Month: July 2007

The following e-mail was sent to me from an out-of-town guest. He most recently visited Memphis the weekend of June 30, when they had the fireworks Downtown. I asked and received his permission to publish it.

Paul,

I enjoy your blog. I live in Huntsville and have visited Memphis twice in
the past year or so. The last time was during the end of June this year.

The thing that struck me about this last visit was the incredible number of
panhandlers. I know you’ve written quite a bit about it and have taken
photos. Good job.

As a tourist, I was very turned off by the incessant begging. I think Main
and Madison was the worst area. We were trying to get on the trolley and no
less than three separate panhandlers hit us at the same stop. Went back
there the next day and got hit up again.

The city is going to lose its tourists if they don’t do something about it.

Keep up the good work.

Got some more for ya. I’m going to keep going with this for a while.

This is the first thing I saw when I walked out the door yesterday afternoon. Normally I wouldn’t post such a blurry image, but in this case it’s probably better that it is blurry – it’s one of the area’s career panhandlers, urinating on the side of my apartment building. What a lovely thing for Downtown’s tourists to see as they walk down Main Street.

Oh well, it could be worse, I’ve never seen one doing “number two” in the alley.

If I rubbed a magic lamp and a genie appeared and told me I could make one – but ONLY one – panhandler disappear from Memphis, the woman pictured above would be my choice, without a shadow of a doubt. This woman first approached me about 10 years ago in the parking lot of Piggly Wiggly in Midtown. She showed me papers from a mental hospital and told me she needed money for cab fare to Millington. When I told her sorry, but I couldn’t help, she started screaming and cussing at me, loud enough to be heard a block away. She followed me all the way to my car, yelling.

Since then I’ve seen her all over Downtown and Midtown. She’s usually accompanied by a black male, 6’4″, thin, about 40. He won’t walk right next to her, but about 20 feet behind, or across the street. He lets her do all the begging, as far as I can tell. Sometimes she’ll walk right past you, but when she wants money she’s aggressive. I once saw her coming on Second and crossed the street to avoid her – and she crossed too. So I crossed back – and so did she. So I crossed a third time, and she did too and by this time she was within 10 feet of me – but I ducked into the back door of McGuinness and she couldn’t follow me. So she stood there in the middle of the street, cussing me out.

I’ll try to get a better picture of her, and the guy too. She’s short, only about 5 feet tall. This is definitely one to watch out for.

I stood and watched this guy begging passersby for about 5 minutes at the Madison/Main trolley stop and in front of Walgreens. I pretended to be a tourist taking pictures of the entire Main Street Mall, so he wouldn’t figure out I was really taking pictures of him. At one point he crossed the street, I pointed the camera at a nearby trolley. As he got right next to me he stopped and looked at the camera, and made the following attempt to start a conversation: “What are you taking, pictures?”

I turned to him, looked him right in the eye and said, “HEY, GREAT OBSERVATION, GENIUS!!!” and he darted off. Maybe he was trying to make me believe he was mentally challenged by asking the stupidest possible question. But, Downtown already has a bum who does the “retarded” gimmick (and pics of him will be coming soon, don’t worry) so that one’s taken. I guess if I hadn’t had the camera he would’ve asked, “Hey, what’s that you’re wearing, a shirt?”

Since then I’ve seen him all over the place – Main, Second, Peabody Place – begging for money. He’ll walk up to one person right after the next. He definitely understands that panhandling is a numbers game.

Here’s another one doing the popular “flower man” gimmick, where he tries to sell you a flower. You can tell he picked this at a public park, because no flower shop in town would be caught dead selling such a pathetic flower. Needless to say he doesn’t have a vendor’s permit to be selling on public streets.

… And that’s all the pics for now. Setup of the online panhandling forum is going well – I’ve got a select group of about 15 people on there now, to get some discussion going before I roll it out to the public. Look for an announcement on Monday.

Once again, thanks to all of you who have e-mailed me this week, in response to my panhandling posts. Many of you expressed that you are as fed up as I am, and many of you had some good ideas, some creative possible solutions.

