Belle and Derrick

This is Belle (the dog) and Derrick (the human), I met them while walking down Haight Street this afternoon. Like most major metropolises, San Francisco is inundated with the homeless and street people. I’ve chatted with a few and given money to a few but not many as it is overwhelming. But I couldn’t help but stop when I saw Belle and Derrick today. As I approached they were there just as you see them; their version of gorilla marketing, and it worked. It made me smile when I first saw them. After saying hello and dropping a couple dollars In their hat on the sidewalk Belle jumped down and greeted me. Derrick apologized and said that Belle thinks I have food for her. When I asked if I could take their photo Derrick said, “Sure “ and bent over again. He then whistled and Belled jumped back up. It took a couple photos to get Belle to look at the camera (she never took off her sunglasses), and when I asked how long she’ll stay up there he told me, “Awe man, she’ll stay up there all day or as long as my back holds out.”  When I asked if he wanted to look at the camera, Derrick simply flashed me a peace sign and told me, “Naw, Belle is way prettier than I am.”