fattyprejudice

I was blog hopping a few weeks ago and I ran across a blog written by a homeless guy.  I read his posts and I cried a little, I laughed a little and I felt alot of compassion.  I wanted to pass his story on to you so that the next time you see a homeless person, you might look at them a little differently.  The blog is called homeintheshadows. Fair warning, some of the posts my be a tiny bit offensive to some of you, but nothing major.

I once knew a man who had been homeless and he told me some stories that made me think differently.  Yes, a lot of homeless people have substance abuse problems, but wouldn’t you if you had to fight for a warm spot to sleep in, stand in line for a meal, have to “bathe” in the local gas station or by someone’s garden hose?  Most of the homeless didn’t choose this way of life, most are victims of circumstance and for some reason or another lost their earning ability or credit in order to have a home.  My friend told me stories of living in the homeless “community” called “The Jungle”.  Most of the people there had boxes they lived in, but there were always rapes, fights for food and “treasures” that we might think of as junk, and the community/police raids of the area.  My friend once told me of a time when he was hungry and was rummaging through a neighborhood trash can in a fairly nice neighborhood when a guy came out of the house and started chasing him with a baseball bat!  My friend wasn’t making a mess, he was just searching for a scrap of bread or something to get him by until his next meal at the shelter, he only ate once a day and even then he was always hungry.  My friend’s story ends up happy, he straightened up his life and quit drinking, not an easy feat for a long time alcoholic, and has become a successful writer.  Whenever he gets an advance on a book deal, he goes to the jungle and gives out $20.00 bills to his friends there.  I once asked him “But aren’t they  just going to spend it on drugs or booze?”  and his answer?  “Well, we all do what we have to to survive, and if that gets them through the night then so be it.”

I, myself have been temporarily homeless, just last year due to my husband’s furlough from the railroad.  We had given up our condo in Sacramento so that my husband could work at the railroad on the coast (near my hometown), only to get furloughed after a few weeks.   My sister and her husband had a full house with her 3 kids and my mother living there so we could only stay there for a few day’s before overstaying our welcome.  My sister loaned us their old motor home for a few months, so we at least had a roof over our heads.  We couldn’t afford a campground at first, so we camped in the local Wal-Mart parking lot for a few nights and finally found a campground (no hookups) that we could afford.  At first it seemed exciting like we were camping, but with the cold weather and nothing to cook on, the novelty wore of very quickly!  We couldn’t use the toilet in the motorhome because it was broken and there was no way to empty the holding tank so we made sure we parked close to the bathrooms since I usually have to pee several times a night.  It was winter and very cold so we had ALOT of blankets on the bed,  but I have to tell you, I have never been so cold in my life!   After it got dark, we would go to the local fast food restaurant and order from the value menu and sit there as long as we could until it was time to go to bed.  Finally after a couple of weeks, we got our first unemployment check and JOY!  We bought a Coleman lantern, this was so much better than candlelight and flashlights.

We were getting very discouraged when finally after a month or so, my husband got the call from the railroad that he had been assigned to a board and would be working, at least we had a little more money to look forward to, but on the nights when my husband was working I was a little scared alone in the campground.  About a month after that, we were able to afford a campground with hookups so life was a little better, not great but better.  Finally after another month (a total of 3 months homeless) we were able to rent a 300 sq ft “cabin” at a local resort campground, it was small, but still it was like a mansion after the way we had been living!  Those were the longest 3 months of our lives and I thought it was hell, but is was nothing compared to what the majority of the homeless endure.  A lot of the homeless don’t know where they will sleep or if the will eat on any given day.  So the next time you see a homeless person begging for money, if you don’t want to give them money, go buy them some bread and lunch meat and something to drink.  Don’t look down your nose at them or call them names, because you never know if one day it may be  you asking for a dollar for something to eat.

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