It Never Rains in Southern California

A friend of mine who was a construction contractor in Tahoe, CA for years, and who now
lives in Hawaii (on The Big Island) replied to my “Homeless in the Valley” email. He
described his experiences with the seasonal homeless drifters in Tahoe. I sent him a
reply.
My Reply: I think the people you mention were probably Gypsies or Okies. My father
used to warn my mother not to agree to have any work done by door-to-door salespeople
because most were scammers. They usually came to Lost Angeles in late winter and left
at the end of spring. (The newspapers used to warn, “The Thompson’s Are Back in
Town”). One of their scams was to convince the unwitting to pay them to oil wood
shingle roofs. (As you undoubtedly know, oiling wood shingles is a method of preserving
them). But, rather than using the kind of expensive high paraffin oil suggested for
preserving wood shingles, the grifters would slather used motor oil on the roof.
Everything was fine until the first heavy winter rain. (Note: For years now, in most areas
of Southern California, building permits will not be issued to buildings with wood
shingles because they are considered an extreme fire hazard.)
John Steinbeck's book, "The Grapes of Wrath" has a lot of descriptive stuff about the
great “Okie” migration to California during the years of The Great Depression and U.S.
Dustbowl.
I don't think the homeless in L.A. are like the ones you saw in Tahoe. I believe, most of
the currently homeless in California are not migrating seasonally, they are permanent
campers. The area east of L.A.’s downtown, where the most densely populated homeless
encampment is, is very close to the "Midnight Mission" and other institutions that
provide food and sometimes shelter for the homeless. (I think it’s documented that most
of the tent people don't want to be indoors - they can't adjust, psychologically, to being
enclosed).
The L.A. Flower Market is in the middle of that area. I’ve been going down there quite a
bit lately, it’s quite a bizarre trip. Lots of people exhibiting Tourrete Syndrome
Symptoms, people talking to, or arguing with, and lashing-out-at “people” only they can
see, litter, urine puddles, human feces and drug paraphernalia all over.
I think most of the current batch of homeless in Lost Angeles are not people who were
born and raised here. (Although a few of them might be native Californian’s, and victims
of the Lost Angeles Public School System.)
I think most of them are people who, were already on the cusp, then lost everything in
the housing and mortgage crisis, or lost everything in the several hurricanes and floods
in the Gulf States (over the last ten years). It was amazing to see the number of out-of-
state license plates from Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana after each of the disasters.
(Anecdotally, it seems most of the homeless living in creaky, lopsided, tarp covered,

By Bill George Page 1 of 2

Pub. June 15, 2019
motor homes have out-of-state license plates.) And then, there is the national opioid and
addiction crisis, it’s been widely reported there is a cottage industry of Drug Rehab
Scammers importing addicted people from out-of-state, then releasing them to the
streets.
Southern California is advertised and commercialized as paradise, it's generally warm
and dry (It Never Rains in Southern California) and the state government and most local
governments have a well-known reputation as being very accommodating.
After every bad winter in Upstate America, every flood and hurricane in the Gulf States,
and every financial crisis in "The Rust Belt" and "The Farm Belt" California sees a new
wave of marginal people. It seems, these new arrivals think when they get to California
they can get a job helping to build Moonbeam's High Speed Railway.

By Bill George Page 2 of 2

Pub. June 15, 2019