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This cartoon has four panels. All the panels show a gritty commercial doorway – the kind that’s recessed a few feet into the building – on a city sidewalk. There’s litter and graffiti here.
There are two characters in the comic strip. The first character is a homeless man sleeping in the doorway, wearing a zip-up sweatshirt over a t-shirt and a dull red knit cap, and with a full beard. The other character is a muscular-looking cop dressed in a police uniform and carrying a baton. In defiance of tradition, he is cleanshaven. I’ll call these two characters KNITCAP and COP.
PANEL 1
Knitcap, covered by a brown blanket and with his head pillowed on some rolled-up clothes, is lying in a doorway, apparently asleep. The cop is using his baton to poke knitcap in the side. The cop has a somewhat sadistic grin.
COP: Hey, you! Get up! We’ve outlawed sleeping in public! You’re not allowed anymore!
PANEL 2
Knitcap is sitting up, rubbing sleep out of his eyes with one hand. He speaks calmly. The cop watches, smirking, arms akimbo.
KNITCAP: In that case, I guess I’ll sleep in a hotel tonight.
PANEL 3
A close-up of Knitcap. He’s stroking his chin with a hand, as if thinking through his options.
KNITCAP: Or should I sleep in my townhouse instead? Or my Hamptons place? I’ll call my butler and ask what he thinks!
PANEL 4
Knitcap, grinning, is now holding a hand next to his face, thumb and pinky finger extended, pretending it’s a phone as he talks. The cop is glaring and slapping his baton against his palm.
KNITCAP: Smithers? Smithers old boy! My super fun street sleeping holiday is done. Which of my mansions shall I sleep in tonight.
COP (thought): Next step: Outlaw sarcasm.
Hope there are enough homeless shelters for them to move into. Otherwise you would be suggesting the inconvenience you face from having to see them sleep in the streets justifies making it impossible for them to in their desperate situation have even that.
Yep, sure do hope those communities are wealthy enough to support housing the homeless. I wonder how that will play out with the local tax payer when they are deciding how to allocate money to local schools, the park system or a homeless shelter.
I wonder how they would like to see their tax dollars spent..🫤
Said communities would rather indirectly "house" them in tax-funded prisons? I'd point them to studies on how incarcerating and enforcing these laws end up costing Americans more than it does to house people, such as this: https://homelessvoice.org/the-cost-to-criminalize-homelessness/
What a strange state of affairs. People may not live outdoors because that looks unsightly. But you will also not give them a place to go.
No, but incarceration may prove to be a deterrent to other homeless. California, Oregon and Washington would not be as attractive destinations if they know they will go to jail shortly after arriving without a place to stay. Especially if that homeless person has dependents. They may be better incentivized to stay in their own state and seek help locally.