We were in the Village yesterday. Not to go to a bar or restaurant or anything like that, but rather to check out the TERRIFYING and HARROWING urban decay of the neighborhood that media sources have been reporting lately. It seems that the Village has become something of a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The neighborhood (or should we say DANGERhood?) is, we’re told, rife with terrors such that regular citizens bent on commerce no longer feel safe. The problem is so dire that some restaurants and bars briefly shuttered their terrases out of protest - the streets, they suggest, are too scary. So, believing that hell is empty and all the devils are in the Village - we wanted to be in the Village too. We’re big fans of Escape from New York (and its under-appreciated sequel Escape from L.A.) and it seemed like it’d be fun to cosplay as Snake Plissken for the day.
It didn’t quite work out.
The neighborhood - besides the truly unhinged number of bike cops rolling menacingly along - seemed the same as it’s always seemed. We used to live in this neighborhood and, if anything, it looks much nicer now than it did in the past. We didn’t see a single Thunderdome or band of marauders. Nary a chainsaw-wielding psycho nor a shambling drug zombie approached us. It’s full of people doing people things.
The non-dystopian vibe and our absence of fear were, of course, disappointing. We wanted to witness disaster! Fires! Ritual sacrifices to unknown gods! But there wasn’t even a bit of that. The closest we came was a guy with tattoos (!!!!) drinking a can of Pabst (!!!!!) in the park (!!!!) - but he was, legit, promptly ticketed by a bike cop in wraparound Oakleys. Disaster averted :(
A little saddened that this kind of wanton blue ribbon chaos was stamped out so immediately by Montreal’s finest, we just walked along and between all the major streets, looked around, had a nicely unremarkable time, and thought a lot about how media like to broadcast that people are afraid of those who are unhoused or who live with drug addiction and/or mental health issues without ever inquiring further into what, exactly, causes people to be so afraid.
Reports cite fear and safety concerns regarding unhoused people, drug users, and other marginalized folks without question. It’s taken as a given that people are not only afraid of members of these (very loosely defined) groups, but that their fears are justified. We aren’t here to argue with people’s fears - whether well-founded or otherwise - but we do think that that’s a shame. It is a shame that people (apparently) feel unsafe going to certain neighborhoods and a deeper shame that people (apparently) feel unsafe near certain people. We’d like to, if possible, help with this while the city (slowly and probably horribly) attempts to address the structural problems that lead to inadequate housing, substance abuse issues, and all the rest and create new avenues of care towards those who have suffered as a result of past structural problems.
Without doxxing ourselves, we have greater than average experience with the folks who seem to inspire fear in others and can (hopefully?) maybe give you (or whomever you know that maybe needs it) a better understanding of these people which, then, might make you (or anyone you know who might need it) feel better about circulating with and around the people with whom you share the streets. So, let’s go.
Most people who suffer from substance abuse issues want to be left alone. If you see someone using in public, then you are witnessing someone who has no safe alternative. This is not meant as an insult or affront to propriety or civility. Using in public is one way to ensure that if something goes wrong that you’re (possibly) going to be taken care of. It is unpleasant, we know, to witness people using drugs publicly, but it is also unpleasant to have to use them publicly. No one is winning here.
The only recommendation we have here is to extend the same courtesy and sense of privacy to people using publicly as you would to people doing anything else publicly. It is weird and rude to stare at someone while they’re eating and likewise while they’re using. Avert your eyes and mind your business. If you avert your eyes and mind your business, then chances are good that they’ll follow suit.
If the above sounds like “avoiding the problem,” it feels important to note that - while circulating in the street - your options for meaningful action are terribly limited. You can go talk to people if you want, but maybe don’t unless talking to strangers in the middle of illegal activities is your idea of a good time. You can call 811, but it’s very unlikely they’re going to dispatch a social worker to address the problem in a timely fashion (there aren’t enough social workers). You can call 911, but really don’t do that because interactions with cops cause (immediate and lasting) harm to people who are already suffering. Getting arrested or harassed by cops is not, typically, a solution to substance abuse issues.
If the widespread concern is fear/safety in regards to people who use drugs, the easiest way to allay that fear and stay safe is to mind your business. That’s it. If you see someone using or acting erratically, keep on keeping on. Children also act erractically and they, too, should be ignored in public lest you get caught up talking to them or their parents. For real, just keep yourself to yourself. It isn’t hard.
Ignoring people using drugs is one thing, but ignoring people asking for change is another thing. Don’t do that. If someone asks for change or a cigarette or something to eat, either oblige them or express that you will not oblige them. You don’t need to stop walking or shed a single tear or turn out your pockets for proof, but you ought to treat the person like a person. In the same way as, we hope, you would look at and acknowledge any other person who asked you a question or made a request - so too should you extend the same courtesy to folks on the sidewalk or whatever. Unless you’re a cunt in which case keep being cunty. It’s totally your prerogative. If you want to ignore folks, then ignore folks. If you want to be moderately kind to people and treat them with a modicum of dignity such that the fabric of society stays unstretched or broken for the limited amount of time you interact with strangers, it’s very easy. You don’t even need to use words. You can just look at the person (who is a person), make eye contact, and shake your head “No.” They’ll get it.
From our experience (which, remember, is non-total and is being relayed to you anonymously), negative interactions between people who occupy sidewalks and/or (appear) unhoused and those who do not transpire because the former perceives that they’ve been treated poorly by the latter. They’ve been ignored, dismissed, or otherwise disrespected which, then, sometimes leads to aggression, yelling etc. We’re not here to say that such reactions are justified or excused, but they are understandable. It would be a little maddening and aggravating if we spent the majority of our day speaking and the majority of people pretended we weren’t. So, urm, don’t do that? Whatever discomfort you feel when proximate to unhoused people is unfortunate (and largely a product of ideologies that suggest that socioeconomic tragedy is somehow both deserved and contagious) and can be shaken off. You can, quite comfortably, just tell someone you don’t have any change. For real. It’s so easy.
