Overheard in a Bar
I sat at a table in a bar editing my manuscript about the homeless men and women in my neighborhood.
This is a nicely appointed, friendly bar in a wealthy, generally progressive neighborhood in Portland that mainly caters to working class people who live within walking distance of the establishment. It is also patronized by many retired folks, including a former Governor of Oregon.
Three middle-aged men and a female bartender were having a conversation about homelessness in Portland at the long, wooden bar.
This is some of what I overheard of it on a weekday afternoon:
They've got the money to do something. I'm paying for it. I don't mind paying for it.
They've had years to do something. It's all around us. They walk in here all the time. (The bartender then recounted the most recent incident.)
I've had it with the bullshit.
Did you see the new tent outside of CVS?
I'm sick of waiting. They need more sweeps and move people into secure camps. This can't go on.
The conversation continued and voices rose. I tuned it out and went back to editing.
I figure this kind of discussion is going on in every pub and bar and pot shop in Oregon, from Portland to Pendleton to Port Orford.
As for Portland, I give politicians and nonprofits 18 months to demonstrate easily observable success in addressing the crisis of homelessness or they can expect to lose many, many more voters (and taxpayers) they will certainly need in the future. To me, this is not a liberal or conservative issue (although zealots from both sides are trying to make it one). It's a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented numbers and complications. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be treated with any urgency that I can tell first hand or glean from the media.
Everything I've overheard on the subject in establishments such as this one has pretty much been civil. But I can feel it turning, and turning in discerning, sympathetic people. That doesn't bode well at all.