Hawaii has its dark side: homeless people, low-paying jobs, and antagonism toward the off-islanders who’re driving up the cost of housing.

Homeless people gathered under an open pavilion just above the sands of Waikiki, across from skyscraper towers of hotels charging premium rates. There are plenty of homeless folks, as reflected in an editorial on “City and state work together for the homeless: the Waianae Civic Center has been opened to the homeless living on Leeward beaches,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, March 5.

The contrast between tourists and locals is dramatic. “Less than 1/3 of all jobs pay enough to cover the basics for an average household, according to the Sunday Honolulu Advertiser. Jobs are mostly tourist-oriented service positions. The median house price is more than $600,000.

Another newspaper article interviewed high school students about their future plans. Most of them figured they’d have to live on the mainland to earn a decent living, even though they’d prefer to stay in Hawaii. Some hope that the U. of Hawaii will bring higher-paying, knowledge-oriented jobs.

In the meantime, there’s some tension between locals and haoles – literally foreigners, but apparently often used to refer to whites.

While we stayed on Waikiki, there was a debate in newspaper letters to the editor about whether the yelling of effing haole made an attack into a hate crime. Family friends who wintered on Kauai told us that locals had yelled haole at them in an unmistakenly unfriendly way. In fact, the wife was deliberately pushed off her bike. “You’re very vulnerable on a bike,” she said.

She thinks the strife is fueled by the recent, faster pace of development t on Kauai. Ironically, that distresses her, too. It has inspired her to create more paintings of Kauai. She and her husband have been visiting Kauai for 20 years or so. “Now,” she said, “we’re not sure if we want to come back.”