(PNN-TV: PNN Panhandler Correspondent re-ports at POOR Magazine's Community Newsroom - May 2012)
(Photo: Ro Seidelman/PNN)
kkkleaning up "The City"
By Terrilyn Woodfin
THIS IS THE ONLY COUNTRY I KNOW WHERE WE USE OUR OWN AND CAST THEM AWAY WHEN WE NO LONGER NEED THEM. IT IS ALSO THE ONLY COUNTRY I KNOW OF THAT TREATS OUTSIDERS BETTER THAN THEIR OWN. I SAY THAT'S BACKWARDS. MY STORY IS ABOUT A MAN WHO WHEN I MET HIM HAD THE WARMEST DEMEANOR THAT I HAD SEEN IN SOME TIME,A SWEET AND GENTLE SOUL YET WEARY AND WORN.
HE IS AFFECTIONATELY KNOWN AS PAPA BEAR AND HE PAN HANDLES TO SURVIVE BECAUSE AMERIKKKA HAS CAST HIM AWAY LIKE SO MANY OTHER MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES FOR THE CONTINUED "FREEDOM" AS THEY AMERIKKKA CALLS IT!
HIS GIVEN NAME IS ABDULLAH WARITH BORN AUGUST 12, 1950 AND IS OF ARAB-AMERICAN DESCENT BORN IN CINCINNATI, OHIO AND RAISED IN CLEVELAND, OHIO. HE TOLD ME THAT HE KNEW MALCOLM X PERSONALLY AND THAT HE ENCOURAGED HIM TO GO TO MECCA TO SEARCH THE TRUE MUSLIM BELIEF,AS WE ALL KNOW THAT HE DID AND RETURNED WITH A DIFFERENT MESSAGE BEFORE HE WAS TAKEN OUT BY HIS OWN FOLLOWERS.
HE HAS SERVED IN TWO BRANCHES OF THE U.S. MILITARY: TWO YEARS IN THE MARINES AND THREE YEARS IN THE ARMY. HE ALSO SERVED FOR 18 MONTHS IN WHAT HE CALLED HELL AND IT MUST HAVE BEEN JUST THAT BECAUSE I'VE HEARD FROM OTHER SURVIVORS OF WAR TESTIFY TO THAT SAME CLAIM....THE VIETNAM WAR! I CAN SAY THAT PARTICULAR WAR BROUGHT BACK SOME OF THE MOST BROKEN SOLDIERS I'VE EVER HEARD OF. THEY WENT IN OKAY AND CAME OUT DIFFERENT. WE MAY NEVER KNOW WHAT ALL HAPPENED THERE SO MANY YEARS AGO BUT YOU CAN REST ASSURE THAT MANY FAMILIES HAVE HAD TO LIVE WITH THE UNWANTED BENEFITS OF IT.
BECAUSE OF PAPA BEAR'S NAME WHICH WAS GIVEN TO HIM BY HIS PARENTS AND OUR CAUTIOUS FEELINGS AND ACTION AFTER 9/11 OUR VERY OWN HOMELAND SECURITY IS CONSTANTLY HARASSING THIS MAN AS BEING A TERRORIST...REALLY? BECAUSE HIS NAME IS ABDULLAH (WHICH I RESEARCHED IT'S MEANING: HIS NAME MEANS SERVANT OF GOD)? IS THAT A REASON JUDGE A PERSON? SHOULD NOT HE BE JUDGED ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS? THE REAL QUESTION IS WHAT DID HE DO TO CAUSE HIM TO BE HARASSED BY THE ONES WHO ARE TO PROTECT AND SERVE US ON A NATIONAL LEVEL? I'LL TELL YOU, NOTHING! THAT'S WHAT HE DID NOTHING! I TAKE THAT BACK HE DID DO SOMETHING, HE SERVED THIS COUNTRY,THAT'S HIS CRIME!
IF THAT ISN'T ENOUGH NOW HE'S GOT THE OWNERS OF A HOTEL HARASSING AND TORMENTING HIM. THEY SAY HE'S A NUISANCE AND HE SCARES THE CUSTOMERS AWAY. SO I PAID THEM A VISIT TO SEE WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS. LET ME FIRST SAY THAT IT'S IN THE FREAKIN TENDERLOIN OF ALL PLACES, ARE YOU SERIOUS? THEY WANNA HASSLE ONE MAN WHO ISN'T BOTHERING ANYBODY WHEN MOST OF THE TL IS RIDDLED WITH DRUG ADDICTS AND THE SUCH TO INCLUDE A HOST OF TRANSIENTS ALL OVER THAT AREA AND YOU GONNA HASSLE ONE?! SECONDLY I WENT IN AND WAS WARMLY WELCOMED, I EVEN ASKED TO VIEW A ROOM AND WAS ALLOWED TOO, IT WAS OKAY BUT WHEN SHE (THE FRONT DESK CLERK)OPENED THE DOOR I ALMOST HAD AN ASTHMA ATTACK, THE DARK, DAMP MILDEWY SMELL THAT MET ME WAS A LITTLE OVERWHELMING, THE VIEW WAS THE "LOVELY" ALLEY THAT PAPA BEAR WAS ATTACKED IN BY THE OWNERS THAT HE SAID HOSED HIM AND ALL HIS WORLDLY POSSESSIONS WITH A POWER HOSE LIKE HE WAS AN ANIMAL OR WORSE...TRASH.
I ASKED WHO THE OWNERS OF THE MONARCH HOTEL WERE WHICH IS LOCATED AT 1015 GEARY STREET,AT THE CORNER OF GEARY AND POLK HERE IN SAN FRANCISCO. THE DESK CLERK ASKED ME WHY I WANTED TO KNOW WHO THE OWNERS WERE AND I TOLD HER THAT IN KNOWING WHO THE OWNERS WERE WOULD HELP ME IN KNOWING OF WHAT QUALITY THE ROOM WOULD BE. SHE THEN INFORMED ME IN A KIND OF NERVOUS SMIRK THAT THEY WERE INDIANS THE ONES FROM INDIA. NOT TO MENTION THE $129.00 PLUS TAX PER NIGHT THAT WOULD BE CHARGED, WHAT A FREAKIN RIP-OFF!
WHERE IS PAPA BEAR TODAY? WHO KNOWS, HE HAS TO MOVE AROUND SO HE'S NOT BADGERED BY THE COPS CONSTANTLY ON HIS HEELS. BUT I TELL YOU WHAT IF YOU SEE HIM BE KIND YOU NEVER KNOW WHO YOU'RE PASSING BY, HUMMM MAYBE A SERVANT OF GOD.