Really Stupid Ideas

I had a dream last night that I started a magazine called "Homeless Resource" to serve, yes, the homeless community. Acknowledging that the homeless probably don't have the money (...or a mailbox) for a magazine subscription, HR was going to be supported totally by advertising and given away free.

But what kind of advertisers would advertise? The homeless have no money.

It made sense in my dream.

Besides, we already have one.

You could always read up on the homeless experience and figure out how to actually reach them with resources.

The number of people holding up cardboard signs at intersections hasn't really gone down since Bush left office. I don't usually approach them (or even make eye contact) since I'd never get anything else done if I did, but two weeks ago I had an encounter. I was on my way to work, and this guy was just parked in the middle of the road in his pickup truck. I started to walk past him, but we made eye contact(!) and he beckoned me over. He asked for directions, which I gave him. He said he was in town for a construction job but just got laid off, and by the way his truck was almost out of gas. I didn't get a bullshit vibe from him, so I gave him a $20. He tried to get my address so he could pay me back, but I insisted instead that he just pay it forward.

I often wonder what I'd do if I were homeless. Financially I'm doing pretty well now, but plenty of good people aren't.

"The stock market is booming but there are no jobs."

You'd do what all the other men do. Roam until the line for beds is open and then hope you get there early enough for a bed. Except that shelters are not really safe places so you rest only sporadically.

I actually was homeless for a short period of time after my abusive, drunkard of a father was allowed back in our home. I lived in my car, stood in line at the soup kitchen for food. I was in college at the time so it was an odd balance watching all my friends do what college kids do and then going back to my lonely, cold car to study by flashlight. Eventually my best friend's parents found out and insisted I stay with them. Nice people, but also poor. They didn't have it to give but they did. I shared a room with Katherine until got it together and could afford a small weekly efficiency sort of place. That car saved me though. I could have been attacked at any point in time on the street but the little bit of safety that car provided was just enough.
But that also showed me how people can be so selfish and self centered and so quick to let go of any responsibility to a fellow human being. I thought we covered that "I'm just doing my job" shit back at Nuremberg. Like the cop who made fun of me for living in my car. It was a game to him, as I limped back and forth in my little Dodge from hwy 18 at college to the soup kitchen downtown he would watch for me and pull me over to harass me. I always swore I would never be that kind of person. That I would always notice others for what they were and not how they appeared.

It's hard to get out of homelessness because it's sort of a never ending predicament. People want addresses and phone numbers none of which do you have if you are homeless. Companies want you to have a bank account so they can direct deposit, assistance agencies want to see proof of things like residency that you have no way to prove. And none of the agencies are within walking distance of one another. You can spend your last dime trying to go see about some job or some social worker and they don't care. It's nothing to them, come back tomorrow, call later. They don't get what you went through to get there so it's nothing to them.

I was unemployed for over two years -- some of it by choice -- luckily Mrs. NoCo made enough to support us both. I know about job searches. I probably applied to over 200 places and got maybe 10 replies, nine of them rejections. I'm still working for #10.