Well, next week we’re going to have a place where we can all work together on this. My friend Mike King and I are in the process of setting up an online forum where the community can discuss the issue. Some of the things we hope to see posted there are

• Ideas for new laws to restrict panhandling – for example, some cities have enacted laws making panhandling illegal within 20 feet of outdoor or patio restaurant seating;
• Ideas for ways the city can better enforce the laws it already has
• Information on career and aggressive panhandlers who are known to cause problems Downtown. If we all share info, we may be able to learn some of these people’s real names, and find out if they have outstanding warrants that could get them off the streets.
• Information on where the real problem hotspots are in the area
• Ways to politicize the issue, and force the mayoral and City Council candidates to take a position on panhandling

The political candidates, by the way, will be invited to join the forum and participate. So will the upper brass of the downtown police precinct – Mike King and I already have a relationship with them, from when we formed Residents for a Safer Downtown Memphis last year and asked for their help with Downtown crime.

The forum should be ready early next week. We’re in the process of setting it up right now. We’re also discussing some rules to put in place to keep the quality of discussion high. If you sent me an e-mail in the past week about panhandling, you’ll be sent an invitation to join the forum when it’s ready – otherwise, just stay tuned to this blog, and I’ll be posting the info here.

Turns it WAS Snozberry that played the Peabody last night, not the Plaintiffs. I issued a correction yesterday because the Peabody’s website said the Plaintiffs were playing. Apologies for the misinformation.

If you’re looking for a job, next Thursday July 26 may be your lucky day. The Memphis Flyer will hold a Career Carnival at the Gibson Guitar Showcase from 10 to 4 PM. Some of the companies who will be there recruiting include FedEx, Aflac, Technicolor, Clear Channel, and the City of Memphis itself. Hey, you can work for Willie! Free parking will be available. See flyer below for more info – click the image to see it in full size.

The Plaintiffs are playing the Peabody rooftop tonight, not Snozberry as I earlier reported. Thanks Amy for catching that.

I want to thank all my readers who sent e-mails about the panhandling issue… this is clearly a hot topic Downtown. I also want to apologize to those to whom I did not respond – I got assigned a big web development project due July 31, and may have more work coming my way, so it looks like I’m going to be swamped the rest of the month.

The good news is, I think enough people at all levels – residents, community organizations, business owners – are getting fed up with panhandling to the degree that a tipping point is about to be reached. Once there I think we’ll see major changes which will go a long way to clean up the problem.

I’m having lunch with the Center City Commission’s new security coordinator on Monday. He wants to pick my brain about the kinds of things I’ve seen down here. I’ve had discussions with a couple of people at the CCC and believe me, they’re passionately committed to getting something done about this problem. It’s a good thing to see.

Because of the projects I’m working on, I probably won’t be out much Friday or Saturday night – although, I may make a quick trip to Blues City for a couple of hours Friday to see the Sauce Boss. I read in the Flyer that he’s doing a Sunday performance at the Union Mission, because he thinks it’s important to give back. That makes me respect him even more.

On the other hand, I’m treating tonight as my weekend night, because there’s plenty going on. Tentative plans for today:

• Memphis Flyer 3rd Thursday party at Swig 5-7
• Peabody rooftop with Snozberry. I’ll probably get there about 7 and stay until 8:30, 8:45ish
• The Saucer to see The Dempseys after that. They don’t start until 9:30 but maybe I’ll get a good seat if I get there early.

Looks like my favorite blogger/MILF won’t be coming downtown tonight after all, so I’ll take the week off from EP’s. Oh well… I just remembered that she tends to pretend she’s with Peyton Manning when she has sex, which decreases her attractiveness by 99.9994%. Ewwwww.

The beer tasting at the Flying Saucer last night was OUTSTANDING. Definitely worth the 25 bucks. Dogfish rep Devin Aroloski shared lots of valuable insight about the beers, and Saucer GM Kirk also did a lot to make the crowd feel at home. They had white tablecloths on the benches. My 5 favorite things about the tasting:

1. The Midas Touch, a brew based on ancient remnants of a brew found in a 2,700-year-old tomb. Tasted like honey. Otto commented: “It’s not a beer, it’s not a mead, it’s not a wine, it’s something completely different.” Since I finished my plate at the Saucer I rarely pay more than $5 for a beer, but I’d pay a premium for this one. One of the best I’ve ever tasted.
2. The Raison D’Etre pork tenderloin. Delicious. The fresh green beans on top were a nice touch.
3. The beef stew. This one took me by surprise – when I think of beef stew, I think of the canned Dinty Moore slop that Kroger sells for a buck a can. But the stew served by Dogfish was tasty and in a miniature bread bowl. Really, really good.
4. When the people at the next table finished their beers, and the waitress bent over to pick up the empty glasses.
5. The 120 IPA. At more than 18% alcohol, how could I not like this beer?

