So many things to talk about but we have to start with our experience on Friday night . . .
The two of us walk up to Pit Fire Pizza on the corner of 2nd and Main for dinner. The food isn’t bad, although the service is always less than desirable but that’s another story. Anyhow, we exit the place and decide to take a left on 2nd and walk down to Spring Street. We haven’t walked down there for a while so what the hell, right?
We get to the corner and turn left to see a man with his pants around his ankles, pooping up against a building.
The two of us look at one another and immediately decide we’ll walk one more block to Broadway and hang a left. I think you can understand and agree why we made this decision.
We get to the corner of 2nd and Broadway and this is where the fun begins.
Across the street, maybe 1/4 of a block up from us is a guy walking at a good pace and yelling at people ahead of him. We can’t make out what he’s yelling about but every so often he points at someone and let’s them have it. At one point he decides to cross in the middle of the block and now he’s just ahead of us – still walking with his very dedicated and rigid pace.
We get to the corner of Broadway and 4th and the hand is flashing for us not to cross. Like many ‘disadvantaged’ downtown residents this means nothing and our man walked into the crosswalk against the light and made traffic wait for him to cross. Just as he reaches the opposite sidewalk he stumbles stepping up onto the curb, but this guy is a pro and somehow incorporates his near fall into his stride and doesn’t miss a beat. He then crosses Broadway (now heading to the opposite side of the street from us) and of course is now making all the traffic wanting to turn left wait for him – but no worry because this guy is still walking with a purpose.
He finally crosses the street and walks over to where a garbage can and mailbox are next to one another. Without thinking, contemplating or missing a beat he takes a big plastic bag of garbage out of the trash bin and stuffs it into the mailbox. He did it with such conviction, almost as if that’s where the garbage belonged.
Our light finally turns green and we continue our walk downtown Broadway while our guy once again decides to cross in the middle of the street and ends up back in front of us. We follow him to the next corner before he decides to once again cross Broadway and head down 5th, disappearing from our sights as he points and directs his message to others around him. We considered following him for a few blocks, just to see what else transpires on this man’s stroll through downtown but instead decided to continue down the plethora of bridal shops and strobe lights that make up Broadway.
Never a dull moment in downtown Los Angeles.
“We get to the corner and turn left to see a man with his pants around his ankles, pooping up against a building. ”
I’ve seen Mr. Poop Against the Building (too) many a times. The last time was when he was up against Weenez…I’m sure the patrons inside appreciated the view while they were eating.
On a similar note, anyone else notice an uptick in the number of people peeing against the buildings? Not just the “disadvantaged” either, just regular men walking down the street and they decide to whip it out and mark the side of a building (including my own.)
It’s really disgusting. And I need to make a point to mention that it’s MEN doing this….women, apparently have this amazing ability to hold it in until they reach a bathroom, an ability that seems to elude a lot of men in downtown.
We’ve seen a lot of ‘regular’ people peeing on the street. It happens a lot down here in South Park when people get a block or two away from LA Live and decide they can pee against anything or nothing.
Of course this will never change because it’s not a priority for the city/LAPD/DA’s office. It’s too bad really because all this money/development is coming downtown but no more resources to deal with things.
No wonder last week i did seem to smell alot more urine during my morning commute from Broadway and 8th st to the 7th street metro station.
Ive never liked lemonade
As Karen Walker from Will&Grace said….” milk, milk,lemonade and around the corner fudge is made”
*sending up a prayer that I never see the poop man*
GROOSSSSSS.
I cannot begin to imagine what it takes to become so numb- that you can back your ass up to a building and crap. Can you even consider that???? I would rather crap out my mouth than experience that.
Now- the issue of regular folks peeing in public- I do not know what it is about a man that he can whip it out and pee- something primal I think…My husband can pee at his own bedroom window (while outside!!) and talk to me while I am making the bed- GROSS. I pointed out to him that he was peeing where he slept basically- and he just laughed. I was disgusted!!!! AS far as he was concerned- he was killing 2 birds with 1 stone- peeing and speaking to me. It never occured to him that was our bedroom window- and it probably still doesn’t bother him in the least.
Concerts seem to bring out the peepee-ers in force. I have seen more adults urinate than I care to type about at concerts. Pukers too- they seem to gravitate towrds me for some reason.
I have no idea what I would tell my 6 yr old if we saw a person crapping in broad daylight.
Are there public restrooms in your area? What exactley does the city think people in the area that are living there are doing?
The vast majority of restaurants do not allow non-customers to use the restrooms, I assume because of the homeless downtown. This can make things a little tricky if you’re not homeless/not using the bathroom for illegal activities and just really need to use a bathroom.
There are a handful of public toilets downtown that are giant green little huts that self-clean. However, I can only imagine what takes place in those little areas and it’s not somewhere I would like to relive myself.
Having said that, the public restrooms are few and far between. If you live down here in South Park (near Staples) you are screwed if you’re out and need a bathroom.
Ugh. I was showing friends around Downtown at night, and there was a man on his knees, fly down, piss drunk, urinating on himself. He had the decency to apologize profusely while we were walking past….
I saw a “regular” guy urinating into a ziploc baggy at 6th and Spring.
Actually, things are much better now than they were before in the crazy homeless pooping department. I don’t even want to tell you what I’ve seen before I moved down here.
But I WILL give you some advice: Avoid those wooden sidewalk barricades that are erected in front of under-construction buildings.