Before you get all up in arms about what people do or do not deserve, who is or is not responsible for whatever - none of that matters. It doesn’t matter that their suffering isn’t your responsibility. It doesn’t matter that you deserve to be left alone or whatever. You do not get to decide with whom you share the world. You get to decide how you treat those people. That’s it. You can treat them any way you like and they, in kind, can do the same. All we’re recommending here is a way to circulate everywhere across the city with everyone who lives here in a way that, as far as we can tell, causes neither us nor them any harm or unpleasantness.
If it helps on the fear front, you should probably know that you are MUCH more likely to be hurt or killed by a car than you are to be hurt or killed by a stranger. We don’t have the stats in front of us, but we’re also willing to bet that you’re more likely to suffer verbal abuse that causes lasting damage from a loved one or family member than you are some dude sitting on the street asking for change. This is just a guess, though. The car thing isn’t. Cars are genuinely a threat to your well-being and the well-being of everyone.
Anyways, if you actually do want to extend help to folks. Money is great! Give spare change. Every little helps. If you worry that money will be spent on drugs or alcohol and you feel some type of way about that, then offering someone a cigarette is also a nice thing to do. Don’t smoke? Feeling extra generous? Give food!
On this last point, be respectful. Don’t just huck peaches at people. Don’t, moreover, assume that any and all food is good for any and all people.
It’s entirely possible that folks will not take random food you offer them. This isn’t because they aren’t hungry or grateful, but because random food can be bad. People (remember, they’re people) have allergies and other health issues that might prohibit them from eating certain things. People (remember, still people) might have safety concerns with random food (in unsealed packages) handed to them by a stranger. Would you eat a random person’s assorted leftovers? Probably not. People might have ethical, religious, or mere taste issues with food. Eating is very personal.
So, if you want to and are able to provide food for an unhoused person then it’s usually best to ask them specifically what they’d like and then go get it. Folks usually station themselves near fast food places or pharmacies or whatever, so it’s very easy to inquire and then fulfill the request. You can spend as much money or time as you like.
You are under no obligation to do this. The city in which we live should be taking better care of its people. If you feel like picking up the slack, then you should. It’s nice to be nice, but being nice isn’t always tenable or possible. Just as you shouldn’t feel overly proud that you’ve helped people, so too shouldn’t you feel overly upset that you didn’t. Everyone’s just out here trying to survive. Do what you can for yourselves and others. Recognize that “what you can” do might change on an hourly basis and it never needs to be justified to anyone other than yourself.
So, urm, that’s it. Leave drug addicts alone and treat people who are unhoused like people. People suffering from obvious mental health or psychiatric problems should, likewise, be left alone. If you feel that any person - of any persuasion belonging to any community - is in some kind of immediate trouble, then (sadly) the only real recourse at present is to call 911. If you feel that you are under some kind of threat or feel unsafe in any sense, then go to the most public place you can manage. These latter two situations are rare, but they happen. Be mindful of your surroundings. If something feels fucked up, get to somewhere that feels less fucked up. You hopefully know all this, but given that people seem to be loudly trembling at the very idea of urban coexistence it maybe warrants saying anyways.
This is a remarkably safe city, so try not to let irresponsible scare-mongering journalists get under your skin or reactionary social media posts from dubious sources suggest otherwise. There is, truly, no more reason to be fearful or worried about people who use drugs or happen not to have a place to live at the moment. They’re just people. They’re people who, in many instances, are suffering the socioeconomic equivalent of drowning. If they behave less like you than you might want, then you might want to take a second to appreciate that you’re not currently drowning. If you see someone suffering, rather than doing some (questionable) moral math on whether they deserve that suffering - maybe take into consideration that the only reason we have fucking governments at all is to ensure the safety and well-being of each and every person who occupies the territory over which they govern. If you, then, see someone suffering, then you are seeing the failure of your elected officials and the systems in which they participate. If you see a person suffering publicly that means who ever is responsible for the public isn’t doing their job properly. That’s it.
It's fucking painful that we’re writing any of this. You probably don’t need to hear any of it (thankfully), but given the adamance with which lots of people are working to (further) demonize (ALREADY) marginalized and troubled people - we felt that we had or at least wanted to say something.
Don’t be afraid. Be kind. Take care of yourself and, if you can, others. Or don’t. Whatever. Just don’t be cruel or awful to yourself OR others. Please? It’s hard enough out here.
A resounding YES!
Kindness over Fear.
try not to let irresponsible scare-mongering journalists get under your skin (...) no more reason to be fearful or worried about people who use drugs or happen not to have a place to live at the moment. They’re just people. They’re people who, in many instances, are suffering the socioeconomic equivalent of drowning. If they behave less like you than you might want, then you might want to take a second to appreciate that you’re not currently drowning. If you see someone suffering, rather than doing some (questionable) moral math on whether they deserve that suffering - maybe take into consideration that the only reason we have fucking governments at all is to ensure the safety and well-being of each and every person who occupies the territory over which they govern. If you, then, see someone suffering, then you are seeing the failure of your elected officials and the systems in which they participate. If you see a person suffering publicly that means who ever is responsible for the public isn’t doing their job properly. That’s it." - this was painful to read too, and i'm still glad you wrote it.