SAN FRANCISCO: Park nomad, laptop in tow, calls bushes home

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 7/31/8 | C.W. Nevius

[SmithL]

Tom Sepa would rather not be called homeless.

"That word is loaded," he said. "I prefer 'urban outdoorsman.' "

It is true that Sepa has a lot of things that aren't generally associated with the stereotypical San Francisco homeless person - like a full-time job.

A telemarketer, Sepa hits the phones at 7 a.m., working out of Zephyr Cafe in the Richmond District. He uses his laptop and a cell phone headset to make over 100 cold calls each morning. Currently, he's trying to get companies to take a meeting with a software firm he's representing.

He gets paid via his PayPal account, and owns an iPod and a guitar. When he says he is going to take you out to see "my version of a shopping cart," he means a late model Chevy.

What he doesn't have is four walls and a roof. Instead, he's been living in a tent deep on the back trails of Golden Gate Park for three months.

For all the offers cities like San Francisco make to serve the homeless, it does seem odd that an intelligent, rational soul like Sepa thinks his best option is a nylon camp tent. As the economy tanks and jobs disappear, you have to wonder how many other people will opt for the woods. And what we will decide to do with them.

Sepa insists there are more people like him than anyone realizes. People with steady, but low-paying jobs, who hit a patch of bad luck - Sepa said his wife left and he couldn't afford the rent where they were living - and find themselves running as fast as they can to stay in one place.

Although Tenderloin Housing Clinic Director Randy Shaw considers Sepa's case "extraordinarily atypical, because not many people have a laptop...

[SmithL]

- Tom Sepa loads his camping gear into his car

[absolootezer0]

wish i could get away with that.. doubt the wife would want to live like that tho.

[econjack]

As the economy tanks and jobs disappear, you have to wonder how many other people will opt for the woods.

The economy posted a 1.9% growth rate for the last quarter, and has not had a negative growth rate since Bush took office. Yet, the MSM talks about recession, a well-defined term that means two or more consecutive quarters of negative growth. It's these little, inconsequential comments and words, like "as the economy tanks", that shows these clowns to be the irresponsible journalists on a mission to be the biased reporters they are.

[Arkansas Toothpick]

Don’t worry, as soon as the Magic Negro is inaugurated, all such talk with disappear like a fart in the wind.

[w1andsodidwe]

If you ask why he doesn't stay in one of the city's a residential apartments, Sepa directs your attention to his laptop to see a video. It is a clip he shot of what happened when he was living in a residential hotel and heard someone banging on his door. He opened it to find his neighbor so drunk he was unable to stand. The neighbor wasn't knocking, he was repeatedly staggering into Sepa's door.

"Every time I try that, I end up between a crackhead and some drunk," Sepa said. "I'd rather be in the park."

San Fransico, what a wonderful place it has become under Mayor Newsom.

[Ditter]

I was in Kinko’s yesterday when a woman who begs at street corners came in tossed $3 on the corner and said she wanted Internet access. I have seen her around here for years and even gave her my raincoat when she was begging in the rain. I thought the woman was retarded, maybe she is but she needed to get her e-mail or access her bank.

[VanShuyten]

Myself, and a lot of buddies I grew up with, took advantage of the outdoors at one time or another in our youth. Not a bad way to spend a month or so between employment. That's a little different from the increasing numbers of people the Mrs. and I meet at the local national forest campsites who just move their squalor wagons from place to place. american-made gypsies.

[6SJ7]

The economy posted a 1.9% growth rate for the last quarter, and has not had a negative growth rate since Bush took office. Yet, the MSM talks about recession...

The whole theme of the story, "aren't these the hardest times since the Great Depression", wouldn't carry much weight if the story read..
"As the economy continues to expand and more jobs are available, you have to wonder how many other people will opt for the woods." (The answer is one guy.)

[AppyPappy]

Smart guy. If you don’t mind living in a tent, it’s a pretty good setup.

[Clemenza]

That's a little different from the increasing numbers of people the Mrs. and I meet at the local national forest campsites who just move their squalor wagons from place to place. american-made gypsies.

I see more and more such people among the homeless population of New York. While most homeless I see are still of the mentally ill/drug addict variety, I've noticed a lot more hippy/slacker types.

[Minutemen]

Nice, low overhead until the Zephyr Cafe decides to charge him rent for his office.

[OCC]

Park nomad, laptop in tow, calls bushes home

Stay Out The Bushes!

[USNBandit]

Not your average bum. He’s living in an REI Half Dome 2 with a Therma rest sleeping pad. That’s what I take camping