If you were homeless, what would you do?
 

Been thinking about this for a while now after seeing some homeless folks in Pittsburgh. I always wondered what they did day in and day out and what I would do if I were one of them. Sometimes I think homeless folks have a better life than us. They live day by day, eat only when they can or need to, and don't slave in an office for some worthless green paper.

I was thinking of my game plan, if I were ever to become homeless and I think it would be wise to head to the forest, any forest, and live off the land rather than survive in a harsh city. Everything you need to survive is in the forest so it makes sense to make a living in there than on the city concrete.

What would you do?

Sir, two things

1. You do not want to be homeless. These are people who largely survive on pity due to the sheer horrific-ness of their situation. They don't slave away for green paper, instead they beg for it. If you think this is preferable to life otherwise, I would strongly recommend volunteering your time to a soup kitchen first.


2. I think you're mistaking homeless with "living off of the grid". I can't say I know a lot about that, but I would think it would be a good idea to take some sort of survivalist class first. Also to learn how to hunt or fish or something. Also, it is my understanding that a group of people attempted something similar to what you are proposing in New Jersey. And a cursory search on google, they're apparently called "tent cities". I don't know if this is true, but I had heard they had been evicted..... from the forest..... by the state.

As for what I would do...... I would probably die before long. I'm not a particularly healthy person.

I would go to a warm city where I wouldn't freeze, and try to start a fight club. If I could not succeed, I would head to the woods, or do the things fight club people did but alone

Yeah, rich hippies who decide to spend some time on the streets to prove how there's so much less stress in that kind of lifestyle.

Homeless people don't want to be homeless.

I would stay with a friend.

Were I homeless, I'd get some kind of job so I could provide myself with food and water. Shelter is far less of an issue unless you're in extreme conditions. A park or some such would suffice.

I, personally, would not go into a forest if I was homeless. It doesn't help the problem at all. I'll go into a forest when I plan to go into a forest.

If I became homeless I suppose I would try to establish a network with other homeless people in my area so I have some moral support. Also I would follow them to such necessities as the soup kitchen, church charity handouts and the like. Also I suppose I would try to scrounge up enough money for a sleeping bag and sleep around homeless people that I would come to trust. As heartbreaking as it is, there are people who go around and assault homeless people on the streets even when they are just sleeping. That's why more homeless people try to sleep in groups.

Lastly I would try going to special job organisations and try to get a job and accommodation.

I do not recommend to anyone to become homeless..Although some people don't have the luxury to choose.

Stay with family simply so they would not worry about me. If I did not have friends or family, I'd run off into the woods somehwere remote and vanish forever :)

edit: my post is if I had to be homeless, and could not get a job.

If I could, I would probably get a low paying job, and save for community college, then try and do really well and get scholarships to help pay for college after that. Or join the military, or use that to pay for colllege

Well, I think I would have to go for the old forest plan as well... I know a few survival building and hunting techniques that I think would get me by, but if I had a choice as to when I became homeless, can I do it *after* I learn all the skills I need, please? :P

I'd couchsurf between friends' places while looking for a job. There's always my parents' too, but I'd rather not do that.

I can tell you, what I'm doing! Finding myself, unexpectedly and suddenly locked out of my house, late this fall, and being a little more fortunate than most, had a 1970's old camper, I lived in that, parked out on the street for a week, and then behind by parents place for a month. I borrowed an electric heater, and at least had access to washroom and such. Once the cold set in, i have been pretty much couch surfing, between my parents and friends. I'm grateful that at least i have a 'roof' over my head, and warm meals from the generosity of others. From this experience it's definitely made me appreciative of the kindness and caring of others, and one of the things that I plan to do, is to start volunteering, to help others, whom are 'really' and truly 'homeless', at an organization, such as soup kitchen. None of us know, when it could happen to ourself, its never a choice, its the unexpected turns of life, that can find us there.

tough question. I know I would not make it alone in the woods and there are no woods one could run to anyways here - its all owned, hunting and fishing is illegal and you may end up in prison for it - well that of course is also a solution to have a shelter and food, but not a preferrable one :P

I have several options - I have two parents living seperately - both have a home that has enough room for another person. My tools and stuff might have to go into storage, though I could bring some with me. Another option is to get government help - Germany will pay people rent to prevent homelessnes and they also will give money to buy food, water and things like blankets, clothes. If that option would not be there (my parents are broke as well, the government has turned neoliberal) and I really would have no home to go to, I think I would also look for other homeless people and try to form or join a community of people that help each other. A good option would be some sort of van or mobile home, but that would cost money. Some people I know are living in mobile homes or modified old trucks (they dont pay rent, but have to pay for gas and of course had to buy it), others live in yurts - large tents that can be well heated even in cold climates. I used to know some people who occupied abandoned or unused flats and buildings as well. All these are options, I guess it all depends on the situation that leads to homelessness...

