Homeless Hero in the Tenderloin
San Francisco has been an enlightened city for as long as we all can remember, but in the past several years we’ve developed an indifference and at times downright suspicion of homeless people.
In this climate, on a chilly and dreary evening, Donald Turner walked by the Civic Center Residence at the foot of McAllister Street in the heart of the city, on the gritty streets of the Tenderloin. He stopped to smoke a cigarette with me, taking a quick break in the doorway, before hurrying home to his bunk at MSC South. He was tired after working his shift as a volunteer at the Tenderloin AIDS Resource Center.
While trying to unwind and relax, suddenly we heard a thunk sound and then breaking glass. A man was breaking into a car about 10 yards away. Donald could have said, “Gee, look at that!” “Hey, get away from there!” (that would have been a laughable action, considering the surroundings), or even just ignored the incident altogether. What he did was spring into action. He directed me to call the police. While I ran inside and did so, he made sure to keep his eyes on the man breaking into the car, actually venturing closer so that he could read the license plate and copy it down, even as the guy crawled into the car. Even with the new glasses Donald gratefully received from Project Homeless Connect in April, his vision is still not that great, so he stuck his neck out a little further to get more details. He ran back inside to provide the license number for me to pass on to the police dispatch.
Then, he sprang back outside to continue observing and flagged down a police car, urgently waving his arms like a highway flag person directing traffic, pointing to the crime scene. By this time the hapless thief had climbed back out of the car and was trying to hide inside a blue recycle bin that he’d knocked over. Donald made sure the officers saw this and then quietly hurried off to make it over to MSC South, not wanting to miss curfew and spend the night on the sidewalk.
The police had to ask me if I knew him and how to contact him. He wasn’t sticking around for any thank you, or praise. He had to get to bed, so he could start his new job as a security officer the next morning. So, the next time you see a homeless person walking by as you park your car, instead of wondering if he’s going to break into your car and steal your stereo and favorite CDs, wonder instead if you might be able to persuade him to watch over your car for a few minutes, if you offered a pack of smokes, or a dollar for a cup of coffee. Apparently, you couldn’t get a better deal.
Tom