Problem Solved!

Many of Las Vegas’ homeless camp out on city and county property. The City Parking Garage was erected next door to the building where I work, complete with wrought iron benches intended, I suppose, for retirees to watch the comings and goings across the street at the Regional Justice Center. If that was the intention, the homeless modified it to suit their squatting. What sort of pecking order evolved I have no idea, but as I take my daily walks I can usually count on seeing the same faces parked on the benches. A particularly wretched old woman carried the practice to a new extreme in the past few months by setting up “housekeeping” on her bench. It really was becoming a health hazard to herself and the passing public (don’t look too closely behind the bushes adorning the sidewalk) and I observed an attempt by officials to “relocate” her several weeks ago. Within short order she was back and soiling the city’s clean appearance. Well, today Las Vegas took care of the problem. I saw a city crew surveying the area as I walked to work, and by the time I took my mid-morning stroll, the benches were gone! Now the sidewalk has more room because the obstructing indigents have lost their seats. I’m thinking that those who are attempting to deal with the disaster in Haiti ought to take note. I’m sure that the Army Corps of Engineers has sufficient heavy equipment to just plow the devastation under and replace it with nice, clean concrete. It’s clearer to me now why I’m looking forward to leaving Las Vegas.