Given our recent move, we have had a wonderful experience we would like to share with you.
On Tuesday, I was taking the trash can back in from the street. I noticed a small hole in the wall, as in the picture, and some stuff strewn about in the hole. I noticed a Social Security Card on the ground, so I moved closer to investigate. I also found a birth certificate, from a different person, and a whole bunch of papers talking about drug rehab. So, I thought that curious. I called up the police, thinking it was a stash for some ID thief.
An officer came, and saw the names, and said he knew all the people whose stuff was involved—they were all local vagrants well known to the police. He said that often when the homeless are going away, or know they are going to go to jail for a while, they will give their ID to someone else, and then get it back after they get out. Interesting. So, apparently, this was someone’s stash, but he didn’t get a chance to pass it off before getting picked up for something (probably something like public urination or loitering). So, that is fun. We have a hole where homeless people hang out near our home.
So, this predicament raises several important questions, which I will list, and then discuss. If you have comments on any of them, let me know.
1. What should my relationship be with the residents of the hole? When they get back, should I bring them banana bread and welcome them to the neighborhood?
2. I think I probably would feel better if they were not around here too much, so, how can I keep them from coming back to the hole. Would it be bad to make the hole an inhospitable place to spend the night, by doing something like throwing some fish or rotten eggs in there? Since I would also have to smell those things, should I alternatively use “something spikey” to put in there, as has been suggested by a colleague of mine?
3. Would it be wrong to take all the junk that is in there and throw it away? The stuff does belong to someone, but they do not have a legal right to keep it there, and it is on property which I am renting. Do I have some moral obligation to not damage goods stored unlawfully on property which I have a legal right to control?
4. I asked the police officer if something could be done to seal the hole off, and he said that since there was a meter for gas in there, nothing could be done. However, would it be wrong for me to press the owners of the building the hole is attached to, the City Center Motel, to put a lockable door on it? Could I find legal ground to file suit to have something like a lockable door installed?
5. Would it be wrong if I got some deal with the local Pawn Shops, Payday loan stores, and Bail Bond Lenders to start advertising in the hole? At least then I could extract economic rents from the hole situation, and thus mitigate the inherent risk involved in the situation.
6. I think merely calling this little hideaway “the hole” is not terribly enduring, so, I would appreciate suggestions of what to call the place. Harry’s Hole, HHHH (the Homeless Hole by Hoopes’ Home), or, alternatively, H^4, the Drifters Dungeon, are a couple things we have thought up, but, seeing as neither Stacey or I are terribly creative, we cant think of something great. Let us know what we should call it.
Anyways, these are the things that are on my mind. In the end, it really is something to worry about, because while unsavory characters can certainly come around anywhere (my truck was broken into twice at Villa Rose, and someone else had their car stolen from the parking lot), it certainly is something to consider that it seems like we have a more permanent of residence for transients. But, in the end, it will all work out.
We have several neighbors with big dogs, we have a motion detecting light, and we have a several apartments in front of us that are filled with several single UVSC male students who are coming and going at all hours of the night. Those things, combined with out wit and marksmanships, should keep us safe. In addition, the officer said that everyone once in a while, because of our downtown location, we might have some people hang around, but that it is usually not a problem, we just need to call them up and let them know to come deal with the problem. So, that is that.
Sep 10, 2007
The Transient
So, we used to live in the ghettos of south Provo. But, as you well know, we recently moved. We now live not in the ghettos of Provo, but rather in downtown Provo, as evidenced by the City Center Motel being on our same block. Given our recent move, we have had a wonderful experience we would like to share with you.
On Tuesday, I was taking the trash can back in from the street. I noticed a small hole in the wall, as in the picture, and some stuff strewn about in the hole. I noticed a Social Security Card on the ground, so I moved closer to investigate. I also found a birth certificate, from a different person, and a whole bunch of papers talking about drug rehab. So, I thought that curious. I called up the police, thinking it was a stash for some ID thief.
An officer came, and saw the names, and said he knew all the people whose stuff was involved—they were all local vagrants well known to the police. He said that often when the homeless are going away, or know they are going to go to jail for a while, they will give their ID to someone else, and then get it back after they get out. Interesting. So, apparently, this was someone’s stash, but he didn’t get a chance to pass it off before getting picked up for something (probably something like public urination or loitering). So, that is fun. We have a hole where homeless people hang out near our home.
So, this predicament raises several important questions, which I will list, and then discuss. If you have comments on any of them, let me know.
1. What should my relationship be with the residents of the hole? When they get back, should I bring them banana bread and welcome them to the neighborhood?
2. I think I probably would feel better if they were not around here too much, so, how can I keep them from coming back to the hole. Would it be bad to make the hole an inhospitable place to spend the night, by doing something like throwing some fish or rotten eggs in there? Since I would also have to smell those things, should I alternatively use “something spikey” to put in there, as has been suggested by a colleague of mine?
3. Would it be wrong to take all the junk that is in there and throw it away? The stuff does belong to someone, but they do not have a legal right to keep it there, and it is on property which I am renting. Do I have some moral obligation to not damage goods stored unlawfully on property which I have a legal right to control?
4. I asked the police officer if something could be done to seal the hole off, and he said that since there was a meter for gas in there, nothing could be done. However, would it be wrong for me to press the owners of the building the hole is attached to, the City Center Motel, to put a lockable door on it? Could I find legal ground to file suit to have something like a lockable door installed?
5. Would it be wrong if I got some deal with the local Pawn Shops, Payday loan stores, and Bail Bond Lenders to start advertising in the hole? At least then I could extract economic rents from the hole situation, and thus mitigate the inherent risk involved in the situation.
