Further Ranting

Rant #3: The Homeless

There were 4 homeless drug addicts in my apartment complex parking lot today asking for change. After spending the past 7 years living and working with the homeless, drug addiced, mentally ill masses I can spot them a mile away. And to their credit they can probably sense my ambivilance so they give me a wide berth. So to avoid me and the dog (because Oreo can also spot our former clientele from a distance but his is most likely based on smell) they went up to a little old lady who had taken refuge in her car near the mailboxes. They were en masse, knocking on her car window and asking for change. I made a bee line toward them and wore my stern "get out of here" face. They beat a hasty retreat (in my 7 years working with them I was trained extensively in "crisis prevention" but I found my facial expressions work much better).  My point is that I moved down here hoping to be done with the homeless.  After my previous job I hoped to never deal with them again in any manner. Why, then, are they creeping into my quiet suburban/edge of oblivion apartment community?  While we were in California, Kevin and Hugh flushed the woods near the apartment (Kevin having even more years of experience with the population) but, as we all know, if you don't continue with the maintenance they quickly reinfest.  I knew they were there but they weren't venturing into my space and weren't bothering anyone so I really didn't care.
I am not pleased with this new development.  One of the saving graces of living here was not being surrounded by degenerates, open air drug dealing, spent hypodermic needles littering the grass or constant bombardment by requests for spare change.  I had enough of that in Seattle.
These people are not products of the current economy.  They are people who have mental ilness or drug addiction (generally a combination of both) who believe that they should reap the benefits of a politically correct society that wants to cater to them.  In my experience they are not satisfied with handouts and are always demanding MORE.  And they keep getting MORE.  And the MORE they get, the MORE they want.  It needs to stop.  I do not like this turn of events.  I will keep saying "NO" to spare change and will make a pest of myself to the city when I find drug paraphenalia on the path in the park.  
The upside of this infestation will no doubt be my exit from Olympia.  I'm still suffering from the PTSD brought on by my last job (I hope to never again find dead bodies, watch anyone OD or have my building set on fire by a carelessly discarded crack pipe) and I know Paul won't live in a community surrounded by the homeless (since he's still in social services and grows ever more disgusted by their sense of entitlement).  This may just be the proverbial straw on the camel's back that convinces him we should move sooner rather than later!!