4 ms·

How difficult is it to get regular showers or ocean/lake rinses as a homeless person in your region?

Mz 9y ago
At the moment, I check into a hotel about once a month and shower. I have not used homeless services where I currently am, so I don't know what showers they offer here. Where I am currently, there is an abundance of excellent public park bathrooms and I have no problem doing some basic clean up there, as needed, though it isn't a shower. I am not at the coast, so there is no ocean here. When I was in downtown San Diego, I showered almost every single day at either Neil Good or Rachel's. After I left downtown but was still in San Diego County, I typically went to the beach a few times a week to clean up. So, when I was being told to leave the library in downtown San Diego (for supposedly smelling), I was showering daily. It was bullshit.
- mahyarm 9y ago
  Did your clothing smell then? You seemed to be implying you had a strong odor in your previous posts.
  - Mz 9y ago
    By the time I realized that I should have put "smelling bad" in quotes, it was too late to edit it. I have a serious health condition. I sometimes do smell, but not specifically because I haven't showered. I actually smelled a lot worse back when I had a corporate job and an apartment because I was a lot sicker. But I had a more conventional lifestyle, so I never got accused of smelling. This is part of why I am so confident that accusations that "you smell" are merely code for "no homeless people." There are plenty of people who smell bad, but that isn't a reason to exclude them from a public space. That accusation does get used to exclude homeless people. I am not saying that homeless people never smell. I am saying that a) everyone has some kind of smell, to some degree b) smells being "offensive" are largely subjective, not objective and c) objecting to "smell" is often not really about the smell but about the fact that the person is homeless. If we routinely threw people out of public spaces for having a strong odor, regardless of other details, then I wouldn't think this was basically a Jim Crow practice. But when "smell" gets used as the reason to exclude a poor person but is never used to exclude other people who may also be equally disgusting, then it really isn't about the smell per se. That's just basically a cover story. Is that clearer?

Mz 9y ago

At the moment, I check into a hotel about once a month and shower. I have not used homeless services where I currently am, so I don't know what showers they offer here. Where I am currently, there is an abundance of excellent public park bathrooms and I have no problem doing some basic clean up there, as needed, though it isn't a shower. I am not at the coast, so there is no ocean here. When I was in downtown San Diego, I showered almost every single day at either Neil Good or Rachel's. After I left downtown but was still in San Diego County, I typically went to the beach a few times a week to clean up. So, when I was being told to leave the library in downtown San Diego (for supposedly smelling), I was showering daily. It was bullshit.

mahyarm 9y ago
Did your clothing smell then? You seemed to be implying you had a strong odor in your previous posts.
- Mz 9y ago
  By the time I realized that I should have put "smelling bad" in quotes, it was too late to edit it. I have a serious health condition. I sometimes do smell, but not specifically because I haven't showered. I actually smelled a lot worse back when I had a corporate job and an apartment because I was a lot sicker. But I had a more conventional lifestyle, so I never got accused of smelling. This is part of why I am so confident that accusations that "you smell" are merely code for "no homeless people." There are plenty of people who smell bad, but that isn't a reason to exclude them from a public space. That accusation does get used to exclude homeless people. I am not saying that homeless people never smell. I am saying that a) everyone has some kind of smell, to some degree b) smells being "offensive" are largely subjective, not objective and c) objecting to "smell" is often not really about the smell but about the fact that the person is homeless. If we routinely threw people out of public spaces for having a strong odor, regardless of other details, then I wouldn't think this was basically a Jim Crow practice. But when "smell" gets used as the reason to exclude a poor person but is never used to exclude other people who may also be equally disgusting, then it really isn't about the smell per se. That's just basically a cover story. Is that clearer?