As with all cities as a vistor you will often encounter homeless people and sometimes they ask you for money, sometimes they make you sad and sometimes they make you smile. Here are some of the people who stuck out from my time in Seattle:

1. The Man with the Sign
At the far end of Pike Place Market I came across a middle aged black man with a large cardboard sign. I don’t remember what it said, something about why he needed money, but I do remember that he was shouting (in a nice way) at the people who passed him and who paid any attention to his sign. ‘Thank you for readin’ the sign, have a nice day’. While I was within ear shot he must have said this 2 dozen times. He must say it all day!

2. The Man who though I was German
Walking down the street with a friend from the Hostel in Seattle, we were asked to buy something by this chap, I’m not sure what it was, clearly something dodgy, watches or something. Anyway when my friend says ‘No Thanks’ the chap says ‘What about your German girlfriend? Does she want one?’ I do not possess any of the stereotypical German features, it’s true I’m blonde but fairly obviously bottle blonde. Hmmmmm.

3. The Girl doing the Experiment?
Everyday a friend of mine from the Hostel walks past this girl on 2nd Ave. She has a sign which says ‘Trying to Raise $3.99 for a Big Mac and a Coke’. She never says anything, she does not hold out her hand and she has no cup/hat/vessel in which to collect said $3.99. She is well presented and well dressed and has a nice handbag. My friend has a theory that she’s doing a sociological experiment and is not in need of $3.99 for a Big Mac and a Coke. It’s quite odd and I must admit I did not give her any money.

4. The Very Cheeky Chappy
Not actually a homeless person (I don’t think so anyway). But an encounter which made me laugh all the same. On a particularly hot day, I was walking downtown wearing a vest (not low cut) and skirt (not very short), a man walks by me, he’s smart, wearing a business suit, maybe late 30’s, anyway he mutters, almost under his breath, …….’Nice Tits’. Not to me, he wasn’t looking at me when he said it, it was as if he’d thought it and accidentally said it out loud. It was all I could do not to burst out laughing there and then!