BikinginSeattle

In Seattle near the Jackson street bus station a homeless guy threw a piece of bread at me and hit me in the face. A large soft piece of French bread I think (thankfully I didn't get a taste!).

How strange!

I've been hit with rocks before while riding(by a different homeless guy) so this switch to bread was nice.

jyossarian

I had a homeless guy throw bits of turkey at me the day after Thanksgiving. I just threw it back at him.

Cromulent

I would think that bread is definitely a step up from rocks. Next come the balloons! And how much fun is cycling when even the homeless people are throwing stuff at you? Sheesh.

DataJunkie

I had a homeless lady spit at me. Thank goodness she missed. Lady looked like she was a meth addict.

pmseattle

Yuck. I go by there on my commute, from the *****ty 2nd Ave. "bike lane", E. on Jackson to 5th Ave, then S. on Airport Way. The whole area is infested with bums from Jackson to the U.S. Immigration & Naturalization building, especially around the gas station on Airport and Dearborn. Walking through there in the AM is like running the gauntlet, but I never have problems on the bike.

Mr_H

I mean...d'ough!

slowandsteady

I am very glad I don't live in the city.... I guess I would rather be attacked by loose dogs on the local farm land than be spat upon by a meth addict. Choices, choices....

squegeeboo

maybe you can get some soup and make a meal out of it?

BikinginSeattle

A crazy bum hit me with a fist- sized rock while I was riding in one morning. He threw it as hard as he could and it hit me in the backpack which softened the blow. I knew better than to mess around with insane rock throwing bums so I just kept on riding to work. What's interesting though is that when I got to the office and took off my backpack I heard this load noise. I look down and see the large bum-thrown rock resting on my desk. It had stuck into my backpack.
That day was 3/23/2006 and I know this because I wrote the date on the rock and it is still sitting here at my desk.

jmeier

The bums I pass each day near Fair Oaks and the River all say hi and we chat briefly...very nice people...I have passed some though that seem to want no more than to steal my bike...

CliftonGK1

Thankfully I never had any encounters with bread or rock hurling meth-heads when I lived in Capitol Hill, but I was only there for a couple months before moving to Redmond.

The best "bike bum" I've seen is a guy over here at the Redmond Way exit ramp off of 520. He's got his bike decked out with a trailer to carry his one-man-band equipment, which includes an accordian, a harmonica on one of those no-hands dealies, a 5 piece drum kit, and his homemade PVC and blue-tarp stage cover so he can play in the rain. For riding in the rain, he's fashioned a canopy for his bike! Two lengths of PVC tubing attached to the seat/chain stays somehow, and he's got them bent forward and tied down to the front rack or fork of the bike, with a section of tarp slung between them.

srsly

my office used to be in pioneer square. if i got there early enough i could watch the bums line up for the 6am crack shuffle. dude in a big puffy coat just standing on the corner shuffling rocks in his hand. it was awesome.

East Hill

It looks as if I am not missing much by not working in downtown Seattle.

I will stick to the mozzies along the Green River Trail...they are dangerous enough.

East Hill

pmseattle

"Green River" - those words are enough to make me shudder.

truman

In America, the poor have enough food they can afford to chuck it at you.

MMACH 5

I've only once had anything thrown at me. It was a bolt, (with nut and washer) and nailed me between the shoulder blades. I'd have been very pleased if those kids were slinging baked goods instead of hardware.

donnamb 

I hope you washed it first.

JanMM

No street people have ever thrown anything at me. But, when I lived in Atlanta, 20+ years ago, a lady walking the streets looking for "work" asked me if I wanted a date. I said no thank you.

East Hill

I do keep that in mind, even now. There could still be a few bodies out there.

East Hill

pinkrobe

A bum threw bread at you.

Oh man...

substructure

That's rich.

A bum hurling food. What do you suppose he was thinking?

"Friggen, government spies riding those fancy bikes, trying to read my mind! I know what’s in that backpack, you fool!”

Toss

Thud

“Now, where’s that bread I was eating?"

DataJunkie

Personally, I respect the homeless for the difficult life they have. Quite a few are just down on their luck. However, mixed in with the group is a healthy amount of drug addicts, alcoholics, and mental cases. The druggies and those with mental health issues seem to cause a majority of the issues. IMHO
You just never know what one you are going to get. I am now developing a healthy weariness for all other human beings while I am riding as of late.

gubawatts

I've never had anything thrown at me, been yelled at a few times.. and I always keep eye contact with suspicious looking types along my route, just in case...

So far, the worst thing I have to deal with is dog poop on the MUP... and loose dogs.

pinkrobe

Locally, there's a line to be drawn between the homeless and the garden-variety bum. Many homeless have jobs that they go to every day, but they don't make quite enough money to make ends meet. They are the working poor, but with no fixed address. Surprisingly, there are a few "pro" panhandlers in Calgary who have no jobs, but can afford subsidized housing. The rest are drug addicts and the mentally unstable. The province cut funding to mental institutions in the 90's, releasing a flood of "low risk" unstable folks into the cities. The vast majority are of no risk to anyone but themselves, but still spook me from time to time...

rando

maybe he thought you looked hungry!