6. I think merely calling this little hideaway “the hole” is not terribly enduring, so, I would appreciate suggestions of what to call the place. Harry’s Hole, HHHH (the Homeless Hole by Hoopes’ Home), or, alternatively, H^4, the Drifters Dungeon, are a couple things we have thought up, but, seeing as neither Stacey or I are terribly creative, we cant think of something great. Let us know what we should call it.
Anyways, these are the things that are on my mind. In the end, it really is something to worry about, because while unsavory characters can certainly come around anywhere (my truck was broken into twice at Villa Rose, and someone else had their car stolen from the parking lot), it certainly is something to consider that it seems like we have a more permanent of residence for transients. But, in the end, it will all work out.
We have several neighbors with big dogs, we have a motion detecting light, and we have a several apartments in front of us that are filled with several single UVSC male students who are coming and going at all hours of the night. Those things, combined with out wit and marksmanships, should keep us safe. In addition, the officer said that everyone once in a while, because of our downtown location, we might have some people hang around, but that it is usually not a problem, we just need to call them up and let them know to come deal with the problem. So, that is that.
Given our recent move, we have had a wonderful experience we would like to share with you.
On Tuesday, I was taking the trash can back in from the street. I noticed a small hole in the wall, as in the picture, and some stuff strewn about in the hole. I noticed a Social Security Card on the ground, so I moved closer to investigate. I also found a birth certificate, from a different person, and a whole bunch of papers talking about drug rehab. So, I thought that curious. I called up the police, thinking it was a stash for some ID thief.
An officer came, and saw the names, and said he knew all the people whose stuff was involved—they were all local vagrants well known to the police. He said that often when the homeless are going away, or know they are going to go to jail for a while, they will give their ID to someone else, and then get it back after they get out. Interesting. So, apparently, this was someone’s stash, but he didn’t get a chance to pass it off before getting picked up for something (probably something like public urination or loitering). So, that is fun. We have a hole where homeless people hang out near our home.
So, this predicament raises several important questions, which I will list, and then discuss. If you have comments on any of them, let me know.
1. What should my relationship be with the residents of the hole? When they get back, should I bring them banana bread and welcome them to the neighborhood?
2. I think I probably would feel better if they were not around here too much, so, how can I keep them from coming back to the hole. Would it be bad to make the hole an inhospitable place to spend the night, by doing something like throwing some fish or rotten eggs in there? Since I would also have to smell those things, should I alternatively use “something spikey” to put in there, as has been suggested by a colleague of mine?
3. Would it be wrong to take all the junk that is in there and throw it away? The stuff does belong to someone, but they do not have a legal right to keep it there, and it is on property which I am renting. Do I have some moral obligation to not damage goods stored unlawfully on property which I have a legal right to control?
4. I asked the police officer if something could be done to seal the hole off, and he said that since there was a meter for gas in there, nothing could be done. However, would it be wrong for me to press the owners of the building the hole is attached to, the City Center Motel, to put a lockable door on it? Could I find legal ground to file suit to have something like a lockable door installed?
5. Would it be wrong if I got some deal with the local Pawn Shops, Payday loan stores, and Bail Bond Lenders to start advertising in the hole? At least then I could extract economic rents from the hole situation, and thus mitigate the inherent risk involved in the situation.
6. I think merely calling this little hideaway “the hole” is not terribly enduring, so, I would appreciate suggestions of what to call the place. Harry’s Hole, HHHH (the Homeless Hole by Hoopes’ Home), or, alternatively, H^4, the Drifters Dungeon, are a couple things we have thought up, but, seeing as neither Stacey or I are terribly creative, we cant think of something great. Let us know what we should call it.
Anyways, these are the things that are on my mind. In the end, it really is something to worry about, because while unsavory characters can certainly come around anywhere (my truck was broken into twice at Villa Rose, and someone else had their car stolen from the parking lot), it certainly is something to consider that it seems like we have a more permanent of residence for transients. But, in the end, it will all work out.
We have several neighbors with big dogs, we have a motion detecting light, and we have a several apartments in front of us that are filled with several single UVSC male students who are coming and going at all hours of the night. Those things, combined with out wit and marksmanships, should keep us safe. In addition, the officer said that everyone once in a while, because of our downtown location, we might have some people hang around, but that it is usually not a problem, we just need to call them up and let them know to come deal with the problem. So, that is that.
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6 comments:
I'll go ahead and throw in a suggestion of the "Criminal's Cubby" and the "Hooligan's Hideout" but Aaron is partial to "The Super Freakin' Awesome Hole". Go figure.
I like the Hooligan's Hideout. Very nice ring to it.
Wow, I think I would be scared! I don't know though... as long as they are just sleeping there, and not doing anything dangerous...? Maybe you should post flyers for a homeless shelter and/or other public assistance programs. You could have your own advertising space for recommended vaccination schedules and free health fairs and other very worthwhile and possibly helpful information.
I must remind everyone, no one has yet to stay in the Hooligan's Hideaway, so as of yet, it has not been any problem.
Yeah, Jeff is sure to check every time we are driving by the hole to see if anyone is in there. I sometimes peek, too, but not as excitedly he does.
Ummm...Have you considered moving again? I recognize that you just had a baby TODAY, but maybe more reason to pick up and leave! Get out while the getting is good.
If you decide to stay, definately bring banana bread. And make sure to leave a little monetary token every time you walk by. And probably get a big dog. Better safe than sorry.
Megan
Here are some suggestions for names:
**shady shanty
cautious cavern
homeless haunt (or hole)
**vagrant villa (or venue)
**vagabond venue (or villa)
derelict dwelling (or domicile)
I am in your UVSC class and decided to check out your blog but didn't leave my name as that would make me feel akward in class...however I did feel you needed a better name for your transient tunnel and put stars by my top 3 picks. Thanks for all the work you do in class and your blog is great!
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