Beaches, Santa Monica

I have recently went to Venice Beach and met some really interesting people. I met a man from Germany who recently has become homeless. Although homeless, he was very educated and knowledgable about worldly issues. It is amazing how we see homeless people as "the others" not recognizing that we too can become homeless at anytime considering the economy. Homeless is a problem just like unemployment and capitalism. I find it interesting how people think that homeless people are a problem rather than being homeless a problem. Being homeless simply means you do not have a home, however, it does not mean uneducated, violent, and mentally ill. Society has stereotyped individuals in categories, when as a society we should "Imagine" like John Lennon stated. We should use our "Sociological Immagination" when we judge. It is not just the homeless people who are mentally ill, Tippy Gore suffers from Manic Depression/Bi-polar disorder and she is nowhere near homeless. Bernie Madoff stole millions and he was not homeless. All societies have people within their communities that poses deviant behavior, so it is not just the homeless. The man from Germany I met just hit hard times and I wish him all of the best. I hope he will soon find shelter and employment, he was attractive, so hoping he find a mate needs no prayer, but I guess finding the right one would. I'd rather not judge and hopefully I won't be judged either. If the man from Germany reads this, I want you to know that I am praying for you and all of the people in this world to learn to love and pray for those who are not part of the status quo.

SMPD will eat you alive. At the beach a sign is posted to warn people not to enter water within 150 feet of Pier. This is to keep the swimmers from swimming into the fishing lines from the Pier. Besides lifeguards, SMPD also patrols the area on beach buggies as seen in photo. What a job.

If you plan to swim at the beaches, make sure the beaches are in tip top condition. Some of the beaches are polluted, and an organization call 'Heal the Bay' is making sure that these beaches are being taken care of and a lot of measures are being taken to do so also. Water sample is taken every single day in Santa Monica. Cheak out their website where you can see the beaches' report card: -> http://www.healthebay.org/

*Swimming in polluted water can cause skin disease, irratation.