Much of Atlanta’s homeless population really does make CNN Center their second home, and for good reason. It’s only a few blocks from the city’s primary homeless shelter, which makes everyone leave in the morning -- the shelter is for sleeping only and I guess a few meals. There are also several bridges and covered railroad tracks around the complex that includes CNN, under which I've often seen homeless camps in warmer months.
They come here for many reasons: plenty of seating in a warm, comfortable environment; clean, spacious bathrooms; a number of restaurants and two coffee chains where they can get a cup of water or at least some cheap food; and of course several electrical outlets they use for charging their cell phones.
Yes, the homeless have mobile phones. Only in America.
I don’t really know how to feel about this. For the most part, they don’t cause anyone any trouble, and since the CNN Center atrium is a public space, they can’t be made to leave unless they are harassing others, sleeping or somehow breaking the law. However, the only two major security incidents in the building since I've been employed there involved homeless people, and on one of the occasions I needed to use the public restroom in the atrium, there were a couple homeless guys in there literally bathing themselves in the sinks while another disturbed person was making awful sounds in a toilet stall.
I wouldn't say they necessarily make the area unsafe, since we have a very large police and security presence (there is an Atlanta Police station in CNN Center and the network employs armed guards all over the place). I can see it being an annoyance to the company and the businesses, since people who don’t necessarily look “right” are taking up tables without spending any money, or very little, just sitting there watching CNN on the giant screen all day.
It would probably be better for everyone involved if they got help finding jobs and becoming self-sufficient, but I've worked on enough news stories about the homeless to know that many are either unable or unwilling to do this. Given the prevalence of mental illness in the homeless community and our country’s abysmal public health system in that regard, I don’t suppose the situation will change any time soon.
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A combination of stupidity by Congress and wastefulness by pretty much everyone means floating balloons may soon be a relic of the past.
“So, you haoles have created a sign language to teach deaf native Hawai’ians, too? That’s nice, because we came up with our own LONG before you did.”
