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> How many homeless people have you talked to? Quite a few. Maybe close to 50 over the years, a decent sized sample. Some of them I got to know very closely. O
by 1024core 11y ago
> How many homeless people have you talked to?
Quite a few. Maybe close to 50 over the years, a decent sized sample. Some of them I got to know very closely. One of them did get an SRO room (I was really close to him), I helped him get settled in. Of course, about 2 years later he was back on the streets, because he wrecked his room.
- maerF0x0 11y ago> Of course, about 2 years later he was back on the streets, because he wrecked his room. Do you have any insight as to why he would do that? This is a complaint I've heard many times and never understood why someone would wreck their own place they live.
- 1024core 11y agoSince I was close to him, here is how it went down. Initially, he was good: we provided him with curtains, sheets, clothes, etc. Then slowly, it started to go downhill: first he started eating in his room. This left crumbs, etc., which attracted cockroaches, etc. Then, despite a ban, he started occasionally smoking in his room. Then he started storing food, which attracted more insects. And since he didn't have a fridge, the food would rot. Finally (the last straw, from what I heard from the SRO manager), he set up a hot plate (an electric cooking stove) in his room; which, given that it was carpeted, was a _very_ bad idea. After repeated admonishments, he was eventually kicked out.
- maerF0x0 11y agoSo most of those sound like symptoms of not having pretty basic needs met. A place to eat cleanly, food storage and preparation facilities. I suppose maybe all those could have been dealt with with more work (cleaning, groceries elsewhere) but that is pretty over the top to ask people to live like that. sad to hear about his challenges. All of us could do well to imagine how much it would suck to be in his shoes.