Every morning, I walk two blocks down the Main Street Mall to Jack’s Food Store to grab my morning Mountain Dew. And almost every day, there are three or four panhandlers standing in front of Easy Way next door. “Gimme change!” they’ll shout as I pass by.
Well, this morning I made the walk to the store, and what did I see?
Note the second window pane from the left. Here’s a closer look:
You can click the image above for an even closer look. As you can see, the window has been completely smashed in. You’ll also notice that the glass is still there, suggesting that whoever smashed the window was not trying to break in to commit burglary – they just wanted to vandalize the place.
My guess is that one of the panhandlers who constantly loiter outside got pissed off (they’re never in good moods – Easy Way tends to get some of the most surly bums in the city) and vented their frustrations on Easy Way’s window.
Not sure whether to blame Easy Way itself, for not being more aggressive in getting authorizations of agency against these people… or the police, for knowing Main and Jefferson is a problem corner and failing to do anything about it.
People have e-mailed me about applying Broken Windows Theory to panhandling… in Easy Way’s case, looks like it’s more than just a theory.