What does accosted by homeless people mean? I’ve lived in SF over 5 years and I’ve yet to be physically touched or yelled at by one.
Now what DOES happen often is someone is loudly talking or yelling to themselves, and if you look at them or get close to them then they may react to you. I just steer clear of the craziness. Maybe your friends got caught up in that?
I've had multiple homeless people get in my face and try to start shit with me in the TL.
The last time, I was waiting outside a bar/live music venue while my friend and the bartender were inside locking up after 2AM. I'm just standing there minding my business when a very dirty street guy, presumably homeless, walks up to me and demands I give him some money.
I tell him no, and he just starts yelling belligerently in my face deliberately being sloppy about it and spitting all over me. This went on for what felt like an eternity, turning into a staring contest with him just waiting for me to lose my cool and assault him. Eventually he just walked away cursing aloud about white people.
SF is a kind of a shithole, I have a bunch of firsthand experiences to back that up.
Edit:
I still find little pieces of broken glass in my car from when a homeless person threw rocks through the windows of ~10 parked cars on La Playa by Judah @ Ocean Beach. Same guy was picking fights with pedestrians in the hours that led up to him breaking car windows. Good times!
I remember the day that assault was reported on the news. It made my friends and myself seriously question what the hell is going on the streets of our city.
It's common to prey on the weak and vulnerable. Why make it harder on yourself? Just get a job at that point.
Yep. It's a good example of how reality breaks common expectations.
I suspect it's because females tend to avoid physical confrontation like the plague and some men will stand up if someone gets in their face. But it's only a guess as to why it is the case.
I've definitely had big friends in the past who were always getting shit started with them, even just walking down the street between bars in a group they'd out of nowhere have a stranger single them out, shoulder them while walking past, and voila now there's a street fight.
But that's rather different, it's more about sport than crime. Half the time they'd become drinking buddies afterwards.
When desperate people are on the prowl for people to rob however, I don't believe it's typical for them to prefer tougher targets. My understanding is most thefts are opportunistic and unattended, which tells me there's obviously a preference for less resistance, not more.
Now what DOES happen often is someone is loudly talking or yelling to themselves, and if you look at them or get close to them then they may react to you. I just steer clear of the craziness. Maybe your friends got caught up in that?