Forum and Classifieds

My Ballard Forum » Open Forum

QFC's eating area aka homeless shelter

(25 posts)

Started 4 months ago by Compass Rose
Latest reply from BuffaloHawk

Compass Rose

offline
Member

It's occurred to me as the weather's gotten colder that QFC is providing a valuable service with its little eating area adjacent to the Starbucks. Though it probably wasn't intended to be, it's become somewhere for homeless people to get in from the cold.

Consequently, I usually avoid sitting there now. The last time I did, my mom and I got a coffee and had just sat down when that homeless guy who wears the filthy red snowsuit showed up. The stench emanating from him was so bad we got up and left.

Posted 4 months ago #
gracie

online
Member

Does this same homeless guy have a white beard?

Posted 4 months ago #
BuffaloHawk

offline
Member

CR . I am not sure you where a member at the time but this thread was pretty entertaining.

http://www.myballard.com/forum/topic.php?id=9728&page=2

Posted 4 months ago #
Compass Rose

offline
Member

Gracie, he has a beard; not sure if it's white. He's usually wearing sunglasses and is always in that filthy red snowsuit.

BH, that thread was hilarious. Thanks for the link. Still chuckling at the idea of checkers throwing basketballs and inadvertently hitting people.

Posted 4 months ago #
PlantLover

offline
Member

Ah, yes. Thanks for the laugh, BH. That one was a classic.

Posted 4 months ago #
gracie

online
Member

Compass Rose - I was down at Golden Gardens yesterday watching the polar plunge and burning of Christmas trees from my car. All of a sudden this guy is right up to my drivers window yelling towards me. Turns out he wanted money. And he certainly was very disheveled. He scared the crap out of me but I just shook my head no until he got the point & moved on to the next car.

Posted 4 months ago #
Compass Rose

offline
Member

That's the thing, Gracie. Many homeless people are mentally ill. People with mental illnesses aren't typically dangerous to other people, but sometimes they are (remember Shannon Harps, the woman killed on Capitol Hill a few years ago?). Ballard Commons now has so many homeless/mentally ill types hanging out there that I no longer feel entirely safe walking through it.

Posted 4 months ago #
gracie

online
Member

Compass - follow your instincts. I hadn't noticed the issue at QFC as I usually park underground & go up the elevator. And yes, I sure do remember Shannon Harps murder. There was another guy at Golden Gardens who was going through the trash just as I started my car to leave. Man, he flew into me berrating me saying I was scared of him and that's why I was leaving. How I couldn't stand looking at him, etc etc. This guy has been around Golden Gardens for some time now. Sometimes he sits on a bench totally still that you almost think he's dead & then pops up. He definitely has issues & if I see him on the path I will wide berth him or go another way. Not worth taking a chance. And actually I feel a little sorry for him with his mental issues - he doesn't look that old.

Posted 4 months ago #
Compass Rose

offline
Member

I feel sorry for those people too, Gracie. But I'm also leery of them. I wish there was a way to get them help for those people without them having to commit a crime or do something else extreme enough for them to be involuntarily committed. Some are ticking time bombs, and there's really nothing anyone can do about it.

It bothers me that Ballard Commons no longer feels safe, but that's reality.

Posted 4 months ago #
Edog

offline
Member

I'm sure that red snowsuit really cooks up a rancid stench. Mmm mm slow cooked bum in a crockpot! You know, never mind that he is homeless, a place that sells food could kick you out for sanitary reasons.

Posted 4 months ago #
great idea

offline
Member

"It bothers me that Ballard Commons no longer feels safe, but that's reality. "

yeah, I have to watch the quantities I drink.
there's danger I'll have an accident, what with no port-o-potty.

Posted 4 months ago #
Edog

offline
Member

I thought you used depends?

Any minute great idea will say it depends.

Posted 4 months ago #
great idea

offline
Member

that depends!

certainly that week the library is closed they're quite helpful.

Posted 4 months ago #
Compass Rose

offline
Member

"I'm sure that red snowsuit really cooks up a rancid stench. Mmm mm slow cooked bum in a crockpot! You know, never mind that he is homeless, a place that sells food could kick you out for sanitary reasons."

Seriously. The other day I was walking through QFC and caught of whiff of him before I even saw him. Nasty.

Posted 4 months ago #
mc7

offline
Member

Having been privy to one of his tirades over a malfunctioning bike I can say that the stench is a good match for the mouth he's got on him.

Posted 4 months ago #
stopgo

offline
Member

the only filthy rotten smelly person around the qfc dining area was you. glad he got rid of you. why would anyone bother sitting and eating at a grocery store? can't wait to get home? that area is obviously for the homeless

Posted 4 months ago #
Ernie

offline
Member

It bothers me that Ballard Commons no longer feels safe, but that's reality.

"Feeling" safe/unsafe is perception, not reality.

Did you express your concerns to QFC? I'd bet that they would prefer to have your continued patronage over that of the smelly snowsuit guy, maybe the management isn't hearing enough complaints.

Posted 4 months ago #
BallardGMa

offline
Member

Regardless of the smell, this is a person that is being discussed. Whether they are homeless or not they too have to eat....somewhere. Damned if the homeless buy their food and eat it; and damned if they get a hand out.

Posted 4 months ago #
racerX

offline
Member

Did you express your concerns to QFC? I'd bet that they would prefer to have your continued patronage over that of the smelly snowsuit guy, maybe the management isn't hearing enough complaints.

Ernie, are you new here?

Posted 4 months ago #
Cate

offline
Member

I know everybodies comfort/safety level is different, but I have never felt afraid in the QFC (or the Commons for that matter). The QFC does have posted a thirty minute limit (last time I looked) for the tables. I appreciate that the staff are, if not kind at least tolerent of these individuals. Thirty minutes a day to be warm is not a lot.

Posted 4 months ago #
Compass Rose

offline
Member

I didn't know there was a time limit, Cate. No, 30 minutes a day to be warm is not very much, and QFC's seating area is not a solution to homelessness. But you can't force people to go to homeless shelters or seek help otherwise. And having a mayor who supports homelessness as a viable lifestyle choice does little to improve things.

Ernie, no, I didn't say anything. I'm sure the management of QFC is aware. I don't see how they could not be.

Posted 4 months ago #
Ernie

offline
Member

Racer, CR, I guess my post above wasn't that clear so I'll try again.

There is nothing that readers of MB can do about what happens at QFC. If you want to see QFC change its probably more effective to tell them about it.

Posted 4 months ago #
stopgo

offline
Member

Are you capable of counting to 30? You should sit out there with a watch and count the minutes and then tell on them when they violate these important rules.

Posted 4 months ago #
Edog

offline
Member

I saw the Red Snowsuit guy there last night. I think he is more prosperous than other homeless dudes. I think he pays for his seat by buying things he consumes while he is there. Still, its not about being homeless, if a person stinks like a barn they could easily kick anyone of us out.

But people who run businesses like that don't seek confrontation. I suspect that eating area will disapear soon.

Posted 4 months ago #
BuffaloHawk

offline
Member

Did you get him a bar of soap and show him where the mens room was?

Posted 4 months ago #