Parislog 73
October 21, 2006

I have as of yet to comprehend how there can be living establishments built on a busy street and left there long enough to become pseudo homes. I find these places with complete setups, beds, chairs, end tables, and food services areas. It hasn’t just happened once. The first one I notice on Ave. General Leclerc was a bed that had cardboard boxes on either end making surfaces for stuff and creating a sort of semi room. The owner of the pad would just hang out there. I never saw him act up or anything but it was all there on the sidewalk. Another one was on Rue d’Alesia. This one had a whole small community of tents and chairs. There was the food and clothes area as well. The fire station was 12 steps away.
These ones are gone now but they were in existence for many months maybe even 6. Now a new one has cropped up in another area of Ave. General Leclerc. This one has nice beds and boxsprings. It has a nice black end table and tarps to cover the beds when it rains. I noticed it when I walked out of the shoe store. There it was on the other side of the sidewalk near the roadway.What I don’t understand is why they get left there so long. What happened to France’s famous social security system that people pay half their wages to? I don’t know if it is half but I know it is a lot. Tax on your purchases is almost 20% and that is after you pay part of your salary to the government.