A Neighborhood of Grunge

Went to use up our Groupon at Palace Steak House last night. Has anyone ever been in that dump? We knew when we saw the mop and the bucket in the dining room and smelled the garbage. Out we went.

Which gave us a chance to go back to Old Jersualem where we hadn't been in awhile. It was better than ever. Still have half the shawarma left over for lunch.

But the neighborhood -- it seems like the whole city is gentrifying except for Mission Street, especially up near all the construction near Cesar Chavez.

Carl Nolte's article in this morning's Birdcage Wrap was right on the money: we live in a schizoid city that needs therapy. So much wealth, so many young jillionaires, willing to live right next door to miserable homeless squalor. When did we take on the Latin America model? When did we decide it's OK to get ours and pretend the other side doesn't exist?

We used to be a working class city. OK, that is no longer true. So what are we, then?

Our government seems powerless to do anything about it. Every homeless person has an advocate living behind a gate in Marin County. We can't force them to receive the treatment that is available, so they end up defecating in BART elevators and selling dope on the sidewalk, while we look on.

Plottie lived in Manhattan in the '70s. That was the model there then. But it isn't anymore.

Yes, The Great Plotnik understands we are a blue state. We are supposed to be empathetic to the plight of the needy. The question is: when does needy become just stupid? We are not talking about moms with little kids. We are referring to chronic alcoholism, drug abuse and mental illness. How can total neglect benefit anyone at all in the equation? Red, blue, who cares? How about all the rest of us?