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So... random rant thread. Maybe I'm posting this to see if people think I did the right thing or if I should of handled it differently.

I generally dislike the homeless... they're a blight on an otherwise nice city. But I generally ignore them, they generally crap and piss and litter on the streets I have to walk.

Yesterday, after dropping the gf off at the apt and parking the car, I'm walking up the street and see her at the corner, with her dog (a small ****-zu, emphasis on the "****")... waving me over in a panic of sorts. I run up. Apparently some homeless guy stomped (literally went out of his way to walk over to and stomp down on) her dog. She's scared and angry... (I found out later she had immediately kicked him in the nuts and had continued to kick/hit him until some passerby's had told her to stop)....

She points him out and I chase after him a bit... Not too big a guy, maybe 6', 200lbs... clearly a bit mentally unstable, snot running out of his nose, sweaty... screaming something about not f@cking dogs and not being into bestiality... I don't bother running too fast, partially because I'm having a little fun having him on the run... partially because I'm hoping while he blindly runs across streets he might get hit by one of the cars. But it has the added advantage of taking us deeper into the tenderloin, so fewer people who might interfere on the streets. Basically, I catch him after a block, throw him around a little, let him run another block, catch him, throw him around a bit, let him run deeper and deeper into the TL. We basically end up in the very center of the TL, we end up stopped in the middle of an... interesting area... couple drug dealers on the streets, some users, a number of porch-sitters... I hit him a bit more, some woman wants me to stop... some other guy tells her to shut the f*ck up and butt out... I stopped when the guy was on the ground whining and some drug dealer was yelling that he was trying to do business here and didn't want the cops.

Anyway, I walk back up the street home. Clean all the **** off of me from this disgusting bit of human detritus... But I'm not sure I did the right thing. I mean, I really feel like I should have stomped on him when he was on the ground, I really don't feel like I hit him enough times to teach him a proper lesson. What if he didn't learn anything from this? What if he comes back up to our neighborhood? The gf will literally mace him and then beat him the instant she sees him... and she won't be as gentle as I was... And what if he comes up to our neighborhood and the gf doesn't see him? What if he attacks some of our neighbor's dogs?

Sounds to me like you gave a guy( with nothing to lose) a reason to hate you.

I'd watch my back.


To say you handled it poorly is an understatement.

And I would also evaluate your opinion of homeless.

Don't listen to the pansy-assed ney-sayers.

What kind of crap hole does your GF live in?

So how would you have handled it differently?

Would you have let the guy walk after that?

As for my opinion of the homeless... one can have the luxury of caring for them when one doesn't have to deal with the destruction they cause on a daily basis.

The rational part of me understands that the mentally ill are not completely responsible for their actions and the systems are not in place to properly care for them. However, we have actively deconstructed the existing institutions that were supposed to care for them. If we are not going to care for them properly, and we are going to put them out on the street, while still acknowledging that they are not completely responsible for their actions... well that's just acknowledging that bad things will happen. The only option at that point is to simply put them down.

No matter how irritated you were, your actions seem pointless. Clearly this was someone with a psychological illness. The only potential value I see to your actions is your girl friend expected you to act in some manner. Buy the girl friend some pepper spray for future encounters.

If you had a gun you could have knee capped him. A baseball bat is conspicuous to carry.

http://mochimachine.org/wasteland/

for those interested in a map of sh$t

If you had said he was a Muslim, this place would be high-fiving you right now.

I would have been pissed too.


But my perspective comes from where I live. So of course I'm biased. But don't ask my opinion, and then tell me I'm wrong.

Fighting the guy is a gamble with no upside. What could you gain other than a brief moment of satisfaction. The downside is HUGE. he could rally his homeless buds. He could stalk your girlfriend. The list goes on and on.

I hate the dog was harmed but putting myself or girlfriend at risk seems like a poor choice.

Again, the scariest people are the ones that don't care what happens to them. I question if this guy fears any consequences.

But, I would have called the law and let them deal with it.

.

I wasn't saying you were wrong Mattie. You hadn't posted an alternative (like you did this time)...

I suppose the law is a viable alternative. I don't know if the law in SF would do much, and I'm not sure it would work as a deterrent to the guy from trying it again... but it is a viable alternative.

I guess my perspective is a little different here. Calling the law would involve sitting there with an upset gf waiting for the police to arrive... while the guy runs off somewhere and just file a police report, which probably gets filed under "who cares" because they have bigger things to deal with than chasing down a guy who tries to harm dogs. On the other hand, a little negative reinforcement hopefully will hopefully keep the guy out of our immediate neighborhood. I could be wrong, he may decide to make a thing about it... and if he does, I'll tell you you were right. The guy certainly didn't look like he didn't fear any consequences... he looked like he feared me. That may come back to bite me later though.

Well, it was my yesterday evening activity. But yes, partially for fun. I am still conflicted however, in all honesty. Beating on a crazy guy isn't good. But on the other hand, I wonder if I should have done more to discourage him.

Yep.

What would you have done differently?

You chose to live in that ****hole. Pick your rate, pick your fate, quit whining.

not so sure it was a liberal agenda demanding they have rights that "freed" the crazies and created untold thousands of homeless. At least around here it was budget slashing, particularly in Human Services, that did the damage.

a very sad choice indeed.

that's it. I'm gonna snopes this story.

I'm afraid it is so, to wit:

https://www.aclu.org/aclu-history-mental-institutions

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2011/jan/10/loughners-illness-protected-liberal-privacy-laws/

http://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/30/science/how-release-of-mental-patients-began.html

http://www.claytoncramer.com/speeches/mental.htm

Even Reagan

http://www.dailynugget.com/2004/06/ronald-reagan-the-bad-and-the-ugly/

So your answer to someone who goes after something of yours is to let them take it? Good to know.

As for the "girlfriend" crap... if you think that should make any difference then you are a different person than I am. This girlfriend is part of my family.

If he comes back, I deal with that when it happens. I dont' see how reporting the incident would keep it from happening again....

Yeah the poor picked on Muslims....

I wasn't defending them...

Are you so risk averse you aren't willing to put yourself in a little danger over your pet? Where do you draw the line? What becomes so valuable that you are finally willing to step up and take a little risk? Would you let someone go up and slash your tires and walk off without any repercussions?
Your solution is ridiculous. I live in 400sq feet of apartment. An 18lb sh@t-zu is more dog than I want to live with at all. A larger dog would suffer from lack of space to exercise.... like to see you're thinking though. The solution to a guy abusing your dog is to get rid of your dog completely... If someone takes your parking spot, are you going to get rid of your car?
what, do you think we live in a war zone where she can't be left unattended?
She walks outside perfectly fine. When one individual misbehaves it certainly doesn't mean she needs to run inside and cower in the corner. You really are very risk averse... you may want to get out a little... take a risk... go walk on the wild side a little... you know, ride a bicycle without a helmet or something... jeez.


[/quote]
the police know there is a problem with the hundreds of homeless. One more problem doesn't really change much. I watch druggies shoot/snort/smoke and inject jsut about anyhting they can daily in broad daylight... the police know there is a problem.

hope this homeless guy wasn't a war veteran suffering from PTSD. I notice a lot of homeless people are vets.

poor CROS...