I would hoard quarters and spend them at an arcade whilst living off of snickers bars.

I'd just stay with Raiden and we'd become weary travelers together

Not a bad option :P - although where would you sleep?

I'd buy a tent and join Occupy Houston. :xD:

I'd dress as a police officer and mace you. :)

False. They certainly don't live better than us. They live off the pity others, and in many cases, there is no guarantee that they can get food everyday. "Slave in an office" isn't a very good or fair description of our workforce. Cities aren't as hellish as we often exaggerate it to be, although they certainly have their downsides.

Exactly. They are also sleeping on the streets, there it's cold and the only shelter is a shop doorway. They are extremely vulnerable to abuse, and have one of the highest chances in the world to end up addicted to drugs or forced into crime.
Help homeless people by all means, but don't romanticise them. Nobody chooses to be.

I think what I would do would largely depend on the circumstances, how I became homeless in the first place, etc. I'm not very at risk of becoming homeless, but if I did, it might be because my mom would've put me out. Right now, my dad doesn't have a house and wouldn't be able to help me :( I might end up in my car for a while :P

That's a good point, if I didn't have a house, but still had a job, I would sleep in my car, and just live in there, which I actually wouldn't mind if I only had to do it for a couple months

If I were to just loose my residence I would live in my vehicle along with whatever possessions too valuable or useful to go without (like clothes, laptop, ect). Short term it would be ok, but I would look for proper place to live asap. Now, If I were to end up on the streets with just the clothes on my back...i'd probably throw a homemade tent up in the woods somewhere.

Life is only 'better' or 'worse' depending on viewpoint.

If I became homeless, I'd get a job and put all my efforts into getting just enough money for a sleepover (in winter) and getting enough food/medical supplies to survive in good health. In no way I would attempt to live in a forest off my hunting skills (cause I would simply die) or stay that way. Living by day can get you killed you know, and it often does. :hmm:

The World Cries

I would go to my Uncle who has always been somewhat fond of me. He's has more money than I could ever begin to spend.

Niri te si oe are building our own home, so no one can force us out. We have aid for the first ten acres, and that is homesteaded, so one one can take the land away, short of civil insurrection. Then we would have to resist the zombie hoards who are marading from the city.

Three rules to living without a home.


1. Stay clean. Gym memberships aren't expensive. Gym's have showers, abuse them.


2. Car. Van/truck if you can, easier to sleep in. Shelter and transportation.


3. Keep your job. This is why number 1 is so important. Without the necessity of paying rent/mortgages, a lower paying job isn't all that bad.


Congratulations, you're now homeless. I doubt you're happy, but you're not begging for food either.

Swimming pools might be cheaper than gyms.

Especially other peoples' pools. You can't assume you have a job, I don't think that's part of the question. Even on minimum wage you can afford a small apartment. Around here anyways.

being homeless
 

I've been out of work for 14 months now. I live in S. Florida and while alot of rich people live here there are no jobs for 50 or older w/o some kind of qualified skill in a specific field that reaps $50,000 + a year.
I live on unemployment - 3 times this year I've come within 5 to 12 days of being thrown out into the street to become homeless and while it's mostly warm in S. Florida there's virtually no woods or Shelters here.
I have no car to crash in and w/o $ coming in your definitely screwed.
can't find a job if you can't get cleaned up, shower etc...
So, what would I do if I because Homeless ? Until for faced with the actual
knowledge that you are going to be, you have NO idea just how fragile and unforgiving life really is. it's a stark wakeup call.
So, I don't give a rat's ass, if you have a job, no mater HOW MUCH you hate it, Stay there ! at least for the next 2 to 5 years or until the US is back on it's feet.

