Adjust, Adapt, Assimilate

Sometimes people find themselves suddenly homeless, as in unexpected evictions, but most of the time people kind of see it coming. It’s nerve wracking, and mostly that’s the worst part. Nevertheless, there are always those “firsts”. The first time you sleep on a sidewalk, or outside at all, it’s a bit strange. You quickly realize why people sleep on cardboard (hint:concrete is hard). But this stage is important because people are creatures of habit. These early adjustments are mostly mental, and lead some as far as suicide, others to drink and drugs. It’s easy to overlook the importance of adapting well to new surroundings in spite of the immediate problems.

The first time someone solves a problem, they often grab the easiest, quickest, or cheapest solutions, not the optimal. It really snowballs later when they repeat the same solution for the same recurring problem. Getting an apartment requires an upfront cost, but is still frequently cheaper than a hotel. The hotel as a solution is usually much more attainable and lures people in. But as each month goes by, these families (yes, in some places whole families move every three weeks to a new hotel) get further behind financially. The traps of the poor that seem to offer help to problems often exacerbate them further.

Food is a universal need. The responsible thing to do is go to the store, buy cheap, healthy food, go home, prepare it, and consume it. Poor people may even get food stamps to help do this, so what’s the hold up? Going to the store requires some form of transportation; healthy food is at a premium these days so it’s rarely cheap; there may not be a home at all, let alone a fully equipped kitchen; they may or may not have ever been taught to prepare healthy meals; etc.

So many homeless people buy their meals at restaurants and hope they can hang out, maybe even charge a phone, use the wifi, or even write a blog post  (ask me how I know this…). This means a 25 cent bowl of oatmeal is costing them $3.95. Basic nutrition starts to become a heavy expense, making soup kitchens a lifesaver for many.  Some of them do a great job of making nutritious food available, but in the end, it creates a lack of control of ones life that sadly serves to institutionalize many who will go right back to jail or prison, and only notice an improvement in the availability of hygiene and healthcare.

Establishing a routine when circumstances change is something people do automatically, but many do not do conscientiously. Improving that routine to better take advantage of potential opportunities is something that simply doesn’t happen on accident. It’s important to find and add improvements, even small ones, to improve the chances of finding full employment, functional housing, basic necessities, and social and professional networks.

Stay safe out there.

 

 

Weathering the Storm

There’s a reason shelter shows up on Maslow’s pyramid as a necessity. Safety and weather hazards are not generally kind to the human body or psyche. Most urban dwellers don’t need to fear predation by large carnivores any more, but the weather still plays a huge role in the behavior of the poorest segment of our society.

 

There are a few ways of handling the weather. I hope you never need this information, but here are some of the methods available.

 

Restaurants. Lots of people will by a coffee, though some places are more sympathetic than others to this trick, and just sit there where it’s dry and warm. They may not even eat the food or drink the beverage they bought.

 

Awnings, overhangs, and canopies. There are occasionally sheltered alcoves not really intended to give real shelter that still provide temporary relief from the elements. Many homeless people exploit these nooks and crannies, whether they are found in dooways, sewer grates, outside businesses, or elsewhere.

 

Vehicles. Many people live in cars (I did long ago), many more ride subways all night. These have various drawbacks, but may be mch better than facing the weather.

 

Bundle up. A sleeping bag, heavy coat, rain poncho, and long underwear are all extremely useful. I also keep a mylar survival blanket (sometimes called a space blanket) in my pocket in case something should happen to cause me to need it. Carrying an extra coat and a sleeping bag around are annoying in the daytime, but not as bad as being without them at night.

 

Camping. A fast way to get arrested, or even killed (as recently happened in New Mexico). Building temporary shelters whether by pitching a tent, or out of cardboard, or occasionally even brush and lumber, is usually unlawful. This is a dodgy bit of law, as it practically makes one’s existence a crime. Many people only find out about it when there’s a protest, or they first become homeless. Much like parking your car, it’s usually a homeowner from a nearby neighborhood who will call the police to report this kind of activity. As is frequently pointed out, no one ever seems to get arrested while waiting outside a store to buy a newly released, game, phone, or electronic device. Which is exactly what many homeless people do, waiting overnight, and selling their spot in line in the morning.

 

Trickery. The single most genius solution I’ve seen to the “no laying on the benches” policy at one park, had to be an illusionists caper. He would sit properly, with a bag on either side of himself. Then he would pull a sheet over his head fanning his arms out to drag it over each bag.With a little ruffle-duffle he would maneuver a short broom stick under the sheet where his head was and curl up in the fetal position between the two bags. I watched as security took two hours to figure out what he was up to. David Blaine’s street magic has nothing on that guy.

 

Sneakery. Many people sneak into sewers, parks, or even onto rooftops to try and get a night’s rest where no one will bother them. Of course they are frequently caught, and charged with trespassing but for those who already have a criminal record, the charges are practically meaningless so they may as well rest up.

 

Hotels. Once in a while a hostel or hotel is a great, if prohibitively expensive idea. Many panhandlers fight for the best area to be in specifically so they can get a room most nights.

 

Squatting. Always a bit dodgy, but once someone finds an abandoned house to be in, they will likely be there more than once, and of course, they may invite their friends. Some owners really don’t care if they have plans to demolish the building anyway. They can gt the insurance payout if the squatters burn it down.

