While Bluetooth headsets and in-ear headphones with mobile phone microphones are not new technology, some still yearn for the simpler times.
“It used to be that if a man was walking along the sidewalk having a loud conversation with himself, you’d move to the other side of the street,” said Abe Donovan. “Now it ‘s not so easy to tell.”
Indeed, with the wide availability of high quality, gently used clothing, the homeless and the group-homers out on daypasses are far less distinguishable than they used to be.
“I don’t do laundry,” bragged Gleg; probably Greg. “When I smell, Salvation Army lady give me new clothes and throw my old clothes away.”
Greg (?) is one of the trickier ones to discern in that he does hear voices, but also wears a non-functioning Bluetooth earpiece he grabbed off the Free Table at Value Village.“I like it,” he enthuses. “It make me look cool.”
“These days I avoid walking near everyone,” Donovan laments. “It’s just safer that way.”