HEARD ON THE STREET - Individual Comments by the Homeless
(Actually, this section is "regional" in its content somewhat, but we have left it anyway, in the interests of both the readers of this website content and of the homeless persons quoted.)

"Why is it that a large number of the people (clients) at the Winter Shelter are people that I have never seen before on the streets here in San Mateo County? I've been on the street for a long, long time, from one end of the county to the other, and these strangers that show up at the Winter Shelter on the day that it opens for business, are people that I have never seen before. Where Do they come from - San Jose, San Francisco? It sure ain't San Mateo County, 'cause I know all the homeless persons here. And I'm bitchin' 'cause they're taking my resources here in this county. What can be done about it? I don't know, but I hope someone can. Now don't get me wrong. I'd be all for everyone that is homeless getting a home, but doesn't a home mean WHERE ONE LIVES, not in someone else's back yard. Now I also don't mean that I'm against anyone racially or otherwise, but a certain territory only has so much space for so many people. Yes, I'm for freedom, independence, individuality, AND having enough space to move around in and whatever else I need to do. So, if you live somewhere or move around somewhere, because you have "adopted" that place as your home area...HEY, I know! People "bond" to a "place", because of the people there, the resources, or for whatever reason. Now I don't mind people travellin' or visiting my area, for whatever reason, but a person always needs a "place" to call "home", and if one is homeless, it should be the facilities and resources of their "home" area that is being "used" to correct that proplem. OKAY, on the other hand, if a person don't even have a "home area"... well, that's the fault then of the "system", and we all need to do what we can to "fix" that problem."
Paraphrase Quoted from "Tim".

"I don't get it! If I am homeless, how the hell can I afford to smoke cigarettes, drink beer and alcohol, buy drugs or any of that other stuff that I am supposed to be addicted to as a homeless person. Hey man, all that stuff is for rich people - people that can afford such stuff. I'm on the street, tryin' to find shelter, a place to sleep/rest, food and something to do with my life. I sure as hell can't afford such crap, as I see some homeless do, and as all homeless are supposed to do. Maybe I just can't see it. I don't get it!"
Paraphrase Quoted from "Jules"

"Like I really don't dig that some people just gotta have attitudes, about one thing or another. In the old days (all right, in MY old days), "cool" ruled, and somebody dat had an attitude got busted, either by the Man or by the homeboys, who likewise don't dig an attitude. I guess attitudes are just a "thing" nowdays. But then, most of MY homeless friends are just cool - no attitudes, man. We jus' give respect and 'ceptance where it is due - to anybody and everybody, dat acts like a human being. After all, didn't our recent Prophet say, "Can't we all just get along?" (Rodney King) Well, I'm glad I don't stay at no shelter, man, 'cus from what I hear, those shelter people all got attitudes (well, maybe not all). I hear some homeless talk about who got busted from (the Winter Shelter) last night or the other day, for stealin', or fightin', or jus' being an asshole. Of course, none o' my real friends stay at shelters. We wouldn't be caught dead at any o' dos places. Dey is jus' too weird. But then, on the other hand, most all my friends have dere own free e-mail addresses on the internet, while most o' dose shelter types dun even kno what the internet is. Well, I guess it's true. There is diffent types of people. I may be homeless, but ah'm jus glad ah'm not one o' dem shelter dudes. I am proud to be a free, independent, individual, who is at least tryin' to do somethin' wit my life."
Paraphrase Quoted from "Jerry"

"I heard it sed before, "Get real, Man!" Too many dudes as is homeless don't have a clue what real is. (Of course, I guess many others in this world don't either, or dis world wouldn't be as bad as it is!) Anyway, it still applies - that old saying, "Get Real, Man!"
Paraphrase Quoted from "Mike, the Man"

