Holla,
As I wander around the streets of San Diego, I notice quit a few homeless men and women, especially in the hood that I call home. I don't know if there is a disproportionately higher homeless population here, but it wouldn't surprise me if that were the case. Why wouldn't you pick San Diego as your homeless destination? The everyday weather here would cause a near riot in the midwest. So many people would be rushing outside to "enjoy the weather" that there would be a genuine human stampede.
The question I have is whether homeless people pick the city in which they would like to start their derelict lifestyle. Do you reach a certain point in your life where you know that you are headed to the streets? Maybe the voices in your head are getting progressively louder, or the drug addiction is becoming stronger. Maybe you are watching your bank account dwindle progressively downward as you live in your friends apartment, unable to find work anywhere...
Oh my God. Am I on this downward spiral toward eventual homelessness? Am I already there? I don't own a car, don't have an apartment lease, and have very few possessions that I can call my own. I have lived in spare rooms in my friend's apartments for the last two years, and have been unemployed for almost a full 12 months. I have moved from a terrible homeless city (Chicago/Minneapolis) to an amazing one (SD). I could be subconsciously setting myself for living in a cardboard box and collecting random bits of garbage for my ever-expanding shopping cart inventory.
I'm not sure that I can escape from this vortex. I might just have to resign myself to the fact that I am on a path to homelessness. I should probably start hanging with my El Cajon Street Crew so that I can learn some tricks of the trade. Maybe I should start talking in nonsensical phrases and give myself a nickname like "Crazy Pete". I think that I may pick one of my neighbors to harass on a daily basis. I'll begin by digging through their garbage, and work my way towards screaming obscenities at them.
It's been put in motion already. I may even have to change the name of this blog to "Life in the Food Line". Can you imagine the blogging opportunities?
-More to come.
Showing posts with label Homeless man. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homeless man. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Hoodtastic
Holla,
Not much going on today in the unemployment line. I have written a couple of articles for a ongoing freelance gig that I got a couple of weeks ago, sent a couple of emails for new jobs, and spent the majority of my time searching around the internets and checking my gmail account. I managed to stay alive this weekend, even with all of the hoodtastic activities that were surrounding my apartment. To recap the weekend in my neighborhood:
-Two men held up a coin shop on Friday morning. The owner of the shop shot and killed one of the men, while the other managed to get away. The runner stripped off his clothes, and is presumbably still at large, and probably naked.
-A man was stabbed three times about five blocks from my home on Sunday night.
-A gang member shot at an undercover police officer four times on Monday night. This incident took place about a five minute drive from me.
To add to this, I took out the garbage this morning and there was a homeless man digging through the dumpster of my apartment. I stood there for a moment staring directly at him, hoping that he would notice me and move on. He looked at me, then looked at the garbage bag that I was holding, and continued to dig. After a minute or so, I approached him and threw the garbage bag into the other side of the dumpster. I stood there for a moment and he turned to look at me. I wanted to say something like, "Can you at least pretend that you aren't sifting through my garbage," but I was intimidated by his stare and decided to move along. He turned away from me and proceeded to open the bag that I had just thrown in. I watched as he sorted through my garbage, trying to make some use of the chicken bones and doritos packages that were contained in it.
This is my neighborhood. There are shootings, stabbings, and bums, yet I've never felt particularly uncomfortable here. The thing is, the longer that I travel through the unemployment line, the closer I come to these unsavory elements. I might be the homeless man, digging for treasure in the dumpster sooner rather than later. Instead of trying to shoo him away, I should be asking him for advice. Which plastic bags work best? How do you clean yourself? What kind of glue can I huff? It will be like watching Survivorman for the streets of San Diego.
Anyway, the pursuit continues. More updates to come...
Not much going on today in the unemployment line. I have written a couple of articles for a ongoing freelance gig that I got a couple of weeks ago, sent a couple of emails for new jobs, and spent the majority of my time searching around the internets and checking my gmail account. I managed to stay alive this weekend, even with all of the hoodtastic activities that were surrounding my apartment. To recap the weekend in my neighborhood:
-Two men held up a coin shop on Friday morning. The owner of the shop shot and killed one of the men, while the other managed to get away. The runner stripped off his clothes, and is presumbably still at large, and probably naked.
-A man was stabbed three times about five blocks from my home on Sunday night.
-A gang member shot at an undercover police officer four times on Monday night. This incident took place about a five minute drive from me.
To add to this, I took out the garbage this morning and there was a homeless man digging through the dumpster of my apartment. I stood there for a moment staring directly at him, hoping that he would notice me and move on. He looked at me, then looked at the garbage bag that I was holding, and continued to dig. After a minute or so, I approached him and threw the garbage bag into the other side of the dumpster. I stood there for a moment and he turned to look at me. I wanted to say something like, "Can you at least pretend that you aren't sifting through my garbage," but I was intimidated by his stare and decided to move along. He turned away from me and proceeded to open the bag that I had just thrown in. I watched as he sorted through my garbage, trying to make some use of the chicken bones and doritos packages that were contained in it.
This is my neighborhood. There are shootings, stabbings, and bums, yet I've never felt particularly uncomfortable here. The thing is, the longer that I travel through the unemployment line, the closer I come to these unsavory elements. I might be the homeless man, digging for treasure in the dumpster sooner rather than later. Instead of trying to shoo him away, I should be asking him for advice. Which plastic bags work best? How do you clean yourself? What kind of glue can I huff? It will be like watching Survivorman for the streets of San Diego.
Anyway, the pursuit continues. More updates to come...
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