 

Jail. The nuttiest hack I know of is essentially to commit a minor offense in the fall and try to plead guilty to a two or three month sentence to be served immediately. Some cops even round up those sleeping on the sidewalk and offer them a warm cell for the night. Some even accept, and will be cut loose if they don’t have any warrants. Others request transport to a homeless shelter and immediately leave because they just don’t want to go to jail. It’s really strange, but our society often treats criminals better than the poor. The criminals have legal protections against cruel and unusual punishment, yet for some reason very few think that anything similar should apply to the protection of the poor.

 

Of course there are other solutions. Couch surfing comes in various formats, and certain kinds of employment come with some form of shelter, but these are the most common things I actually see day-to-day.

 

 

 

 

Good night, sleep tight.

Sleeping outdoors is great when you get to wake up with the sun. Game of Thrones fans, however, will know of Melisandre’s warning “The night is dark and full of terrors.”

The cold is the obvious problem, but it’s easily solved. Many homeless people just ride the subway anytime the temperature dips too low for them. I personally stayed on the surface by bundling up, which wasn’t so bad, but there are then the matters of transporting a sleeping bag, everywhere you go, all day, every day. It’s a double edged sword, I’m pretty well prepared, for anything except social interaction. There are plenty of restaurants I just couldn’t walk into carrying a big bag, or several small ones.

Thieves are often an issue. Securing valuables mostly just takes foresight, but there are those who are really determined. I came to NYC wanting to write, and was just starting to get into it when my laptop was stolen. The worst part wasn’t the missing laptop, but the rash of thefts afterward that I got blamed for in spite of warning people that there were thieves about. Tracking software to find your gear only helps if the police actually care. I got told to come back in a day or two, then I got told, “We’re busy with a bank robbery”. So while tracking it with anti-theft software might have been possible, it would require me to physically go and repossess my stolen property, which is of questionable legality in the best of times. Any weapon you could reasonably use to deter a thief is likely to be stolen by the police if they find it on you. I say stolen, not confiscated, because they often show little regard for actual laws concerning weapons and do everything in their power to simply disarm everyone. It’s roughly like holding the bank vault door open, it’s a thief’s dream scenario.

Pests come in many varieties. Rats generally run from people, mosquitoes, however, do not. Lice, fleas, and other parasites can be avoided through a little common sense, but there are those who are not only infested but conduct themselves in a way likely to infest someone else. Even bedbugs are known to try and find people sleeping outdoors, often because they try to crash on furniture that’s been thrown away. Two legged pests range from the well-meaning, to the desperate, to the outright dangerous. If you think the soup you just bought is disgusting, the homeless guy you woke up to give it to also thinks it’s disgusting, and wonders why you woke him up (most people handing things out, actually have great sense about it, but there are some strange exceptions). Why drug dealers assume people would want to wake up to get high has never made any sense to me, but it happens all the time. It doesn’t happen that often but perverts do approach homeless people for all kinds of ridiculous things. No one has offered to buy my socks yet, but probably only because there are pedicab drivers in Manhattan who are happy to make an extra $100 at the end of their shift. One of the weirder interactions I had was with a girl who, though well-meaning wanted to “get warm” in a portable sanitation facility.

     Me: Lemme get this straight: You want to have sex with a dirty stranger in a port-a-potty?

     Her: Oh, no, don’t worry. It’s a Royal Flush.

People often wake up homeless people needlessly. The strangest incident I ran into was sleeping near an ice rink. In the morning, a hockey mom called me in dead. The paramedics thought it was hilarious. “I’ll have one of what he’s having.” I only looked like a frozen corpse, have a great morning.

Some people manage to sleep laying down, but most have to wait until daylight hours to pull that off, which leaves some options for sleeping arrangements, but it’s not exactly the Hilton.

Sleeping in a seated position is a frequent solution, though it has some drawbacks. It’s hard on the spine, and if you don’t get a good night’s sleep you’re more likely to nod off in the daytime. Some simply stay up through the night, finding a grassy area in daylight hours (often in central park) to rest with relatively little trouble. Unfortunately, this all but removes them from society since they won’t be awake when it makes sense to seek out opportunities (business hours aren’t open to them). Many sleep on the train, which if they avoid the police harassment, still leaves the fact that they may not know where they are in the morning, putting themselves out of reach of breakfast, or important appointments.

Some nights it seems like every siren, jackhammer, and drunk raging tourist is just trying to win some strange contest to see which can wake you up the longest. 

Needless to say I pretty much run on coffee and naps. There are lots of couch surfing methods but most have drawbacks, some of which can be lethal. Others will only lead to overstaying a welcome. Mostly, just don’t make offers you might not want getting accepted:

     Me: Hey, thanks for letting me come over. Is your couch still available?

     Person: Yeah, I, uh, just have to go out of town, for, um, a few days, or a couple weeks maybe.

    Me: Uh, yeah. Have a great trip.

Most of these are petty annoyances, not real problems, but when one considers the mental health issues already facing this segment of the population, adding sleep deprivation to the mix is hardly recommended. Yes, there are shelters, but many at best put you in a den of thieves with no actual bed, just a different chair to sleep in. At worst they just outright turn you away on a cold night.

There is a drug called Modafinil. It’s largely used to trick the body by producing a similar state to that found in a well rested person. I’ve not tried it, but in the future a simple bottle of “sleep pills” available at a pharmacy could one day help alleviate these issues.

The other, more realistic option is the micro-hotels found in Japanese train stations. Combined with technologies like the automatic washrooms found in London and Los Angeles, this could be a brilliant solution for many travelers and paupers alike in need of a few hours respite from the world.