"I don't dig how some (homeless) guys can just be the prostitutes that they are, taking money for what they do. Like Saturday mornings, when that City Council lady (Claire Mack) gets all her slave-labor troops out there on the city streets, cleaning things up for minimum-wage prostitute's wages. And that's what it is! Anybody that takes money for doing something good or for helping somebody, is being a prostitute, pure and simple. Yeah man, and that includes all those folks who "go to a job" because they're getting paid to do so. It's just prostitution, that's all!
Paraphrase Quoted from "Jim Bob"

"I guess she'll be out there, Saturday morning, riding her broomstick. She really enjoys riding that 'stick, but she acts like she don't." (referring to Councilwoman Claire Mack's Saturday morning "street cleanup brigades", of the homeless)
Paraphrase Quoted from "George"

"Yes, the homeless do have dreams - dreams of what might have been, dreams of what can be, and dreams of what may yet, and could, be. I know that I do.
As to the past, would I have done anything different, now that I have had time to reflect upon it all? I guess not, for it was all a learning experience, something that was-to-be and was necessary, even with all its ups and downs.
Yes, I've been on the "top", and I've been on the "bottom" - several times, in fact. The "tops"...well, here they are briefly.
Ham radio - growing up as a kid, and into my '20's - talking around the world, and even pole-to-pole (at the same time!), and with celebrities, famous people, places and events, such as: the President of Liberia; Franz Josef Land (in the Siberian Arctic); the U.S.S. Thresher nuclear submarine (before it was lost-at-sea under the Arctic Ice Cap); Capt. Kurt Karlsen, of the Flying Enterprise 2 (after the Flying Enterprise 1 sank in the Atlantic, in the '50's); Arthur Godfrey, the "old redhead", and Radio/TV host; Senator Barry Goldwater, when he was running as the Republican nominee for President; and much more!
And then my first "profession", telecommunications, for over 30 years: Clark Field, in the '50's (now buried under the Mt. Pinatubo volcano), and introducing Elvis Presley's "Blue Suede Shoes" to the Philippines, as a DJ on the Armed Forces Radio Far East Network, and the start of my years with M.A.R.S. (which culminated in my Acting Directorship of the S. Cal. Region); then on to "Eddie's Airplane Patch" (Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.) and my years working for NASA, Chuck Yeager, the X-15, and the Saturn/Apollo moon-landing projects; followed by my last two years of top-secret military service for the "SS" (the USAF Security Service), making sure that the President's "little football" briefcase (nuclear command/control communications system, to the missile launchers and bombers), did "work", should he have ever needed to "press the button".
Then it was on to my civilian career in telecommunications, helping to "create" the early telecom systems around the world (first "earth stations" for: Bejing; Bangaladesh; etc.), as well as across the U.S. (including the first SPRINT long-distance telephone system, Southern Pacific SPRINT, now USSprint); and finally executive responsibility for world-wide telecom manufacturing operations.
Then it was on to almost 10 years in the financial fields: Real Estate; Venture Capital; Sale/Leaseback financing; International Financier; and much more, making over $735,000 a year, but ending in both personal and professional bankruptcy. Oh yes, a few other fields/endeavors along the way: male fashion model, walking the runways, at top sportswear "shows", etc.; operating an exclusive limo service, for celebs, etc.; following the "classic car" concours de'elegance "shows", with my 23 "classic" vehicles; and a few more "good life" endeavors and "indulgences", that I can't quite remember, right off.
Yes, it was a "good life"! And along the way, I pursued my academic "career", as well, studying at a number of universities and graduate institutes, both here in the U.S. and abroad, culminating in my Ordination (from the OA/OWB), with the two graduate degrees that really mean the most to me, in Physics and Theology - D.Sc.(Quantum Physics), and D.Th.(In Esse - the Theology of Reality). And it was, again, a "most interesting life", especially my 5 year sojourn directly with the OA/OWB and teaching, as a Visiting Scholar/Professor, at the FIWD (Freedom, Independence, and World Democracy) Institute.
And my years of Research, into the Quantum Physics of Communications - BANL, Below Ambient Noise Level communications, and Holothetic (computer-to-human-mind) communications, as well as the Quantum Physics of Consciousness, Life and Reality (which is just about everything else!) And my last 7 years of writing about it all, as a Science Writer - actually, not MY life, but Life in general, as explained by Quantum Physics, and as explained TO 5 year old kids (and up), so that a reader (of my book) can "know" who and what one "is" and thusly become the human of the species that one was born to "be".
Yes, that was the "tops", until things "changed" in my life, not too long ago. Oh, I'm still okay, and I am still enjoying "life", and living it to the "fullest", but since I am now homeless (once again, having been so previously, following my bankruptcy), the "fullest" in my life is now a bit constrained, as to what resources are available, what relationships I can engage in, and what I can do. So my "dreams", of what can be, in the present, are limited to the "realities" that I now experience (a form of "living-in-the-moment"). However, my "dreams" of what "could be", are full and alive, with promise and pendancy, awaiting their fruitition.
And what are those "dreams", awaiting fruitition? Well, first of all, a "place", to again call "home". And then, just like anyone else, they include relationship - another, hopefully, having survived numerous ones already, including 2 wives and 4 step-children. One, of course, of commitment, devotion and purpose, with a female who likewise cherishes those traditional values. This, of course, is for the "next 30 years (or more)", having now passed the "over 30" mark myself.
And those "dreams" do also include my profession, currently as a Writer about Quantum Physics, Consciousness, Life and Reality. Because, when it all comes down to it, that is ALL I can now do...help other people, to find their "way", their lives, their "realities", and themselves, by writing about what I now know. And since I can NOT "help" myself (not having any means to do so, at present), let me yet hope that there ARE people in the world who DO yet cherish the "Golden Rule" - "Do Unto Others, As You Would Have Them Do Unto You!" Such are my dreams."
Quoted from Nelson
See the HOMELESS RESUMES page, listed below, for this person's resume.

