The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 50 - Ugly Laws

Episode Date: January 17, 2015

Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine US ugly laws. SOURCESTOUR DATES REDBUBBLE MERCHPATREON

When you're staying at an Airbnb you might be like me wondering could my place be an Airbnb and if it could what could it earn? You could be sitting on an Airbnb and not even know it. That in-law sweet guest house where your parents stay only part-time Airbnb it and make some money the rest of the year whether you could use a little extra money to cover some bills or for something a little more fun. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.ca slash host. Welcome to the dollop my name is Dave Anthony each week I read a story from

American history to my friend. Gareth Reynolds who has no idea what the topic is about. You don't? No Dave I go in nice and cold. Girl you better believe it girl. Do you want to look who to do? I'll do one bottle. People say this is funny. Not Gary Gareth. Dave okay. Someone or something is tickling people. Is it for fun? And this is not going to come to tickle you quite good. Okay. You are queen fakie of made-up town. All hell queen shit of Liesville. A bunch of religious virgins go to mingle and do my thing. Hi Gary. No. I see you done my friend. No. No. No. First of all I want to thank Christine Shenton who has been doing research. I

want to thank her too. She researched this one. Okay. I don't know if one would happen this week because I've been so busy with the writing the Marins. The Maron episodes. Are you pulling your dick? Yeah I pulled my dick a little. Is that cool? No. Should we stop and just. You want to. Oh I want to cry. Well can I just say that I really enjoy doing this with you. Not a lot. Not according to what just happened. A lot. Oh okay I get it. You can't even look at me now. It was just an itch. Leviticus 21. It's just skin. Oh sorry. It's just skin. Well that's the sad thing is that it is just skin. I know right. Leviticus 21 the Lord said to

Moses for the generations to come none of your descendants who has a defect may come near to offer the food of his God. No man who is blind or lame disfigured or deformed. No man with a crippled foot or hand or who is a hunchback or a dwarf or who has an any eye defect or has festering or running sores or damaged testicles because of his defect he must not approach the altar and so desecrate my sanctuary. I am the Lord who makes them holy and out. It sounds like a cool guy. That's just the Lord. That's just cool. Just fucking send down rules and shit. Only the pretty. You know me. And then the Lord said only the

pretty. No no no no no. You are not getting into this club mister. Hey this is from the Lord. This just in it's not 1970. Come on. Get out. During the 16th century Christians such as Martin Luther and John Calvin said that the mentally retarded and other persons with disabilities were possessed by evil spirits. These men and other religious leaders of the time often subjected people with disabilities to mental and or physical pain as a means of exercising the spirits. Boy I mean you you think that it's hard to have a mental disease now. Oh yeah. Where you just got to figure it out. People are

constantly trying to like relay the information in a way that you'll understand as opposed to you're treated like a monster for not understanding. It's called depression. Get that out of you. Depression is it. Therapy. All right. Is it depression or your right testicle. No. What. We're gonna remove it and find out. I mean yeah it's fucked up. I mean it's fun. A guy with Down syndrome and they're doing fucking exorcisms on him. Yeah. That sounds I bet he understood what was going on too. In the early days of the American colonies people with disabilities who were dependent on

others were usually forced to return to England. Honestly after my last trip that makes a lot of sense. My boy was born without an arm. Back you go. All right farewell. Thanks for having me been fun. I'd wave but I'm carrying a bag. Many colonial Americans shunned people who suffered from physical and mental difficulties but it was the less severe the affliction the more accepted they were in the new world. Accidents genetic diseases and illnesses rendered many people disabled to a different degree. Those who suffered most severely from debilitating disabilities were

frequently treated with segregation. Families often kept family members with disabilities at home hidden behind closed doors particularly those who suffered from mental illness. Early Americans who did not have families to help them just went homeless. Jesus. So it's a good time. So you're cruising around and then just someone who's got like spina bifida just cruises by homeless. What is spina bifida? Is that the right one? That's one of them. Is that one thing where you get disabled by? Yes that is a bad thing. Yeah it's a fucked up. Yeah your spines all fucked up. Yes it's a curvy bad spine. People who could

not support themselves were put up for bid at public option auction. Who? What world is this though where you're like like these are the worst people don't give them homes like I'll give you five bucks for that freak. How about we sell them he can't see. Yes who sells them. Well who buys them. Well yeah who has a system where this is happening. My brother down there he does slave auctions he sells Africans I sell the disabled. Oh cool so which one's mom's favorite. The one with the the one I have a leg. Hey hoppy. Hey Dave do you want to buy a bag of my garbage. Sure. Okay that's the same thing. Hey we're terrible. No but

that is the same system they set up. It is the same thing. Like if they they're like this is trash. Hey buy trash. Well okay so it was an unusual type of auction though the popper so the popper is the poor disabled. Right. You know that because you're from England. Yes. The popper was sold to the lowest bidder. What. I bid 20. I bid four. I bid nothing. Sold to the nothinger. Wait that's not an auction. The person who would agree. Wait a minute. The person who would agree to provide room and board for the lowest price and it would be paid for by the state. Okay. Okay. Pretty cool right. Well yeah it's like a tax break. That's

like a horrid tax break. Yeah the person who won the contract got the use of the labor of the popper for free in return for feeding clothing housing and providing health care for his or her family and the popper. One is a really nice way of putting it. I won this. I want a nightmare. What is that an elephant man. Yeah he's gonna live in the attic. Yeah he's gonna live in the attic while people throw rotten bread at him. But we're gonna charge 50 cents each for the rotten bread. I love you. This was a form of indentured servitude. Their welfare depended almost entirely upon the kindness and

fairness of the bidder. If he was motivated only by a desire to make the maximum profit off the use of the popper he might be denied adequate food or safe and comfortable shelter or even necessary medical treatment. Like could it just be tied up to a rope outside. A crapshoot. I mean it's really like you know it's like getting born but you're a grown-up. And there was no like recourse for there wasn't like social services in the 1680s. No. No you. Hello we're here to check on your blind person. How's your popper. You're feeding them nice. He's very bruised. Yeah he keeps falling down. He keeps running into stairs and whatnot. He's a real wobbly

popper he is. He's got the one leg so he's fallen down a lot. He hits me. Yeah he said I'm so odd. He says I hit him. Yeah he keeps that keeps coming out of his head. Can't trust him though. Look at him. He's a simple feeble minded one yeah. Anyway 50 cents looking and we use cents. You want to toss a berry in his mouth that's a dollar. What in his arse for two. Wow. I don't know is that kind of place. I didn't know it was an asbury toss. Come on stick around toss a berry in his arse. Welcome to the asbury. Welcome to the hotel asbury. Go out back you'll see where we got the name. It's on a leash. Don't like it master. He likes it. He's just playing a

