If you're below the city, are you also below the influence?

When I think LA I have the typical lights thought but I also was under the impression that the street corners had a homeless person or two every block. Could the lack of the homeless and drug addicts on the street be from the business that are trying to keep their image so they push away the unclean? Do they separate themselves? I guess if I had to stay in the city to survive, I’d like a quiet place to lay my head. The sewers are slightly more appealing than having the lights in my face consistently.

The description of Steve’s living quarters made it seem like an actually home. I define ‘home’ by where you feel comfortable, where you personalize to have things you need and enjoy. This man lives in the SEWER but he has tried to get “all the supplies and stuff” since he has to live down there. He sounds to have just about everything he needs- a queen sized bed, a clothes rack, walls, a mirror, soap, shampoo, even a makeshift shower. The way he speaks is very different from the other male he is sitting with at the time. He is well spoken; he sounds to be educated. I was wondering how such a man ended down there. He knows how to get money and he knows image is important. Then the drug addiction came out.

Adam was also told by the ‘tour guide’ of some stuffed animals and blankets he found in the sewer that lead to the assumption of children in the tunnels. Who would keep their children in such a place?! A drug addict. This exemplifies the drug problem in this city and makes me wonder what the city has to offer these people and their dependents. I have a friend whose parent worked at LAPD and claimed that there was so much going on in the city that the police have to make tough choices- like to pass a burning car to respond to something more urgent. So does the same happen with the low lives of the city? Could there be so much money flowing around the city that they pass up the needy to make a quick buck?

<3 ShainaRene'