Happy New Year, 1998! Another year. Time marches on. Just imagine, it is so remarkable - Time, that is. In the space of so many millenia, centuries, decades, years, the world went from flat (in ancient times), to round (in modern times), to crooked (today, as to politicians, business, ethics, etc.)! And education - Make sure you get that Diploma, Certificate, Degree, etc. Remember, education is everything......except common sense, that is!
Quoted from "Anonymous"

"Just a suggestion, which follows: I find that a most convenient place for a homeless person such as myself to sleep at night is in "black & whites" (or whatever other color they may be!) - in other words, off-duty patrol cars. I've usually found them parked and unlocked, in police department or sheriff's department storage lots. It doesn't matter whether it is County Sheriff, Hillsborough PD, San Mateo PD, Redwood PD, Burlingame PD or any other PD or such agency on the Peninsula. There are always a good number of off-duty patrol cars available, for "bedrooms". So why don't the authorities that be officially grant homeless persons the right to sleep in such off-duty cars? I don't know! It would sure save some agencies and the state and the Winter Shelter some money, providing all those additional "bedrooms". Just one word of advice though: Don't sleep in off-duty K-9 (dog) cars, unless you don't mind fleas!"
Quoted from Nelson

Well, I'd say that I don't believe it, but I've seen it with my own eyes. What am I talking about? HOMELESS PAGES on the InterNet, which are "con" jobs, on the public! YES, and how do you tell? Easy, they are asking for MONEY - "contributions" (to their "good works", or such), or, in some other way, trying to get the viewer to "send money". Well, as we all know, there are all kinds of scam artists out there, when it comes to money, but I sure hate to see the poor, homeless person misrepresented and misled, by such bunko artists who are interested ONLY in money, and NOT in doing good deeds for the homeless. It is a shame!
Quoted from Nelson

"There are no free showers available in San Mateo County for a homeless person. I haven't had a shower since Sept. '97 (six months ago), when the only free public shower in San Mateo County, at Coyote Point beach, closed for the winter season. And, yeah, one could take a shower at the Winter Shelter, I guess, but with all the "weirdos" that live there, forget it - I ain't goin' nowhere near that place!
Paraphrase Quoted from "Big Bill"