game he is. He likes it. He loves a berry. We call it dingle berry we do. We've come up with that. This is the episode that sends us to hell. Straight up. I mean in the 1700s larger cities in colonial America began erecting alms houses or poor houses. They were funded by the counties or charitable organizations. The colony of New York had poor houses in Albany and New York City as early as 1650. OK. Overseas roam the streets looking for homeless people while others volunteers voluntarily suck shutters. I just love those guys. Yeah. Are you poor. No. I'm a millionaire doing an experiment. Not those around. Not for you. Off you go. Go around. Just see. You look a bit wobbly. You handicapped. What are you doing. No. I sprained

my ankle. Get in the van. What. Get in the. What the fuck's a van. Sorry. Get in the carriage. What we driving. From the future. Christ. Get the fuck's capacitor Larry. We're we're through. The poor houses were frequently van. The van. Also I've invented a van. The poor houses were frequently work or work houses for criminals. So people with disabilities were housed with the poor the homeless and the criminals. God. Everyone worked in the poor houses sowing weaving and farming and returned for food and shelter. 1727 saw the first House of Corrections in Connecticut for quote all rogues vagabonds and idle persons going about town or country begging or common

pipers fiddlers runaways drunkards wanton and lewd persons railers or brothers also persons under distraction to go get a water and unfit to go at large whose friends do not take care for their safe confinement. What. This is a crew. I just want to know why they're putting the fiddlers away. Yeah. Fiddler running. It's like Logan's run out there for fiddlers. Get off the roof now. Right. That's it. You're banned. You're going to the house with the common pipers. You're going to go live with criminals. Now wait. No. I'm a fiddler. My fiddlers broken. Right. You are fiddler then. Get in the house. Just a lot of sounds like

a reality show. This house is 1755. An act for maintaining the poor in Virginia directed all poor house inmates to wear a blue green or red cloth badge that identified them as wards of the county. Sometimes in the shape of a P to be worn on the right sleeve near the shoulder quote in an open and visible manner. I love what we used to label people literally literally that's insane. Hey poor person put this on your fucking heart. It's the scarlet letter. She's a whore. Everyone must know this woman's a huge whore. Anyone who neglected or refused to wear the badge could be whipped and lose his food allowance. You don't want

to be labeled poor. Well now you're not eating all day. I'm going to beat you with this game. Put a D on him for dead because we're going to starve him and beat him. The poor houses continued in America for a couple of centuries. The first of what would be known as ugly laws appeared in San Francisco, California in 1867. Is that on query from the strike? Yes. It was. Quote no person shall whether by look ward sign or deed practice begging in any of the streets highways or thoroughfares of the city and county of San Francisco nor in any public place on the conviction of any person for practicing men debt men

decancy or begging if it shall appear that such person is without means of support and infirm and physically unable to earn a livelihood they may be committed to the poor house. Any person who was diseased, maimed, mutilated or in any way deformed so as to be unsightly or disgusting shall not expose himself or herself to public view on the conviction of any person for a violation of these provisions. If it shall seem proper and just the fine and imprisonment may be omitted and such a person sent to the poor house. It is hereby the duty of police officers to arrest any person who shall violate any of the provisions of

this section. So that's pretty cool. Excuse me. Where's your nose? Where's your nose? I don't know. It's on the left, yeah? Yeah. It's under your eye, your left eye? Yeah. What are you doing outside then? Going to jail. Yes you are. Going straight to jail. How dare you. Let me tell you something. Eye under the nose under the eye man. I'd look at you. Is it not normal? It's not normal at all. All right. You've changed the thing. You know we've all been calling you freak nose man. All right, sorry. Why would you think we're calling you that? Because you had a good nose? For we friends. You're going to jail. Fuck. An ugly law was then passed in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Just so you know, the ugly law is now something we're saying pretty regularly and normally. The ugly law. Well, it was passed in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1879. Offences include wandering abroad and endeavoring by the exposure of wounds or deformities to obtain and gather alms. But so just the idea is just everyone dies? Look at my hold. Yeah. Look at my hold and my arm. I have some money. No, you can go to jail. Are you going to go to the doctor? Can't. Might be seen. Need money. Time to die. Portland, Oregon, 1881. If any crippled man or deformed person shall beg upon the streets or in any public place they shall upon conviction before the police court be fined not less than twenty dollars, nor more than two hundred dollars.

Great. So if you're if you're just a crippled guy and you're like, hey, I need some money, you'd be like, well, no, you better get more money. Nope. Because now you're one hundred and fifty dollars. So fuck yourself. Bye. Oh, welcome to the century of no empathy. Fun, isn't it? How you guys getting along? Not good. Chicago, Chicago Tribune, 1881. Quote, Councilman Peavey has prepared an ordinance which he will submit to the council. It objects to its object is to abolish street obstructions. The ordinance stamps him as a public benefactor. He proposes to abolish the woman who pedals pups in a basket, the fellow who pedals flowers in a wagon, the woman with two sick children who was drawn through a carting machine in a woolen mill and

grinds molly darling andcessantly on a hurdy-gurdy, a hand cranked instrument on a street corner, the fellows who yell bananas and all our nuisances, including beggars of all classes, and especially the organ grinder. The alderman wants to leave the question open as to allow a specific one leg and one armed soldier to permit to grind an organ. Okay, that law was very specific. Super specific. A very crazy law. A very crazy law. It really pinpointed the people and who they were and allowed a guy with one arm and one leg to keep grinding his organ. What a crazy loophole. Yep. Okay, everybody's fucked except for Larry. Okay, I'm fucked by God. Yeah, but you can now grind an organ Larry. Everyone else is rounded up and put in the

poor house. You get all the begging because the guy with one arm is like, give me a sword. No, you still have the leg though. So you're gonna go to jail. I'll cut the leg off. No, but you didn't lose it. I don't think so. It's a shame. Say hi to the lady who was drawn through a carting machine in a woolen mill. Tell her, hey, was drawn through a carting machine in a woolen mill. That sounds horrible. What does that even mean? Now she has two sick children and she grinds Molly darling on a hand cranked instrument. But she went through the thing? She went into like and she went into a machine and now she's all fucked up. And her husband was like, I'm out of here. This is 1881. Yeah. I mean, this is not that far. No, God. No, it's not. No, America's

