SFist: Free Bidet for the Homeless

ockycastro

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:38:03 -0800

There is no cultural component. I'm Latino, and it is rude in Latin countries too, even in the rural ranchos, you at least do it out of sight, not in plain view of people. These Latina moms are just rude, dirty, and disrespectful. My mom would've smacked the crap out of me if I had pee'd on a sidewalk. I agree with you however that more public bathrooms in public services (transit, police, etc.) buildings should be open. Maybe when some poor, homeless soul stinks up City Hall's bathrooms will our elected officials do something about the problem.

delicatefleur

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:15:10 -0800

I think there are two problems: there IS a shortage of public accommodations and there is ALSO a culture that is permissive of urinating and defecating in the streets. Finding public restrooms in the Mission is a challenge for me, a cute, well-dressed white woman who is generally welcomed with open arms by neighborhood merchants. I can only imagine how hard it is for the homeless, most of whom are distinctly non-cute. I would LOVE to see some sort of tax incentive for businesses to open their bathrooms to the public, as well as more government buildings having public restrooms. Every police station should have a public bathroom, and they need to re-open the BART bathrooms, too. I grant you that some people in this city are just going to take a crap wherever they want to and there's nothing that can change that. But I also think there may be a cultural component here: several times I have seen Latina women pull down their small children's pants so they could pee on the sidewalk (and once I saw this happen in the entryway leading into Community Thrift). These were not cracked-out homeless women, they were ordinary moms. So I think there are at least some people whose behavior can be changed, especially if some alternative to the sidewalk is given!

appetite

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:20:55 -0800

You think of 1 public bathroom (in the financial district) and 1 anecdote about someone peeing near a public bathroom, and you can conclude there's no shortage of adequate facilities in the city. I never see feces in the financial district. I do see feces around 6th & Mission, but I couldn't tell you where a bathroom is. And I don't expect people to walk a god damn mile to take a shit. And I don't expect local businesses, who get their throats cut in SF taxes and permits and regulations, to have to open up their bathrooms to non-customers. If SF is going to tolerate it's pathetically high homeless population, then it has the moral responsibility to provide adequate facilities, and a reasonable means of locating those facilities. What's funny is that you're saying "give me a break" or "spare me" when the fact of the matter is that you're the ones whining about it. How about you stop whining on a blog and do something? For some reason, you think that homeless, destitute, sometimes mentally disabled people are going to walk a mile to go to the bathroom for your convenience, because you want them to, really badly, and you made that clear on SFist.com. Fucking losers. I'll take shit on the sidewalk any day over you snarky assheads.

brokenlogin

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:37:59 -0800

QotD: "Nearly 40 percent of the world's population lacks access to toilets, and the dignity and safety that they provide," said Ann M. Veneman, UNICEF executive director.

bluecanary

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:57:22 -0800

@appetite: I'm sorry, this is utter bullshit. I've seen dudes in my park peeing and crapping RIGHT NEXT TO A PUBLIC RESTROOM. And don't say it isn't clean, because regular people were going in and out of there. "they have no place else." A woman recently pulled down her pants in front of Cafe Divine and peed right there in full view of diners. No place else?? Spare me.

manys

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:05:00 -0800

Yeah, like Daly City.

Joel

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:25:03 -0800

No, they shit on the sidewalk because THEY HAVE NO PLACE ELSE TO SHIT. Give us a break. Even with sparse public toilets, there are plenty of places one can shit other than in the middle of the fucking sidewalk.

KatyG

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:34:38 -0800

Just off the top of my head, there are open public bathrooms in Embarcadero 4, second floor.

DJTennessee

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:32:29 -0800

Perhaps this justifies an ongoing daily feature entitled "Day Around The Bidet". BAM!!!!

appetite

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:28:33 -0800

No, they shit on the sidewalk because THEY HAVE NO PLACE ELSE TO SHIT. This, one of the wealthiest cities in the wealthiest country in the world, has a broke government and can't afford public bathrooms.

RonAlbertson

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:51:16 -0800

Generic - The gay Mormon gets the boot.

Generic

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:08:43 -0800

There's a genius to this. What if local residents started posting semi-permanent "Please Don't Shit on Our Sidewalk" placards? People would, of course, still shit -- probably even more so near the signs. But wouldn't a critical mass of this phenomenon have a pretty strong impact on public opinion? Someone should start a website. I totally would, but I have to catch up on P.Runway.

travin

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:54:32 -0800

Or perhaps that's just where the urge struck them.

Joel

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:20:26 -0800

Noble, I guess, but I'd assume the homeless don't shit on sidewalks or stoops or whatever because they're discourteous or didn't read Miss Manners; they do it because they are batshit crazy due to mental illness or substance abuse or both

icbalaam

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:09:57 -0800

Are those wires there to electrocute the homeless who fall for this water trickery?