Francis

Via Flickr:
I was walking along Market Street, taking pictures of buses loading and unloading passengers as they pulled into their stops. He approached me from the side while I was waiting for the next photo op and and asked, "Sonny, wanna buy a bagel?" I looked over and he was dragging a large plastic bag full of bagels, which he said he received from a bakery at the end of the day. When I told him I wasn't interested in a bagel but I'd give him $2 if he let me take his picture and told me a little about himself, he readily agreed and set down his bag of bagels.

Francis Gallagher began his story by emptying his sling bag and telling me about its contents. His identification showed he was a disabled veteran who served in the marines in Vietnam. It was there he became mentally disabled and has since never held a job. He showed me a book on fortune telling from a regular deck of cards and was prepared to test it out on me. And he showed me a book of "Homeless Poems" that he claimed he authored.

Francis is 64 years old and has been in San Francisco since 1982. He's originally from Detroit and we talked a bit about midwesterners. I asked him about family and he's never been married. His parents lived in Pennsylvania when he was very young and his dad worked in the coal mines but died from black lung disease when Francis was 12. He didn't talk much about his mom other than to say she was a sophisticated woman.

Francis could have gone on a long time, but folks started to come around due to the sweet smell of bagels, so I thought that would be a good time to make an exit. I gave him $2 and wished him luck.

Taken 3/14/13