There was a time when the Veteran's Administration "conveniently" lost the records of a couple of thousand seriously disabled Vietnam Veterans. The result was that a number of them predictably went off the wall, and as a result, MANY were killed by SWAT Teams, many more were either sent to jail for a year or two where the V.A. would NOT have to pay them, or V.A. long term shrink wards, where they were, and probably still are psychotropic LAB RATS for the American Pharmaceutical company's.
Those of us that kept our cool, did not fall into any of those prepared traps, and several months later, received a back pay check for all payments not received, and resumed getting our monthly disability pensions.
What did I do at the time? When this happened, I was renting in Tampa, Florida. I went and spent the last 200 dollars that I had in my bank account, and before I was thrown out of my apartment, I used my electricity to build a small twelve foot long, four foot wide sailboat with a "cuddy cabin" long enough for me to get my entire six foot tall frame into. I had no money for a motor, and I had to make the sail out of lightweight canvas that I stitched myself, but I had a friend with a pickup take me down to the beach on the Courtney Cambell Causway, where I stuck it in the water on the south side of the Causeway. Before I did that, I registered it as a home made sailboat, and while there are laws against camping on the beach, there are NONE about living aboard your properly registered boat. I was living on the top of the worlds biggest free supermarket there on Tampa Bay. I NEVER went hungry, and dined on some pretty good food. I found an Oyster bed that I anchored over, and would hop over the "Gunnel's" of the boat wit my snorkel, mask, and fins on, and twice a week, would dine on a couple of DOZEN Oysters on the half shell.
It's all about knowing how to "Rough-it" SMOOTHLY.
Niri Te

Swimming pools will notice. Gyms will not care.

Neither does Tampa Bay, The Gulf of Mexico, or the Pacific Ocean.
Niri Te

Here not. There is no official minimum wage and small appartments can be starting at $400 a month (and you need also food of course and transportation to the workplace which is about $150 and $80 around here for cheapest supermarket food and the minimum public transportation card. The bigger problem is to actually find an appartment. Even I had problems when I was a student. Stood in line with 30 other people to register for an appartment and got turned down over and over until I finally got one that is more expensive ($700) but not much larger and I only got it because my dad signed that he will bail me out if I should not be able to pay.

What works better is shared flats. There are plenty of those for students and one has not the worst chance to get in if one has a job and is a nice and social person.

However(!) as long as the social state is clinging to life here (despite it being under attack from neoliberals and conservatives) there is a state welfare system that will give you a minimum wage even if yours is not enough (so they will give you enough money to meet minimum standards if you are below that because you get paid not well or because you have no job - and as long as you show that you are trying to get a job they will keep doing so indefinitely). Plus there are aids for paying rent, so if you cannot pay your rent and really are poor, you will get money to pay the rent, though they may request from you to look for a smaller flat or move into a state owned housing project. In any case, there are still strong measures to preotect against people actually becoming homeless. Most homeless peopl ehere are so because of some other problem - usually a mental problem, addictions or a refusal to accept charity, some even because they prefer to be homeless and free to being subject to government agencies demanding of them to find and take any sh!tty paying job they can find.

I think that is country specific. Here there are public pools that charge as low as $3 for an evening of swimming and using the showers. There are also public gyms that are as low as $100 a year and one can go there play games, do sports and use the showers. One usually can also sneak into these without paying at all as they usually do not have any checks. Private gyms owned by companies are a different thing though (starting at $60 a month and rigorous checks) and big public or private pools are also expensive and are strict in their policies. Those are usually in the big cities.
In some cities, there are still leftover public bathrooms. And I mean really bathrooms with a bathtub and all. Those are from the times when not all people had a bathtub or shower in the house. They are being dismantled though - same with publich laundromats.

Marvellous :) - Not only surviving but actually living good and free, thats great. I heard someone proposing something like that as a solution for some people who fear "peak oil" - to get a sailboat and move onto that. Well they are thinking of sailboats large enough for a family with a real cabin of course, but yeah - if it is done right then no rent and few fees and free food, shelter and transportation along the coast :P

Auroraglasialia,
From what you say, I am glad that I lived in Germany when I did, from 1970, to 1982. I have German friends that say that I should cherish the memories that I have, and never come back, because if I were to see what Germany has changed into, especially after reunification, it would break my heart.
Here in the states, things are different from state to state. The State of Texas honors it's Military Veterans in many ways. One of them is that if you are Combat disabled as I am, and you are buying your own house, then the house that you live in, plus the land that it sits on, up to twenty acres, is tax free. If you die before your mate does, then they still live there tax free. The state also has programs that loan you the money to buy your own home at very low interest rates, and you can "homestead it, which means NO ONE can sue you, and take it from you.
We have 80 acres with our own private airstrip, and the first twenty acres with the house that we built ourselves, is completely paid for, the remaining sixty will be paid for in four years.
Because the State of Texas treats us this way, it is a safe bet that the two of us will never be moving out of Texas. The State even has a provision where you can deed a small section of the land as a "Family Burial Plot" and you can be buried on your land. When both of us are gone, the land will be deeded to my niece, also a pilot, my love and I will be buried next to the runway, and the property will remain in the ownership of the family as long as there IS a family.

Two song's when considered together, make one wonder

The first may not be familiar, its an old Chris De Burgh







The second is more familar, "What If God Was One of Us!"


just a bit of Mika's Musings ~'~