The shelter resident had a serious medical problem - he was suicidal. But a shelter nurse told him to tell 911 he was having a heart attack because that would make the ambulance get there faster. The responding paramedics had a problem with that.

Dave Daniels takes some photos.

Can Davis Square LiveJournal get woman into homeless shelter?

Ezra found himself yesterday dealing with conundrums involving both.

He is 57, has a BS from a local college, has a wife and son. And now he sleeps in the entrance to the Harvard Coop. On the Street is a blog by a man who says he became homeless when he lost his job and he kept coming down with serious infections that require hospitalization:

For me the hardest part of being on the streets is trying to pass the time during the day when the shelter is closed. Where I am staying now closes at 8 AM and reopens at 7. On a day like today when the weather is good it isn't a problem but this being winter you never know.

Today for example I killed an hour at Starbucks having a cup of coffee and reading the Globe. Now I am using a public computer at Harvard to check e-mail and post to the blog, and later will go to the Cambridge Library where I can sign up for another hour on the net.

Au Bon Pain in Harvard Sq is a favorite gathering spot for people on the streets. The management there is kind to the homeless and does let people stay there to keep warm during the day. ...

Carpundit doesn't mind homeless people sleeping in ATMs - as long as they're gone in the morning, unlike the guy he found in one around 10 a.m. this past Sunday:

... By ten on a Sunday, most industrious bums are begging in front of the Dunkin' Donuts or scrounging for cardboard to make their excuse signs for holding up traffic. Does Boston have adequate shelter for these people on the bitter winter nights? No? Could we at least rent some vans and drive them to Cambridge, where they actively seek bums?

Aaron Swartz chronicles sleeping outside the Coop recently (why? Because he could, basically):

... Around 11:30 it was getting pretty empty and the musician began packing up his stuff. I didn't last much longer, so I laid my sleeping bag out along the side of the Coop and climbed inside. There were about five or six people on the other side, all tiled in nicely with each other, all in a different sort of gear. ...

Evan describes the various homeless people he's seen of late, including the guy who sleeps on the steps of his building.

KingVitaman photographs a homeless man sleeping in a Back Bay alley:

The irony here is that this alley runs parallel to two of the richest, most popular, well-traveled streets in Boston.

Carpundit comes up with a plan to solve the tunnel problems, create jobs, house the homeless AND clean up the Back Bay all at once.