my cousin informed one (in her native Spanish) that we didn’t need the windshield washed, he sprayed her in the face with cleaning fluid.
I go to a community college in a large city and I have never seen anything like this. Just a few people holding up signs asking for money, somethimes while standing under a “were hiring” sign.
Maybe you could modify your car to combat this problem. Put about 10 big CB antennas, one of those cage dividers, and a spot light on it. They will think its an unmarked cop car. You could get one of those maximum legal volume level air horn kits. Maybe you could modify your windsheild washer sprayers so you can fire back when they spray your car.
i dont know how many times this would happen to me before i would get out of the car and start to wale on the dipshit who did that to me.
its not like i would do that if i was in a clear state of mind. i just would do that, period. it wouldnt be pretty, since if i had to go through a not so nice section of town i would probably keep something on hand anyway.
