A day away from homelessness.

I'm living with enough money that I am currently not needing handouts from strangers. But I'm not far above the so-called poverty line. So travel and other non-essential things aren't possible for me. But compared to many people living in third world countries, I'm a rich guy with a car and and hot and cold running water.

I'm not a day away from homelessness, but I wonder how I would handle being pushed into that reality. What if something not expected happens and all of you people and me reading this post were thrown into homelessness?

Why am I strangely interested in this idea. But it's true. I am.

I often wonder what would happen if the market crashed or many were suddenly thrown out of their homes/apartments. Would they refuse to leave thinking law enforcement would be overwhelmed by the number of calls and that things would be okay? Or perhaps they'd flip out and make a run for the banks, gas stations and any corner deli?

With the way things are going it seems like a reasonable hypothetical future. S + F

a reply to: droid56

I just spent a year homeless. A very humbling and educational experience. I worked my entire life, often two jobs at once and did everything that one is supposed to do in order to avoid such a situation. Unfortunatley two bad marriages and a lot of litigation later - my nest egg was mostly emptied. All it took was for me to become disabled. While waiting on my disability claim to go through the incredibly tedious and slow process that it requires, my savings went away - as did friends and family.

Long story short - I found myself living in a "Community home" - sharing a room with three other guys, and going into debt at a rate of $1,200.00 per month for the cost of living there.

While I avoided living under the proverbial bridge, I did bottom out financially and learned the lessons of being so poor that just enjoying a soda was a treat.

Honestly, having lived through it, I think the world would be a better place if everyone spent about 30 days in such a situation. So many myths about how good the poor have it would get disspelled and we could move forward as a society on a number of issues.

This would be when we would witness the true nature of people. For some the beauty and courage in them will shine through. For others, the evil and rot within them will come roaring to life.

Those who are willing to work together and learn will inevitably survive. Those who are looking for free handouts and power will see an end to their existence quicker than most would think I believe.

There are so many of us that exist from paycheck to paycheck... It wouldn't take much to see a lot of us out in the street not knowing where we will sleep or what we will eat for the next 24 hours. It's no longer something you read about in other countries. It's something that could very easily happen here with very little effort helping it on it's way.

It's something to ponder for sure. None of knows what tomorrow will bring and even those that have the best plans, may find they are the ones needing help from others. It's a scary thought, but we should think about it far more often than many of us do.

Being homeless is a good test of one's creativity and intelligence.
I've eaten things that would make a billy goat puke.
I've slept in garbage bags stuffed with newspaper to stay warm.
I'm not doing so bad at present. I have a solid shelter and running water.
I am proud of the fact that I have survived completely outside of any assistance from "the system."
Always remember "Life is good."
True freedom is great.

a reply to: droid56

There were some aspects to living on the streets, which were much easier and more liberating, than having a home to go to. Personally, while I was fit and healthy, I actually enjoyed an awful lot of things about it. The stars at night, the gentle whisper of wind through trees, the rustling of bugs and small mammals in the leaves and other detritus on which I used to sleep. It was natural, it was real, my problems were not paperwork and paying bills, but attaining shelter from stiffer winds, and rain, basic physical survival.

Its not ideal, but once you have been there and survived it, fear of that circumstance evaporates, and when that happens, the structures which seek to land people in that situation loose a significant amount of their oppressive power. What have I to fear from that which I have already conquered?

a reply to: skunkape23

I'm really happy you survived that situation. Perhaps its male energy that says I'm so glad to have done this without assistance, but its Mom's energy that gets us home. First in the school universe we learn freedom, but then we have to learn equality, and wed them, ie Mom and Dad's energy.

Money is a form of slavery, we're in a system that does this scarsity thing. However, in a decent society there would be NO HOMELESS, children (who are healthy, and most are, but do vary in outgoing personality skills and being very shy and low self esteem) would not be in a heavy competition, but have many opportunities to do part time work experiences, learn skills and future employment, have placements guaranteed so as no shyness issues at stake where their inner skills may shine, and adults same thing, with good training.

We don't have to reinvent the base survival wheel over and over again, like a dog that never learns a thing, but really need to abolish patents and use all the higher clean energy inventions to free people up to being well educated, contributing part time, and abundance.

What you just said horrified me. I would never wish a world that did not have advanced higher mind caring solutions for all people, so that there was never homeless, always a beautiful decent place to live, even if you wanted to move, with high technology and good nutrition and you could just pick up a phone or computer and choose a part time position or a list of 3 different ones, and live well.

We certainly have all the technology for an advanced world already.

So the thing that makes this cool dog eat dog street experience without any form of assistance OK is the reptilian platform and programming.

I would never wish that on my children, myself, my friends or even those who harmed me in my life.

a reply to: droid56

This is just a general message, when I say "you" I don't really mean "you" per say.

How easy homelessness is depends upon where you live, gender, remaining family connections, health, and preparedness(among other things).

The one thing I would tell you if you're on the brink of being homeless is to start researching now while you have internet on where the resources are and don't wait for the # to hit the fan. Find out where semi-safe sleeping spots are and what government resources exist(usually don't in many places or are worse than being on your own, like a woman I knew who got raped in a # shelter).

Come up with a homeless plan.

If you see that you are going to lose your apartment etc, sell as much of your # BEFORE you get locked out and stop paying all your bills. Save whatever money you can and don't worry about falling into collections, if it's going to happen anyway you may as well hold onto whatever money you have for food later.

I would say also try and get a bivy tent and basic external backpack. Both make it easier to move around and bivies are easy to conceal and sleep almost anywhere for the night. Again don't wait until you have no home to get these items, start getting them now so that if it's a situation where you have no home you can at least be warm. Warmth doesn't seem like a big deal until you are sleeping outside with only a jacket, same with rain.

Know where all of the workforce offices are in your area(if you're in U.S.). They always have crap jobs you can do for a day or so at a time and almost always have resources for the homeless in regard to finding some sort of work. It might be shucking shellfish in a 40 degree warehouse for 12 hours making minimum wage...but at least it's something I suppose.

Edit: To add, if you are in the U.S. one way to shower when homeless is to go to truck stops. You can either pay 12 bucks or so for a shower or if you have the guts and are willing to get over your pride you can ask a trucker carrying a shower bag if they can ask the clerk to give you their additional shower.

Also, for food you can dig through fast food restaurants at closing time. Gross but being homeless is kinda gross and food is food.

Just ideas.

a reply to: droid56

On one hand, it might suck to not have hot water, and other comforts.

On the other hand you don't have to slave your entire day at some task, commute through hell, and suffer the stress worries and fears associated with the home-life.

originally posted by: skunkape23

I've eaten things that would make a billy goat puke.

You can do like holy men and monks in Asia. They walk around with a bowl, and in the morning they go from house to house filling their bowls with food. They do not accept money, and they subsist on very little food, which is easy to do once your body becomes accustomed to it. They usually eat only once a day, and do not eat after midday. Me personally, would not mind giving another person food if they ask me for it. I usually have some sort of leftovers in the fridge. They subsist with very little - the robe on their backs, a bowl, and a tree for shelter. However, I don't think they could do that outside of living in a warm climate with natural environments with which to bathe, so I guess those would also be requirements.