^^^^This^^^^ it was not until I moved to the west coast (Seattle from Brooklyn and 13 years later the coast of Oregon from upstate NY) that I experienced homeless people and/or other strangers on the street making physical contact and touching me. I find it profoundly disturbing. In NYC if someone puts their hands on you, you are being assaulted. In Seattle a friend and I were sitting outside a coffee house and a homeless person sat in my friend's lap, asking for change, and drank out of my friend's mug! WHAT THE FUCK. I think a lot of it has to do with mental illness, but there has to be more to it as I am sure there are people, homeless or otherwise, on the streets on the east coast that do not touch people.

Again, in NYC if a mentally ill person was touching you, you were being assaulted (like the homeless man that bashed a girl over the head with a brick or the schizophrenic who pushed a woman off the subway platform, or the myriad of sick fucks on the subway who expose themselves or commit other acts of sexual assault). Even in a city packed with people, the general rule of behavior is you don't fucking touch people.

Since I became disabled it is actually worse. People feel free to touch me and/or my mobility aids without asking. And if I happen to fall or am in distress, people run over and start yanking on my arms and body like they are helping me when they are actually harming me. I have literally had to yell at people to not touch me and not grab me and not yank on my arms and please let me ASK for assistance if I need it.

Welcome to the effects of "tolerance" and "not demonizing the homeless" in Portland, Christina Rae. When people get away with this kind of shit, with no consequences, it only emboldens them, just as racists are emboldened by Trump to be more brazen with their words and actions.

As for the high five guy, this is why you donate to shelters and other organizations, and don't hand out money to individuals - there are inevitably scammers out there willing to play on people's sympathies who then cause people to become disillusioned about the act of helping, which ruins it for everyone.