Good News or Bad News?

Tonight I went into San Francisco - something I don't do enough now that I live in the burbs - and went to see Richard Price speak. He was terrific, and Michael Chabon did a fantastic job interviewing him and, frankly, letting Price just run with it.

But that's not the point of this post. When I was parking my car, two homeless people were crossing the street, a man and a woman. In that part of town, it's not all that rare and I almost didn't notice them - until I looked a bit closer at the woman.

I'm fairly certain it's the same woman I've now seen, homeless and on the street and begging, for almost 18 years.

In one sense that's insanely tragic, that this woman hasn't been able to break this horrible cycle. In another sense, it's nice to know she's not dead.

Good news, or bad news?