What is it like to Be Homeless?
People that take the time to get to know homeless individuals are often curious about what it feels like to be homeless. "What is it like to be homeless?", they ask, or "How does it feel to be homeless?". People that do not take the time to speak to a homeless person, might wonder about the lifestyle. Seeing homeless people loitering about, seeming not to have a care in the world, others tend to glamorize the street living experience. No bills to pay, no bosses, zero responsibility sounds cool when one is stressed by the demands of living. Hey, can even they panhandle and get money to drink. They use drugs. Being homeless can look like one big party. "Besides the government gives them money and food stamps, why work when you can freeload?" is the question.
"Living off the land", the way the Native Americans or cavemen did, can seem like an ideal solution when adults are faced with mounting bills, raised taxes, expensive health care costs. "If one thing in my life changes, I could be homeless", a sympathetic woman told me. Many people are indeed "one paycheck away from being homeless". Teens and young adults are especially drawn to the nomad lifestyle. But what is it really like to be homeless? Read on.
Imagine yourself as an 8 year old child. You come home from school, the door is locked. You knock. A stranger answers the door and sends you away. You do not know where your parents went. All you have are the clothes on your back and a backpack. How do you feel? Where do you go? What do you do? If you have relatives, you might seek them out for help. You might go to a friend's home and ask for assistance. Some of the adult homeless population, were actually deserted by their parents at a young age. Other young teens ran away from home due to sexual or physical abuse. If you can picture yourself as that 8 year old, you will begin to know what it is like to be homeless.
Think about going on vacation far from home. Perhaps you went to a local nightclub and had a few drinks. Staggering to the car or unable to find it, you are accosted by a bad man. You are robbed, assaulted and wake up in an alley the next morning. You have no wallet, no identification, the car keys and all your money are gone. Your clothes are bloodied and dirty. You lost control of your bladder when confronted with a gun in your face. You smell, you ache from being beaten and pistol whipped. If that was not bad enough you have one heck of a hangover. You are also hungry. No problem, you think as you make your way to the nearest police station.
Being a stranger in the town, you have to ask strangers for directions. You smile pleasantly at the first person you see, who looks at you with disgust and hurries off. This makes you aware that you do not exactly look your very best. There is a phone booth, but as stated all your money is gone. Surely a kind hearted person will give you a quarter so you can make a phone call. Oops, the phone booth only takes payment with your ATM card. You walk a bit to find a change phone booth. "When did making a phone call cost upwards of 45 cents?" you wonder. After asking several people for their help with some spare change and being rebuffed, you start to get discouraged. The brain kicks in and you realize you can make a collect call. "What was that amusing television commercial? Ah, call 1-800-Collect!".
But you suddenly need to use a toilet. Now. Your bowels want to empty. Now. You walk into a fast food restaurant. The restroom door is locked. You need to get a token to use it. You can not catch a clerk's eye to make your request, so you patiently wait in line. "The restroom is for customers only", you are told. Now that you have the clerk's eye, there is a glare in it. You walk into several other stores to repeat the scenario. Noticing a hotel, you walk in and find the restroom. The hotel's security guard rushes in the restroom behind you and informs you that you are not allowed to use it. At this point you may start getting angry.
This is just the beginning of what it is like to be homeless.
Published by Alyce Rocco
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24 Comments
Post a Commentyes, Homelessness is a serious matter maybe if we stopped it in atlanta it would give the others hope hope that they will be able to start there GREAT lives all over again
Homeless has been on the rise due to the poor economy; people losing jobs, homes foreclosed and Iraqi/Afghanstain war verterans.
so please next time when you see someone that is homeless have a kind heart dont be cruel who knows you might have been thier reason of dying,starving,stealing,cheating etc. so dont be another statistic for you and for them...
People need to remember THIS CAN HAPPEN TO ANY ONE none of these people are bigger then the other to me some people is just what i call lucky they might have helpful parents unlike unhelpful parents but that same helpful parents could turn unhelpful and evil what would you do and plus when there isnt no one to help you ... people act the way they act now because they have the higher status if all that was somehow to disspear or act in bad luck there mood will totally change and thier personality down the drain i feel like these people have been lucky and trained from the start...but unfornatly there are parents they are evil and dont support thier children that much regradless parents are your parents and they are supposed to support THIER CHILDREN...they are children they dont know they make mistakes what a cruel careless world we live in today...im 17 and im not the virge of homelessness...so it all depends
Jaz, because people often ask: What is it like to be homeless, I tried to show how they might experience it. The experience is different for each individual depending upon prior life experiences. A young girl was recently interviewed about her experience. She does not live on the streets, but in a shelter. Her parents rented, yet she was upset having to give up so many of her things.
no one knows what its like to be homless, untill you become the homeless
One tiny corner, a girl lies silent
Grasping her blanket and cardboard tight
She tries to sleep, where the streets are violent
And not many make it through the night
She pleas to every passer by
Hoping someone will give way
Many don't even bother to reply
They just continue to walk away
Doug tries to heal her scars
That is too sore for her to bear
His efforts haven't gotten very far
They're just too deep to repair
In need of food and money to survive
She could sell her beloved friend
This can help to keep her alive
And put her heartbreak to an end
She knew that letting her companion go
Would be like someone ripping out her heart
It upset her so much, she'd hit an all time low
The last thing she wants is for them to be apart
She got so weak she finally closed her eyes
To enter a better place
Where they'd be no more lies
And no difficulties to face
Doug stayed with her to the v
are kids need to know about the importance of money and how to handle such a huge responsablity
Curious about which governor we need to impeach. Califronia's? I think most elected government officials should have lower salaries and consider the job civic duty or public service. Money and power has a way of corrupting people. We might get more honest government if the pay was as bad as the average citizen earns.
Does he realize we are barely making ends meet. Our kids need to be educated, we need to feed our families, we need to make co-op payment for Dr visits. Hardly, all these would ibe mpossible with his new policies. He too needs to be on minimum wage and we will know how it feels!
Excellent imagery. Very good job on this story. Thanks for reminding us of what the homeless go through. When people think of the homeless, I believe many of us forgets that there are children and teens out there. This can happen to anyone at anytime. The governor of California just signed a bill that will put many people out of work and cut the wages of other's down to States minimun wages. With the price of gas; it could take nearly two days pay to fill a gas tank for people making minimun wages.