America's horrible history is so, so not that far in the past. It's just in 1881. We weren't the first civilization. How are we doing this? In 1882, the immigration act was the first comprehensive immigration law enacted by the federal government. The act outlined categories of undesirables who would be barred entry to the United States. The act prohibited the entry of any convict lunatic, idiot or any person. I'm down with this little no idiots. That's an amazing immigration policy. That's such a that's such a sort of subjective term. Oh, yeah. I mean, you keep the point is that you can reach that conclusion without like any scholastic. He's just kind of seems dim. Get him out of here. Who's your favorite? Who's your favorite

football club over there in England? Manchester United. You fucking idiot. Get him out of here. No. So any person that could not take care of himself without becoming a public charge would be a denied entry. Okay. This law was already in the books on the books in several states and now became a federal law. The quote public charge doctrine served to bar arriving foreigners who could not show the financial ability to support themselves. At the time, the status could be assigned to any number of people, including pregnant or single women, the disabled, the sick or the poor and fiddlers and fiddlers. Foreigners denied entry were returned to their starting points at the expense of the shipowners. Okay. And bullshit. Shipowners

thrown over in the middle of the ocean is what they were. No one brought them back. Oh, yeah. No, we'll bring you back to England. Well, or shit. Jesus. Jesus. Or shit. Also, what happened at what's Americans fucking will take? You're tired. You're hungry. Yeah. None of that's true. Asterix idiots. But take your time. You're poor. You're hungry. Not your idiots. Not your gut. Your dummies go overboard. Keep your fucking idiots Bulgaria. 1892, Massachusetts. Vessels bringing passengers to any port in this Commonwealth are under the supervision of the state board of lunacy and charity. Jesus Christ. The state board of loot. What is this? Is this a cartoon? It's like a cartoon.

The state board of the state board. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's just using mud as a gavel. We're the state board of lunacy. And I'm going to close the meeting by picking up this duck and hitting with a hammer quack. We find you crazy. The state board of lunacy and charity to enforce. Order, order. Let's get down to serious business. We are the state board of lunacy. Pull my finger. All the provisions of the law concerning the bringing of strangers and aliens by sea into this Commonwealth, the landing of any such passengers is not expressly prohibited, but the insane, idiotic, deaf and dumb, blind, deformed or main persons cannot be so landed

until the state is secure against their support in the sum of $1,000 for each passenger. So, if you were blind, deaf or insane, okay, I ain't saying I get like, yeah, but if you're blind or deaf or, you know, you're dumb or you're maimed, you got to come with a check. You got to bring like a grand. You got to bring a grand to get in. America, the Conference of Charities, 1889. The 16th annual Conference of Charities was held in San Francisco in 1889. The number of states with representatives at the conference was 15. The number of representatives over was over 80. The following reports and papers were presented on charity organization. The insane, on public aid for the feeble-minded, on employment in poor houses, on the care and disposal of dependent children.

I'm sorry, the last, okay. Disposal? You said disposal, right? How will you dispose of your children? I was going to raise them. That's not what this lecture's about. It's about disposing of them. Oh, no, wait, you can care for them, too. But a lot of this is going to be about disposing of them. I'll burn them. I guess I'll just burn them. At the conference, Dr. Halcy Wyman read a paper on, quote, the inmates of Michigan poor houses. He divided them into various classes, the old and childless, the idiotic, the shiftless, and others. His categories are phenomenal. Okay, idiots are like, too. Who's shiftless? Hey, lazy fucks. All right, you guys just we'll start a line there. You guys don't move. Yeah, we have to shift. Yes, I said a line.

Why are you? You're all around the road. The one third evil associations, hard times and the mortgage on the farm were ascribed as the causes of popperism. Some older parents with thankless children find their way to the poor house. And in these cases, efforts were made to have the adult children assist in the support of their parents. A recent law gives the bodies of the deceased poppers to the hospitals. And this has had the effect of decreasing the number of inmates for children will do what they can to keep the bodies of their parents from the dissecting table. Jesus Christ. Fuck, they were studying how to do medical. So they were just yeah, their bodies were hard to come by. Yeah, so they were just so they were like, well, if you're poor, we're

just going to give your fucking body away. Yeah, but I have a family. Nope, you were living here when you died to get the money away. Really kind of want to cut you up a lot. Doctor, I have another idiot body. Well, I got another moron. In Los Angeles, the Fila math club asked the city council to what the deformed in institutions, the Fila math. Okay. I don't know what that means. I don't but I think you said like foot and mouth. I probably sounded like that. Yeah, it's Fila math. It's P H I L O M A T H. So I guess they're got it. I'm guessing they're super into math. Yeah. I mean, I should have looked up Fila math. No, look it up right now. Okay. It was a woman's social club. Sure. They were growing impatient at the city council for neglecting to keep its promise made

to women to clean the downtown streets of beggars, the site of so many maimed and deformed beggars on the city streets, the members argue has a depressing and interest effect on the passerby. Oh, God, what happened? So fucking God, it's just so I go shopping. It's just so that's seeing a man without an arm. It's just so horrible. So selfish. Oh, I'm sorry, your eyes hurt, you'll be coming to jail. I know, no, you're blind. No, we heard you very clearly. No, they're not. They're coming with us with the one arm. Oh, God, we didn't even see him there. Oh, no, no, no, no, he doesn't have a leg either. He's a grinder. Oh, yeah, he's just drunk and has fallen just like the city of Chicago said, if you have one arm and one leg, you can grind. Oh, it's a Greek

philos as in philosophy. Oh, so it's a sorority, a lover of learning. Sure. Oh, they're clearly lovers of learning. Oh, they sound really, really great. Rosemary Garland Thomas, a disability studies professor, professor, argued for the Field of Math Club, that the ugly laws maintain control over not only the unsightly citizens, but also control the etiquette that characterized civilized society. In other words, the laws attempted to create a way for proper citizens to not have to be rude to the less fortunate. You know, now that you put it like that, yeah, it does seem nice of the citizen. She wrote, while these laws try to limit the nuisance of beggars, a stronger concern seems to be to rid public places of people who will incite staring. It is less about the act of

begging than the act of viewing as the law does not forbid giving them money. It forbids looking at them like anti prostitution laws. Ugly laws are intended to save us from ourselves. It honestly, like the only mild redeeming factor of the law has now been removed, which is the aggressive begging. Which again, to me seems like it's okay because you literally just have to say no. But now we're saying like we're too lazy to just look up. Look, I need a law because when I'm walking on the street and my head is straight forward, and I see a person like say, Jerry, who got caught in the rice grinder and half his face is gone. I see that and I don't like that. Now, have you ever thought about how Jerry feels? He went through the rice machine. Well, he shouldn't have done that. Yes,

but have you ever thought about what it's like to be him with that deformity? Yeah, I wouldn't want to be outside. He should be inside. Right. I wouldn't want him to see the look in my eyes, which is, oh my God, what a giant walking piece of shit. Okay, so it is, it is empathy. That's very sweet of you. You're very nice. You are welcome. Also, your breath's horrible. The San Francisco call, March 8, 1895. Okay. Headline, glaring eyesores on our streets. Repulsive beggars that are a disgrace to this city. Many of the beggars possess considerable property. Their presence is illegal. I'm glad it's not not that. Cripples and alms seekers may be kept from public places. Today's editorial. Yeah, I mean, but that's not even an editorial, right? That's just

how articles were written. It's just like a crazy man shouting. The street beggars of San Francisco are a disgrace to the community. They are unlawful parasites and they are frequently lawless. They have become an eyesore to the inhabitants and they are shocking sites to visitors. The matter in which the blind and the maimed and the pretended cripples beg has reached such a pitch that a person cannot hardly pass a street corner without suddenly coming upon a site, not only revolting to delicate women, but sickening to strong men. The blind have their stationary location, but the cripples cripples hobble about getting in the way of persons so as to purposefully block their path. If refused money, a curse and frequently blows with crutches follow.

