“starts screaming expletives at me about how I’m not a Muslim or a brother and that I shouldn’t be wearing a “Muslim moon”

1400 block of P Street, NW

“Dear PoPville,

Wanted to see if you or readers have any idea of what goes on in front of the CVS on P Street next to Whole Foods…

There’s always a man there who chants “help me if you can, help me if you can… help me if you can, only if you can… help me if you can, help me if you can… etc”. Oftentimes he’s joined by a group of other people, and they just lounge around. At some point they had a full set up with patio furniture and milk crates set up. I’ve always wondered why CVS hasn’t done anything about it… it’s been going on since I’ve moved to Logan Circle (back in August 2013).

I have one friend who offered to help last year… he asked her if she could buy him a few things at CVS… and she said sure, thinking that he would just get a bag of chips or something. Instead, he came to the register with over $100 worth of Tide detergent, and the friend – not wanting to be awkward – paid for it. I thought the story was funny, and always thought of the group as being pretty innocuous… until last night.

Last night, I was walking down P Street at around 11pm (from Whole Foods). The man is there, and as I approach, begins his standard greeting of “help me if you can young man, help me if you can. It’s cold I need a place to sleep”. I was wearing a Turkish flag tshirt, and he also says “As-Salaam-Alaikum” (standard Muslim Greeting)… and then starts screaming expletives at me about how I’m not a Muslim or a brother and that I shouldn’t be wearing a “Muslim moon”. I continue walking, and a man comes out of the alley adjacent to CVS, and starts following me, asking me why I wasn’t helping that “poor old man” and screaming other expletives at me. Luckily, by the time I got to the Dolcezza corner, there were other people, and he disappeared…

I guess question is, do you know the background behind all of this? It seems like he’s running some sort of an operation – he’s there everyday, and has furniture set up, and has friends who come over. How come CVS hasn’t done anything about it? I’m hoping that the man in the alley wasn’t connected, but it definitely rattled me a bit… especially given that I walk past him multiple times a day.”

Ed. Note: I can’t believe you’re friend paid for the $100 worth of Tide detergent that seems excessive.