pacman inkee

Writer's Block: Your 15 Minutes

brizilove
Your 15 Minutes
If you had your own reality show, what would it be called? What would it be about?
Reply 294


it would be called "24hr in the Tenderloin". it would take incredibly rich or powerful people, make them naked and covered in feces, and release them into the tenderloin district of sf for 24hr (a notoriously "dangerous" area of town that is not in fact dangerous at all if you don't walk around waving your iphone over your head like a stupid person. this is the area of sf that i am walking the streets with the children most often, usually in the evenings as well, since we all do volunteer work down there 4 days a week). they would have tasks to accomplish (get a meal from glide. use your care not cash voucher to register at an sro. get into army thrift and procure an outfit. obtain mental health or medical services from one of the agencies down there) and items to obtain. hopefully it would give jackasses a little insight on how hard it is to actually be poor, and what a fucking time consuming racket it can be to prove that you are "worthy" of social services help. and also a valuable lesson on how it doesn't matter who you actually are, when you are perceived as poor you are completely dehumanized in ways that most people never will experience.

i shamelessly stole this idea from t12 who had it first. but we *ARE* making this show someday. now who wants to volunteer as our first subject? :D
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    hep
    i know right? little did you know that you were in one of the WORST AREAS IN AMERICA according to bill oreilly? however, he apparently thinks the tenderloin is in north beach, so, grain of salt and all. personally i know i certainly feel poorer after eating dinner at fior's.
    cavorite
    24 hours is not long enough, but I totally support this idea.
    hep
    yeah, i think a week would be good. time for them to really understand the hardship that waiting in the 2block long line 3hrs outside a soupkitchen for EVERY MEAL is, and how that might impact one's job hunting prospects.
    cavorite
    Right, they need that buildup, day after day of some promise or hope for the next day to be better, and then not getting it.
    twirlgrrl
    OMG, that is such a great idea.

    EDIT: Maybe they should have to perform those challenges while very high on acid to simulate a schizoaffective state.

    Edited at 2011-09-09 08:53 pm (UTC)
    ferrouswheel
    The assumption here is that rich and powerful people have never been poor. Often the case, but I'd prefer to see this targeted at those who have never experienced it instead of assuming that money+power == you have no clue about poverty.

    I lived in SF for 3 months in 2008, I was in the "dog patch"and down the road from what my room mates said was a crack den. I never had any issues though, even with me spending many times walking around with my laptop bag or coming home half drunk at 2am while enjoying all the music that you never get in New Zealand. People looked at my funny when I told them I'd walk from down town all the way home... but I like seeing big cities at night, and walking lets me take in the scenery. Plus half the taxi drivers I talked to would refuse to take me to my street. ;p
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