I mean, it's like a war out there. Yeah, it's like a war on the street. Yeah, it's real tough, real tough to be a pedestrian. That the sight of a hideously blinded woman glaring up at a young lady would cause the latter to faint sounds like a tale of the imagination. But such an occurrence took place recently at the foot of the stairs leading to a photography gallery on post street. Women are frequently seriously startled by the sudden appearance of a deformed man, and men are greatly harassed by the great army of cripples and wrecks who have cost follow and persist in harassing. This state of affairs would not exist if the laws were enforced. The law is planned on the subject, and if the police officers were only instructed to do their duty,

the streets would be cleared of its hideous sights and its vicious poppers within 24 hours, even those deserving of charity would be far better off in a properly conducted poor house that on the street. Well, cool. Real cool. Well, this is what you realized that the people who are in our society now, the Rush Limbaugh's, yeah, they it's yeah, it's the exact same. Yeah, it's not if it's one. Yeah, it's the exact same person. Well, and totally. And the idea like how how you are able to talk about what it's like to look at a blind person and see your side of that. Oh, no, how you look at a blind person and go, I feel bad, that person should be in jail. And they get you're complaining about sight, a thing that this person

doesn't have. Yeah. We're in agreement, they should be put in jail. Okay, so I thought I didn't know what you're behind bars, they can't see. The San Francisco Agri and poor law was very plain. The law was made for the purpose of keeping beggars off the street and the poor house was created for the purpose of giving the unfortunate a home. Citizens were tacked for the support of the poor. But many beggars were sent to jail or the poor house for a few days or weeks and then allowed to return to the street again. Okay, so great doesn't make any sense. No, nobody wins. Why would you allow someone who was blind to not be locked up forever? Yeah. Yeah. The newspapers pushed the story that the many unfortunate had money saved up and many of those who were in need

they're great investors. Yeah, the man who's licking the wall, he's really shrewd on the market. Clearly have property. Look at him. Why would he be laying in his own filth? Look, I understand he's eating his friend's pocket, but I'm telling you this guy gets it. He's very, he's from a very wealthy background. I understand he's laying down because he doesn't have feet but he's clearly a hedge fund manager. Look, I understand the man whose brain's leaking out of his head and urinating in his own mouth looks like he's in a bad situation. He's got a house. He's from gold. He's from gold. He's from gold this guy. Straight from gold. Yeah. The newspapers pushed the story that the unfortunate have money saved up and many of those who are in need were in that condition because

of their own vices. They were confirmed drunkers who did everything they could to keep out of the poor house. Dismissed was the premise that the blind crippled and infirm would rather be selling pencils because it did not make them the objects of charity. Okay. Yeah. Right. They the blind are like, can I just sell pencils? Yeah. No. Can I sell pencils? No. And no, I have to look at you. No. Okay. Here's the catch on that. I got to look at you. So what's the problem? Not really seeing it. Yeah. Not really seeing it. Yeah. By the way, you're probably pretty empathetic with the idea that we're not really seeing it. I wish you could see you. I can because it is so upsetting. If you, I know you don't have eyes, but I wish I could give you sight for one minute so you can see what

you look like. Well, then you can see what you look, but if we can take a picture of you, give you sight. You look at you. Okay. See, I'm losing myself now. Hey, where'd she go? That's the cursing I was talking about. So you're off to the no. The truth, according to those publishing their removal was that the crippled preferred life on the streets and the chance to have a glass of beer and whiskey whenever they wanted it instead of being confined to a regular routine at a large charitable institution. And to that I say, of course, yeah, I would rather be out where I can have a beer instead of locked up in a house with criminals with criminals. Yeah. It was the desire to do as they please, which made them all want to beg for a living. If the

laws weren't enforced, the streets were littered with the hideously blind, the shockingly deformed and the sickeningly infirm. The police were often stopped from doing their duty by the sympathies of people. If a policeman arrested a beggar, crowd would often abuse the officer for imposing upon a poor unfortunate and the policeman would then let the beggar go. Okay. So there's normal people out on the streets. Yeah, like that. Who were like, what the fuck are you doing? And there's a bunch of rich assholes passing these laws. My woman was offended. It sounds like it sounds like now except all we're missing is the actual fight back. Quote the San Francisco call newspaper, the majority of beggars are cripples. And curiously enough, these are given

more money than the blind, though the loss of sight is considered the greater misfortune. Still, the cripple can look appealingly at a passerby and the blind man is virtually also dumb and deaf. Most of the cripples have met with the loss of limbs through their own viciousness. The majority when possessed of a sound body were tramps who have fallen while drunk from the brake beams on trains and escaped with their lives by the loss of their limbs. Nearly all of their money goes for drink. And many are addicted to drinking Chinatown gin, a drink which puts a man into a semi unconscious sleep for a couple of hours. There we go. That sounds good. It sounds all right. Police Officer Peter Richter,

whose beat is on Carney Street, became known for arresting the poor and disabled and unattractive. Now, is Carney Street? Kearney. Okay. He made it a small crusade of his own. So, Peter Richter is like, I'm gonna take care of business. Yeah. Andy Richter's great, great grandfather. Really? No. Oh, okay. Keep moving. Thanks for that. Yep. The almost blind organ grinder with a head and a face of a dried skull who used to sit on corners along Carney Street was carted away. Do you want me to read that again? Yeah. The almost blind organ grinder. Okay. Got that one? Yeah. With a head and face of a dried skull. Are you still with me? No. Because now we're in the movie Hellraiser. What does it even mean?

Is he Ghost Rider? It's just a condition that some people have. What's skullatitis? You've never heard of dried skull? What is this dried skull? What is it? Jerky head? Yes. Technically, it's called jerky head. Okay. I know about jerky head. You got that little packet that comes with their head. You're not supposed to eat it. That's right. Yeah. Oh, this is the street I would be taking to work. Are you fucking kidding me? Have you seen the guy with the dried head? Dude. With the organ grinder? Listen, take Carney. Take Carney. Everyone's blind, lost a limb, and this organ grinder is from hell. You don't have to pay to go to a freak show. No. Just walk down Carney, man. Just walk down Carney. Cops are beating the shit out of blind people.

