I was on my way to the post office on Main Street in Seal Beach the other day, when I ran into a friend of mine called Alaska Jim.
We got to talking about the state of our economy.
I guess I was doing most of the complaining. I’ve been trying to get a loan modification on my Seal Beach home, but to no avail.
Jim said jokingly, “Why don’t you become homeless? I heard they would be getting a free place to stay.”
I started to laugh a little, but then I really gave it some thought.
WOW! A place to stay in Seal Beach for free sounds great! Just think about it. I’ve had to work my way up the ladder for 40 years. I plugged in 10 years of higher education and I can’t get a loan modification for my house, but the homeless might be getting a shelter here.
I felt a little anger.
Maybe we Seal Beach folks don’t want a homeless shelter here. After all, the crime rate goes up with this shelter stuff and we will be attracting homeless for miles, if not other states.
I mentioned to Alaska Jim how the businesses on Main Street were hurting right now and that the city fathers should help them out a little. Having a homeless shelter will be devastating for business on Main Street. Tourism will drop and we will go from Old Town to Ghost Town.
I don’t suppose my attitude is in keeping with the friendly posture of Seal Beach, but at least I’m smart enough to know that you can’t use conventional wisdom on unconventional people. Simple logic says you can get more for your buck for the homeless in something other than prime real estate.
This idea of a homeless shelter any where near Old Town Seal Beach is completely insane. Picture this: We get my friend Brian to donate a piece of real estate at the end of Ocean Avenue.
I heard the land is getting less expensive every day as the local government tries to whittle down his property rights. We could build a three-story complex with ocean views for our homeless.
And just then Alaska Jim said, “Now wait a minute, because we’ve got people on the Gold Coast that wouldn’t be able to see the ocean anymore if that happened?”
I told Jim that “those people are rich and rich folk don’t count anymore. President Obama thinks we should take from the rich and give to the poor! After all, those rich folks probably stole it.”
Then Jim said, “I even heard they were thinking of putting up a shelter in Beverly Hills and Newport.”
I said, “WOW! 90210 zip code for the homeless.”
But before Jimmy could laugh, one of our elderly from Leisure World let out a scream. Two homeless guys were accosting her.
Of course the poor dear was intimidated, but it’s all in the name of our friendly nature.
I gave out a conventional wisdom yelp and the guys took off. Oh well, maybe I should start saving my spare change just in case.
Joe Gallo is a longtime Seal Beach resident and a regular member of the inpromptu conversation club at Javatini’s coffee shop on Main Street.
