Humanity's
Shadow
When
your life is lived on the streets, you literally
become Humanity's
Shadow...
living
under, or rather merely existing through, shadows
of
color faded after being left out too long in the sun.
You
don't know what it's like living under humanity's shadow...
not
being seen or treated as part of society,
never
brought into the folds of friendship.... most, if not all,
interactions
are surface level only, nothing of substance.
Because
people are afraid of those living on the streets,
we're
not invited to be part of life.
Living
on the streets puts you in hyper-survival mode.
Your
life centers on finding food, shelter, and places to clean up.
Living
on the streets means dealing with life in its rawest form.
Without
a filter...
Subjected
to things no one should be, and witness to
things
that should never be seen. Living without being seen...
at
least not in any meaningful way. Merely existing in and through the
shadows
of life, and under the shadows of humanity.
The
cost living is exponentially high, especially more so in the
state
of California, where the cost of living is not only exponentially
higher
than any place else in the nation, is it also cost prohibitive
when
forced to live life on the streets. Paying excessive taxes,
which
are taxed and those taxes are heavily taxed.
Making
it impossible to live with any measure of comfort.
Compromising
our lives even more, and the negative effects that
result
from other people imposing their wills on everyone else's lives....
how
we will “live”, what we can do, and where we can do things.,
has
had and continues to have very negative consequences
in
every aspect of our lives
Further
hardships imposed on those in the state of California makes
living
on the street, living in the state.... unlivable, untenable.
Especially
with the laws that have a direct negative impact on our lives;
living
without a home, like the plastic bag ban, where not only
have
prices increased exponentially, making life even more of a
challenge
on the streets, even more so in terms of obtaining
food
and supplies, but taking away what we need to carry our
purchases
from the stores and restaurants and then charging us
for
the “privilege” of carrying out our food, and other purchases
from
the places of business... because
paying for the purchases
are not enough, we are charged
more
to carry them out of the store and restaurants....
Taking
away plastic bags has a detrimental affect for those of us
having
to live on the streets. Now, instead of the protection the bags
offered
to keep our things and food dry, our stuff is damaged from
being
in direct contact with the elements of rain and wind, and
we
no longer have a way to keep our food dry.
So
we end up wasting what little funds we have on food
that
can no longer be eaten before it is destroyed by the weather.
California
laws have made life on the streets impossible to endure.
We
are the ones most affected by all the laws imposed on the state, as
it
has
a very direct, very negative impact on our lives, health and safety.
Now,
going into any grocery store, retail place of business,
or
any and all food places.... we
are forced to take in and use our
own bags sold to us to carry out our
purchases of foods, and necessities,
putting that much more
of a burden on an already heavy
burden of being forced to
live without a home 24/7. Then the costs of
everything has
risen so far out of control, even getting the barest necessities
is
a real hardship, the challenges the extremely high costs
of
everything.... makes living more of a luxury, than the
necessary thing
it is.
Barely
existing because law makers insist on making life in
California
a place where no one can actually live. And that is no
way
to live. Having to live on the streets is no way to live....
barely
existing, struggling to just survive is not a life.
But
then, living on the streets, and taking your already burdened
bags
into the stores or restaurants, you are accused of stealing....
because
of your bags and burden carried inside.
So
it is no-win all around.
Nearly
half my life has been lived on the streets...and it is a life
that
encompasses everything I do. I Breathe Street life, I eat Street
life,
I
dream Street life..... it has literally overtaken and overshadowed
every
aspect
of my life, in every way, shape and form.
What
I eat, when I eat, where I eat and how I eat.... when I sleep,
where
I sleep, how I sleep; is all dictated by circumstance
not
of my choosing... compounded so much more by the extremely
high
rising costs of life in the state. And when you have little or no
means
to purchase that life....
the
quality of life becomes non-existent. There is no quality of life
on
the streets, you become the very landscape
around
you, a movable fixture.
A
fixture that breathes, absorbs, feels, and is witness to life,
without
being part of life. I have died a million times over living
on
the streets, and died a different kind of death being forced to
live
my life without a home and the challenges that pose just by forced
circumstance
imposed by and through the illegal actions of a
despicable
landlord forcing me out.
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