The junk and blind Indian Andrew with the sickening red eyeballs who played a harmonica and ran wildly through the streets was put in the poor house. I almost the craziest part there is that it's a Native American named Andrew. Where's your authenticity? I think you probably picked that one up. So you didn't have to tell people's real name. Smokawa Hija. Runs from friend. Runs from friend grinder. Runs from everybody. Richter took care of two well known beggars. One of the one of the boys was legless. The other stood behind him and played an accordion. Oh, well, that's a disability in its own right. So so the one guy just sits there. Yeah.

Yeah. Like like a lump. Yeah. And the other guy plays the accordion. Yeah. They're both going to jail. Do you think you like bobbed around? Yeah. Yeah. Of course. So it was like a little lightless dance. Yeah. Yeah. That's exactly. He was like, dude, look, I can't do it without you. He's the drummer. He's the drummer. After they got their the money begging, they would head for the dives on missing street and consort with the lowest whites and Negroes. I'd be consorting with them too. Yeah. Three of San Francisco's. Oh, I can't read this. Oh, this is one of those auto correct things. Oh, so three of San Francisco's worse were also dealt with by Officer Richter. I bet that's what it said. Okay. They were John Kinloch,

Joseph Kaley and Dick Bannister. It's a good name. Dick Bannister is a strong name. He's got to be a PI. Yeah. Right. I picture that's what a porn director has on his way up the stairs. Yeah. You're dealing with Dick Bannister, ladies. Zip flop. You're about to be banished to the poor house. Bannister was banished. Dick banished. He was an armless man who played a hand organ. He wore sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I do not mean to cut you off, David. But yes, there's probably a better occupation for this man than a hand organist. We're talking about a guy who never gave up. He's a professional applauser. He was an armless man who played a hand organ. He wore leather bands on the stumps of his arms and connected the handle of the organ

with the stump to his right arm. Bannister was known as a loathsome drunkard and was compelled to leave the city by the officer. Well, that's not really compulsory. Joseph Kaley was a blind Mexican boy who robbed a store at midnight and was caught by accident. Okay. I don't mean to jump in the middle again. But how is a blind man robbing? I know. Switch jobs. They were magical back then. They had magical powers. Give me all your money. I'm over here. Also, you're in the garden. Okay. Give me all your money. Yeah, he's robbing a houseplant. He's right over there. Okay. Okay, now he's robbing a horse. Okay, now he fell over. He can't get up. He can't find his gun. Okay, he's robbing the gutter. Okay, he's actually robbing his own gun right now.

I don't even know what he's doing. He's fighting his gun. I think he thinks there's a man behind it. He's with a friend who's got no arms and plays instruments. The most vicious beggar was known to the police of San Francisco as John Kinloch. He only had one leg and one arm. But the stump of his right leg cut off at the knee was a dangerous weapon. Jesus Christ. He's a stump warrior. This guy should have been in UFC. Yeah, right? A stump. With the stump, Kinloch, while standing on crutches, would strike men vicious blows in the abdomen, almost knocking them senseless. He's like a kangaroo. Kinloch's habit was to walk the streets, get in the way of men and women,

and stay there as long as possible. He was pretty much drunk all the time. When refused money on the street, he would hit men with the stump of his leg or his crutch. And to women who passed him, he would accost with the most vulgar language. Well, okay, this guy. I like him. This guy sounds like a bit of a troublemaker. Yeah. When you call what he's doing a habit. It's his thing. Yeah. It's called an occupation. Police never succeeded in catching Kinloch until one night in 1893. Kinloch and another man got a drunk man who had money on him to leave a Barbary Coast Saloon and go with them to Gold Street, which was a little alley. Well, that guy is looking to get robbed.

Uh, hey, uh, you want to go with me in this one armed one legged guy down to the alley? Well, I just met you and I'm not used to doing something like this, but you guys seem cool. And this alley sounds pretty cool. So can you lead him? He doesn't have any eyes. Yeah, for sure. Let me just put my travelers checks inside of this suit pocket right in there. Yep. I'm going to slice your tongue off. I'm sorry. The last part again, slice your tongue off. As soon as they were in the dark spot of the alley, Kinloch hit the victim over the head with his crotch and knocked him to the ground. He then beat the man senseless with his crotch and left him for dead, taking all the money. Kinloch was convicted and sentenced to five years in

prison. The victim never, never fully recovered. He was an employee at the Presidio and had made money as a lender. After the beating and robbery, the man was never able to work again. And his mind was so deranged that he became very weak mentally and physically. So he off to the poor house. Motherfucker. Is that real? Oh, I was like, that's just what I assume. I would assume that. Why wouldn't you go to the poor house? But you will be hopefully because he stayed behind closed fucking doors. The last thing you want to do is run into the guy who fucking stump fucked you. Yeah, but now they're, now they're one and the same. Yeah, I mean, cool. I killed a new sidekick. He's kind of there. He's kind of like a vampire. He's turning other people into. Right.

Yeah. Yes, except there's a lot of upside to being a vampire, it seems, right? There's a lot of upside to being disabled in San Francisco in the 1880s. I think you're way off base. Another famous beggar in San Francisco is Henry J. Powell, better known as the paralyzed old Xylophone player. I'll see you Dave. Thanks a lot. What the fuck? What? What is his and I'm air quoting occupation? Who stand was at the corner of Sutter and Kearney streets for years? What was his title? He was in England. The paralyzed old Xylophone player. Okay. You're not looking at this, right? A lot of these people are overcoming the most amazing obstacles to do what they love. It seems like if they were to put

all of the options for what they could use their strengths for in a pile, they wouldn't be doing, they would, the last thing they'd be doing is what they're choosing to doing. All of that. No, no, I don't know. I'll rob banks. All right, blind guy. What about you guy with no arms? I'll play the hand organ. Awesome. No tongue guy. I'll taste test. Perfect. Guy you can't hear. I'll be a music critic. What? Powell was an Englishman who was 72 years old. For many years, the white haired man was was was walked by was passed by thousands on the street. Looking upon him was described as almost sickening. Each day he was struggled from his room to his place on Kearney street.