They said that the Midas Touch, 120 IPA, and Peche will be available for sale in this market soon.

If you missed last night’s tasting, there may still be tickets available for tonight’s tasting at the East Bumblefuck Saucer on Germantown Parkway. Four of the five beers are high-alcohol content, so you may want to arrange a designated driver if you go.

That’s all for now. Job hunters: Check back often, I have a post on the way which will be good news for you.

Downtown Proponents Respond to Panhandling – Daily News article on the panhandling problem downtown, and how the Center City Commission, a prosecutor, and the Environmental Court are responding.

Working from the Saucer this afternoon, after discovering that Sunset Wheat is the fire sale. Their Dogfish Head beer tasting with Devin “Who the fuck is Devin Aroloski” Aroloski is tonight at 8. Tickets are sold out, but they’re having another one at the East Bumblefuck Saucer on G-town Parkway tomorrow night, and let’s face it, Cordova culture being what it is, only a Budweiser tasting would sell out that place.

Hey, I dropped the f-bomb twice in one paragraph… can’t remember the last time that happened.

The tasting starts at 8, but I’m REALLY looking forward to being at the Saucer between 7 and 8 tonight. Why? Because they’ve put up signs saying “Beer Garden closed from 7:00 to 9:30 PM for beer tasting.” Know what’s awesome about that? It means that everyone but ticket-holders will have no place to go but the inside room… AND THE INSIDE ROOM IS NONSMOKING UNTIL 8 PM!!! So, for an hour, people who want to light up their filthy, nasty, disgusting cigarettes will have nowhere to go. I love it!

By the way… I’m making a new rule. As more and more bars go nonsmoking, I find that I have a new role – the guy who gets stuck holding everyone’s seats while they go to the other room or outside to smoke. Therefore, starting today

1) I will hold no more than the seats immediately to my left and right; and

2) If good-looking girls come up and ask if those seats are vacant, I’ll give those up too.

Other quick notes:

– DNA is doing a clean-up day at Court Square on Saturday at 9 AM. If you want to join them and help keep Downtown beautiful, I’m sure they’d appreciate it.

– If you’re a fan of Barbara Blue who sings at Silky O’Sullivan’s four days a week, she’ll be on the terrace of the Hunt-Phelan patio from 9:30 to midnight Friday-Saturday, July 20 and 21. Good chance to see her without having to venture onto Beale. I haven’t had a chance to check out Hunt-Phelan yet but I hear it is one classy place.

– Lots going on tomorrow night… the Memphis Flyer happy hour at Swig 5-7… Snozberry on the Peabody rooftop 6-10… Susan Marshall on the Madison rooftop 6-10… Garry Goin and G3 at EP’s 8-midnight… and of course The Dempseys at the Saucer 9:30-1. Normally it would be a slam-dunk that I’d be at the Saucer for the Dempseys, but it looks as though my favorite blogger/MILF may be at EP’s. Haven’t actually met her in person yet, and she rarely gets Downtown, so I may have to venture over there. Although I’m a bit disappointed to hear she isn’t doing “nooners” right now.

All right, battery’s down to 20%. Time to log off.

Big thanks to a couple of readers for helping me remember the term I couldn’t think of in my earlier panhandler posts – “authorization of agency.” That’s the form business owners can fill out against particular individuals, stating that those individuals are not allowed on their property, or within a certain distance from the outside of the business.

Once an authorization of agency has been filed against a particular person, he or she can be arrested for criminal trespassing if seen on the premises. This is true even if the business owner isn’t there – if a cop happens to walk by and sees the the person, he or she can be arrested on the spot.

I hung out in a coffee shop downtown all the time a few years ago… the owner had authorizations of agency filed against many of the bums, and he rarely had trouble with panhandling in front of his shop. I remember a comment he made to me, that if all the Downtown businesses banded together and filed authorizations of agency against all the bums, then they wouldn’t have anywhere left to beg.

Now, the thing is, in order to file an AofA against a person, you have to know their name. That’s an opportunity to Downtowners to band together and help one another, if we all share information about these guys. For over a year friends and I have kicked around an idea of a panhandler photo album online. The idea started as a joke, but now I’m wondering if this could turn out to be something really useful in taking our neighborhood back from the bums.

What do you think? E-mail me if you have ideas on how we could work together.