A post we received over the holiday break:

I decided to take a different tactic in handling one of the “hey, baby” homeless guys outside. My normal response is to get angry and curse, but my new method had very different results.

One of the homeless men sitting on the street said “Hey, baby, happy holidays.” Instead of losing my temper, I said, “Please don’t call me baby, but happy holidays to you, too.”

“How about ‘young lady’ then?” he said.
“That works,” I said with a smile.
“Happy holidays, young lady,” he said.
“Thanks, you too,” I said.

I also noticed women reacting differently to the homeless men who sit in front of Banana Republic at M & Wisconsin. One of the men said “Happy holidays, pretty ladies,” and instead of responding with disgust the women smiled and returned a “happy holidays” back.

The holiday spirit is really in the air.

Submitted by anonymous on 12/22/2009

Location: Wisconsin Ave (near PNC Bank)