He could hardly drag his distorted legs along the ground. One foot was moved after the other foot very slowly while the face of the old man would peer looking for money from people passing by. By 1995, by 1895, no longer did he play the xylophone because his hands were too badly afflicted. The San Francisco call described him his daily actions are generally the same after plainfully dragging himself. Sorry, after painfully dragging himself to his stand, he sits down, rubs his aching hands with liniment, and then overcome with that peculiar stupor of old age which foretells death, he falls asleep. The policeman on Kearney street have to raise him up and awaken him frequently and they expect to pick up a corpse someday. Though possessed of wealth,

Powell has no enjoyment of it. Having been swindled all his life, he is fearful for that which he has left and though he is still rich enough to secure comfortable quarters, he lives in a dingy dingy hole, eats but a mouthful and drags himself out to gain a few dimes. He has a large number of number of people as regular contributors, some give him 10 cents a day, others 25 or 50 cents a week so they're like subscribers. Yeah. In the past, a large number of persons used to give him $1 every Monday morning. Powell has about $2,000 in the bank. That's okay. Neither Powell nor his quote banker, Charles S. Fetchheimer of the Plaza Store, 706 Kearney. That's very direct. Yeah. That's a very, this is where this guy lives. Yeah. Here's the rest. Here's the gentleman

that I want you to go fuck with. Fetch and Heimer will tell just what Powell has, but they state that it is about that sum. Mr. Fetchheimer has taken care of the old man's money for 10 years and is now trying to make arrangements to get him from his miserable surroundings to a place of quiet and comfort. Okay. After the newspaper reported this, Mr. Fetchheimer came forward the next day to explain that Powell was trying, he was trying to get Powell to get a bank account and make interest on his money. The amount of the money that he actually had was $590. Okay. The old man ought to be in a home said Mr. Fetchheimer. He has no right to be on the streets or I have tried for a long time to obtain his permission to get him into

institution. He is certainly an eyesore to the public thoroughfares. So I look at the guy that's taking care of him is also like, he's really ugly. Yeah. No friends. No friends. No friends. No friends. The one guy who's in your side is like, look, I hear you. He's a fucking disgusting monster. Holy shit. Get some legs. By the way, he's not as rich as you think. I mean, he's got some money, but Christ look at the thing. He's my buddy though. Anyway, we go way back. I'm going to be sick. You should see him play with his xylophone. I'm going to be sick on his xylophone. Throw it up on your xylophone. Oh God. Andrew Hassel was another well-known beggar. He was Norwegian and described as a very ugly looking beggar. I mean, that is really saying something. Just describing you

as straight up ugly. We wouldn't have lasted 10 minutes back then. We would be transported in time and then we would just be vomiting and then we'd fall over and cry. For a second, I thought you were going to say we'd be on Kearney Street. You're not bringing me with you on this voyage, but man. Hassel, his feet had been frozen off in Alaska. He walked around on his knees carrying a number of trinkets in a basket. Even though he was in such a state, he managed to provide for himself and a woman known as Nelly Mullins. They were nearly always drunk and continually fighting. They lived in a room with the notorious Jesse Street lodging house. It was considered to be one of the vilest of all classless consorts, Negroes and whites together. They have a problem with

black people and white people being together in establishments. Because it's blacks and lowest whites. Lowest whites. It's not just white people. They may as well call them like black whites. There's blacks and then there's black whites. Everybody's just shitfaced. Oh, they're fucking drunk. I would be too if I had like one arm and be like, I'm going to get plowed today. What are you tomorrow? I'm going to get plowed tomorrow. What are you going to do? Well, I'm going to get drunk so I don't think about when I had feet before I went to Alaska. Oh my god. Why didn't I wear shoes? I'm Norwegian. I should have known. More whiskey. I'm thinking about shoes again. I keep kicking myself ironically.

One of the most. No. Okay. A day after the San Francisco call wrote up their story on the beggars. Mayor Sutro responded. Okay. March 9th, 1895. They are a nuisance and constant violation of the law. I keep expecting one person to be like giving a speech on their behalf. And it's just everybody's it's just an agreement. I say by all fair means, they should be suppressed. These cripples and blind beggars are unfortunate to be sure, but that is no reason why other people, particularly those of a sense of nature, should be made wretched by these sites at all the principal street quarters. If this city is a civilized community, provision should be made for these unfortunate so they can be taken out

of sight and cared for. It's just so great to say that when you're making the point that we're a civilized society. Look, we're all really civilized people. So can we get the ugly ones the fuck out of here? Look, we're all grownups here. Right. Now let's throw all the morons over the side of the boat. Okay. All right. It's over. And hold on. I thought I saw when we threw someone over that's it's someone here missing a pinky. Well, yes, but it's genetic. Yes, over the side. If this city is a civilized community, provision should be made for these unfortunate so they can be taken out of sight and cared for. At the present time, I don't see what can be done with them. The poor house is full. And besides,

most of the street beggars don't want to go there. Now as to the poor house, that needs a thorough overhauling. There are many inside who ought to be out, and there are many out who ought to be in. We could have room for the blind crippled and the deformed creatures who are now on the streets. The city ought to make provisions for all the disabled and incurable persons who have no means of support. Okay, so. So the fucked up people are out. Okay, people are in. Yeah, basically, it's just not working. We've got a fucked up. The whole thing's fucked up. Yeah. Sergeant Whitman, when asked why the supervisor's orders were not enforced and the beggars arrested, said the principal reason is that the officers have

always got the worst of it. Arrests have been made from time to time, but conviction could not be secured. Owners of property in front of which these beggars sit came to the police course and beg that the defendants be let go and left undisturbed. Love it. Okay, so those are the people who like them, the people who see them every day. Yeah. So the guy who owns the building is like, well, that's leaving. That guy's a person. Yeah. That's Jeff. I hated it first, but now I talk to him and I know him as a human being or and so he shouldn't be imprisoned or thrown into a but you could also just have nice people who are just like, yeah, bake here. I'm not gonna be on my fucking property. There were a lot of people giving the money. So there are a

lot of people like, yeah, no, these guys have had a rough fucking go. Yeah, it is. I do find it irritating now when people get really irritated. Like there there are, I mean, it's fucked up, but there are there are crazy homeless people. But the idea that someone is at a traffic light fucking begging like nobody wants to be begging, nobody wants to be begging. And how much does it impede on your life to just look straight? Yeah, just don't look if it really is like that maddening to you. Well, if a guy comes up to me with a sign saying I need money, I usually honk my horn and just start screaming no, you monster. Yeah, yeah, of course. I throw yeah, I throw I mean, I normally have a couple milkshakes in the car just to throw it.

