What do you think of people who want to wash auto windows for change?

Red Ganzon

Customer at Unocal at 591 N. Vermont St., and North Hollywood resident Sometimes I let them, sometimes I don’t. At least they’re doing something, as compared to just begging. Most of them have been pretty agreeable if you say no. They say, “OK, no problem.” I just give them whatever change I have. Sometimes I give them food. I’ve never really come across any that are real pushy. Everyone’s got to work, and like I said, at least they’re doing something.

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Ruth Pichatwattana

Customer at Unocal at 591 N. Vermont St., and Cerritos resident. Sometimes, if I’m in a hurry, I don’t want them to, but if I have time, it’s good for the unemployed. Some of them try to hold the windshield wiper and it makes me scared; I’m not sure if they want to clean the window or do something else. This guy asked me, “Would you mind if I clean the windows?” and told me the price, so I said “OK.” He talked about how he’s unemployed. I want to help them. I paid him 50 cents--he said he’d do it for a quarter.

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Charles (Pops) Mitchell

Window washer at Unocal, 591 N. Vermont St. In July, (the station owners) brought security out here. It stopped us, but what happened was, much to their surprise, the volume fell . . . so they fired the security guards. The customers were accustomed to coming here and getting service. There are about 10, 12 of us homeless guys here every evening (washing windows), and we were providing a service that was needed. Every 10 cars you ask, you get two “Yes”-es. You end up doing about 40 cars a night and you can make $20 to $30. The bottom line is, I enjoy serving people. You waste time when you go argue with people. If they say no, I tell them, “God Bless and have a nice evening.”

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Howard Hahn

Manager at Mobil, 520 N. Alameda St. It’s a big problem. Usually every day, we report (window washers) to the LAPD. When I’m here, (the window washers) don’t come. But when I leave . . . my customers complain so much, especially the ladies. They are so scared at nighttime. Some (of the washers) are pushy, but some just leave if you say no. I used to have security guards here, but it costs too much money; I had them for six months, and you had to pay them $12 an hour.