Yeah, right. Old milkshakes, old stale milkshakes. So so the result of these people coming and and getting into court and saying no, they're fine. Yeah, them be was that cases are dismissed. Then and then the cop goes on to say the newspapers used to jump on us to and give us the hail Columbia for arresting poor crippled beggars. I don't know what a real Bronx chair. Of course, this made the officers tired and wary them of all desire to make further arrests and thereby get more abuse. Suppose, for instance, that an officer goes and arrests Henry J. Powell, the paralytic who does business by begging on Kearney Street. There would be no

conviction because a score of people would come to court and intercede for him. They would raise the liveliest kind of row and Powell be discharged by the court or a jury and sent begging again. So OK, there's your people. Yeah, there are people used to try to make a difference. Right. They used to say, no, don't put that person in jail for not having legs. We'll show up and say no, and you'll listen and it'll be a real put them back out on the street with the logs. Please, Captain Douglas, it would be a good and pleasant thing for San Francisco to have no more crippled and deformed mendicants on the street or beggars of any kind for that matter. But it's no easy matter. The poor house was invariably suggested. But as stated by the mayor, that

institution is full from overcrowding. San Francisco Call, January 12th, 1896. There is every likelihood of a lively time in the board of supervisors tomorrow if the Health and Police Commission decides to report in favor of locating the pest house, a home for those suffering from contagious diseases. Oh, Jesus Christ. What? It's just are you are you reacting to the fact that they put people who were suffering from contagious diseases into something called the pest house? There's just there's just a lot to take. I'm a cold. No, you're a pest. Off to the pest house for you. There you go. Spray them down, Larry. Spray them with our weird sauce. Everything's a house too. That's just like it's just all they were doing is like this house is just

for the crazies. The pest house, the insane house, the blind house. Off to you for the footless house. Why are there steps on the footless house? Oh my God, it's a walk up. It's a five floor walk up. Did anybody think about this? I don't know. This should be the crazy house. They call it a crawl up around here. That's all we get out of my sight. The pest house, a home for those suffering from contagious diseases was on the poor house tract of land. That's where they wanted to move. That's where they wanted to locate the pest house. They want to put the pest house on the poor house. So they wanted the poor house and the pest house together. Cool. But Mayor Sutro owns a great deal of property near the poor house and fought the plan

strenuously. Yeah, because of his moral convictions. I don't want the fucking gross, you know. Yeah, I don't want my property value being brought down by people afraid of crazies and blinds. Would you like a description of the Christmas of the poor house? Oh, Dave. 700 men, women and children inmates of the poor house of the city were treated to a Christmas dinner yesterday. The bell was rung and the inmates, some paralyzed, some lame, some blind, some deaf, and others equally as unfortunate filed in and took their seats at the tables. But first of all, say the paralyzed guy probably did not file in. No, his filing days are over at the hospital. There was a man who had no legs who hobbled around on his hands in a lively manner.

She be Christmas. He did several clever acrobatic feats for the visitors and said he enjoyed the life at the house greatly. Okay, there's no way in hell that guy was not beaten and told to go out and jump around. I don't know. I just love it here. I just, I really I really want it to be Ernest so bad. I want him to mean it. He's just so fired up about having no legs and being in them. It's Christmas. Can you believe it's Christmas? Come on, everybody. It's a Christmas miracle. Another poor fellow was known as the monkey boy. Sweet God, I don't even know. Why? Why? His head was as small as a monkey. Oh, my God.

God, I just. And he respectfully invited the visitors by means of gestures to feel it. I think he's saying something, honey. I think he wants you to touch his little monkey head. Oh, my Christmas this year is great. I'll tell you what, I didn't get anything I asked for and yet I got everything I wanted. Look at that no-legged acrobat and monkey boy. Holy shit, the no-legged guy is letting the monkey boy ride him. I swear to God, I think a stargate's going to open.

The monkey boy once traveled out of circus and had been at the poor house for 13 years. Quite a run. He used to have a job. Yeah, well, defined job. He used to get beaten by people for having a tiny head. There were many curious sites in the hospital, specimens of humanity that a person would hate to dream of and that can only be realized when seen. Though the wards, through the wards, the visitors followed the superintendent. The beds were neatly made, the rooms were swept clean, and the air was sweet and pure. The institutions seemed to be more of a home than a public hospital. The nurses' rooms were also neat and clean, and the nurses themselves were kind and gentle.

And then we left, and we could hear the screams. Yeah, exactly. And then as we left. Well, that sounds like an upset monkey. Oh boy, I hope monkey boy doesn't hear that. It'd probably upset him hearing a monkey. Wait a minute. Wait a goddamn minute. Hold on, you hold right on. Hold on a minute.

San Francisco call, June 13th, 1896. Dr. Conlon of the poor house made a visit to the mayor's office and appealed that the city stopped sending the poor to the institution until the crowded condition was relieved. The house was over capacity, and any more would seriously cramp the institution. But the mayor said that the law, the law deserving the poor who had no other place to go must be sent to the poor house. And he would be compelled to go on issuing permits for people to reside there. He said the good doctors should ask the supervisors for more bets.

So there's no more, supervisors were cut off money. They were just poor people everywhere. And they're like, I gotta, I can't leave them outside. It's illegal. Yeah. So but cram them all in the house. Perfect. Stack them.

Though if you're inflicted with several problems, sometimes finding a place to stay was difficult. Mrs. Weaver, the matron of the poor house, tried to get an admission to the home for the feeble-minded Sarah Lowles. Her last name is spelled L-U-L-Z. Lowles. Just for those four-channel listeners. Lowles.

Sarah was blind, mute, and mostly deaf. Cool. Properly, she belonged here, said Mrs. Weaver. But because she's blind, they say she will not, they will not receive her. I have tried to have her transferred to the asylum for the blind, but they will not admit her there because they say she's feeble-minded. And this poor house is not the place for her. Oh, perfect.

Any way you could see again, hon? Uh, look, we'd take her here, but she's too stupid to be blind. Uh, well, the blind, that's what they said at the stupid house. Right, she can't see. Yeah. Yeah, well, the problem is, I mean, there's a little bit of a gray area here because she's too stupid to come to the blind house. And she's too blind to go to the stupid house.

Yeah, and then she can't hear very well, so she can't go, they don't want her. Actually, the crazy thing is she can't hear. She's hearing all this. She's heard all the dialogues we've had since I've tried to find her a home. Okay, so we're pretending like she can't hear. Right. What's the difference? She's pretending like she can't hear.

Right, okay. So she's also a pretender, so we can't have her in the poor house. Okay. All right, I'm going to go throw her over a shipside. Okay. Thanks. Seems like a nice girl, though. Yeah, you're a great man.

The blind had their own specific struggles during this time of awesome American treatment. In the decades following the Civil War, educational reformers waged a campaign to eliminate manualism, the use of sign language in the classroom, and replace it with oralism, the use of lip reading and speech. Students were punished. The convenient one. Students were punished if they were caught signing. What?

This law was noticed. How you telling secrets? Yeah, it's called the passing the note law. You can't go for a fucking long jog in this time and you can't do sign language. Oralists charged with the use of sign language encouraged deaf people to socialize principally with other deaf people. God forbid they plot. God, how dare they the way they are treated so well.

Yeah, and to avoid the hard work of learning to communicate in spoken English. They thought that sign language marked deaf people as different from hearing people. It set them apart, discouraged assimilation, and invited discrimination. They worried also that it encouraged deaf people to marry one another and that this was causing a significant increase in the prevalence of deaf people. People are so fucking stupid. Unbefucking leaveable. I mean, I know there's no way for them to know really that.

But it still is just what a what a what a conclusion to just casually jump to. Well, it's natural. You know, people breed. Yeah. The two people that can't hear get together. You think they're gonna have a baby that can't hear? Yeah, they might. No, I don't know.

I said two people that can't hear have a baby. Uh-huh. So what do you think the baby's like? Normal. Right, can't hear. I'll see you. You know who can't hear? Who? What's that? I'll see you.

Okay. In 1984, Alexander Graham Bell published a paper called Upon the Formation of a Deaf Variety of the Human Race, in which he warned of a great calamity facing the nation. Deaf people were forming clubs, socializing with one another and consequently marrying other deaf people. Shocking that the guy who's in charge of the phone. Thank you. Yeah.

Thank you. The guy who's like, I'm not going to make as much money if there's a lot of deaf people. The creation of a deaf race that yearly would grow larger. By the way, little did they know that'd eventually be a hip hop label. The creation of a deaf race that yearly would grow larger and more insular was underway. He criticized the immigration into the United States of, quote, undesirable ethnic elements calling for legislation to prevent their entry in order to encourage, quote, the evolution of a higher and nobler type of man in America.

Oh, my God. So Alexander Graham Bell was cool. Well, yeah, throw him in the pile of assholes. Anthropologist Mary Douglas explained that disgust is a reaction that serves the role of boundary maintenance. Physical phenomena are disgusting to many of us because they threaten the boundaries between human being and animal. Other phenomena are disgusting because they threaten social boundaries and institutional lines.

Does that make sense? Finally, yes, at least it's not somebody being like, I have an idea. Let's burn them. The marginalization of people with disabilities continued until World War One when veterans with disabilities expected that the US government provide rehabilitation in exchange for their service to the nation. Yes. In the 1930s, the United States saw the introduction of many new advancements in technology as well

as in governing government assistance contributing to the self-reliance and self-sufficiency of people with disabilities. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the first president with a disability who hid it, was a great advocate for the rehabilitation of people with disabilities, but still operated on the notion that a disability was an abnormal, shameful condition and should be medically cured or fixed. Easy to say. In the 1940s and 1950s, disabled World War Two veterans placed increasing pressure on

the government to provide them with rehabilitation and vocational training. World War Two veterans made disability issues more visible to a country of thankful citizens who were concerned for the long-term welfare of young men who had sacrificed their lives. Despite these initial advancements made toward independence and self-reliance, people with disabilities did not have access to public transportation, telephones, bathrooms, and stores. So they would just piss themselves. Yeah, they couldn't get into stores a lot. If they were like in a wheelchair, the doors wouldn't be wide enough.

Clang, clang, clang goes the trolley. Office buildings and worksites with stairs offered no entry for people with disabilities who sought employment and employer attitudes created even worse barriers. Otherwise, talented and eligible people with disabilities were locked out of opportunities for meaningful work. By the 1960s, the civil rights movement began to take shape and disability advocates saw the opportunity to join forces alongside other minority groups and demand equality. Disability rights activists mobilized on the local level demanding national initiatives

to address the physical and social barriers facing the disability community. Disability activists in the 1970s invented the term ugly laws. Even if none of these laws actually includes the words ugly in its title or anywhere in its text, by the time the term ugly law was invented, many of them had been repealed and those still on the books were seldom enforced. Omaha repealed their ugly law in 1967. Columbus withdrew theirs in 1972 and Chicago was the last in 1974. What the fuck?

The last in 1974 to get rid of the ugly laws. Ugly laws. In the 1970s, disability rights activists lobbied Congress and marched on Washington to include civil rights language for people with disabilities into the 1972 Rehabilitation Act. In 1973, the Rehabilitation Act was passed and for the first time in history, civil rights of people with disabilities were protected by the law. From the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, individuals with disabilities are a discrete and insular minority who have been faced with restrictions and limitations subjected to a

history of purposeful, unequal treatment and relegated to a position of political powerlessness in our society based on characteristics that are beyond the control of such individuals and resulting from stereotypic assumptions, not truly indicative of the individual ability of such individuals to participate in and contribute to society. So it has a good ending. It's just so great. I just can't even believe how recent all that shit is. Like, I can't believe that in 1990, they were like, hey, we're fucking animals. It's crazy.

Like America is just grotesque. Yeah, monsters. Seriously, like, I mean, I'm sure this is like this in every country. And honestly, there are probably still countries where people are treated horribly. Yes. And but a lot where that's better. I mean, mental health is still something where nobody treats it properly, really. I mean, like, but I mean, it's getting it's getting there. It's a lot better than it wasn't.

But they still think like there are a ton. There still is a huge gray area of like solutionless, where like they just are like, have at it, go have at the world, have at it. Sorry, we just got nothing for you. We tried. Yeah. Yeah, no, there's people that have to take pills that just make them like kind of zombie-ish. But then they a lot of times those people, if they have a mental disability or a mental

like incapacity, will not take the pills because they think they're OK or something. Or they don't want to feel they don't want to feel, you know, but yeah, it's a total nightmare. But a lot of times like you'll see you'll see like a homeless person. And I mean, I'll be like, you know, that was a fucking baby. That's like a baby. Somebody's baby. It's not like at one point where you watch like a show like Intervention. You'll be like, you know, you see pictures of this fucking heroin junkie at like 35

as a two year old with Clay. Yeah. And you're just like, well, it's something changed somewhere. Well, when you hit your 20s is when that happens a lot. I know. The mental issues. I'm still holding that for my 30s. Hope it happens.

It'll come around for you. You promise? I see you being like a monkey, monkey boy. Stop. You mean that? Mm-hmm. Yeah, I do. You think I could be a monkey boy?

I think you could be a monkey boy. You think I could be a monkey? I think you could be a monkey. Geez. Get off the water. He wants you to touch his head. Get off the water. Four monkey.

Well, I think we can dedicate this one to monkey boy. Well, we've gone through all of the people today. I did. All of the forms. All of the names. This is like an all star team breakdown is what you gave me today. By the way, that was just San Francisco. Who is even into like New York?

Wait, we don't need New York. no need for New York how do you feel after that one you know just I think what's good is it's almost like after you've played guitar for a little while you don't feel the frets anymore it's all it's getting it's getting easier I had no idea what they went through people with disabilities I never knew it was that bad until I know this I was like holy fuck this is horrifying yeah it is the 70s is when we passed that shit but also like even but you know back in like the day when it was all happening I mean it I just like you just but just have to

be mentally incapacitated and feel like you have nobody yeah it's just they didn't have anybody they were you were just cast out yeah that's how many families just went oh this one's fucked up and just shut out the door yeah good times like they all right well there you go so cool I just have a really good night's sleep yeah sleep great in your day comfy bed be thankful that you're not somebody who was born with a smaller than normal head hey how about this how much night you try to brush your teeth with your feet yep have a good one