A
Century In the Making….
A
Life on the Streets…
Hard
to believe that I have been on the streets so long without a home.
Been
on the streets since just after the turn of the Century, and was
born
in the last century. My birth, happened last century, The passing of
my
parents, both passing away last century… makes it harder to believe
this
is what has become of life… my life.
Starting
this Century off on the streets… not a good start.
Decades
into this Century, the 21st Century living in a way
that
should have never come about in this powerful country.
But
as hate and violence continues to unravel all around this country,
and
much of the world, all the ugliness of Humanity is showing more and
more.
This
is the United States of America, but there is nothing and no one
coming
together in unity, but rather becoming more divided and alienated
from
each
other than this world has ever known. Hate and Intolerance springing
up
with wild abandon, violent sprees of mass shootings, bombings, and
knifings,
are becoming the norm, or rather have become the norm.
While
guns have become our language of choice, and really,
the
only language we know how to speak anymore.
As
Wild Fires continue to burn down the state from the gross
negligence
of a power company refusing to maintain their faulty
equipment,
the state fumbles and falls further to the wayside.
Love
and loving actions have become more the exception now instead of the
rule.
Our
guiding lights.... have dimished to such a dimly lit dot, it can
barely be seen.
History
in the making. But not any history that I wanted to experience.
We
have had the most forward thinking inventions to help propel this
world
into
a fully automated society, but in terms of HUMANITY, things are
at
an all time low. How people treat others are inhumane, and filled
with HATE.
If
our Ancestors were here now, they would be unmoored of the disparity.
There
has been so much innovation, so much change, so many things to happen
and
come
about...yet the one thing that this country can never grasp is how to
stop,
prevent
and reverse homelessness or becoming homeless. Which has become one
of the
worst
epidemics this country, and world, has ever known. And instead of
helping, this
country
forces its citizens to become homeless by increasing prices on
everything
by
such a huge margin, while not giving the income to compensate, then
allowing
landlords full reign to do whatever they want, however they
choose
to tenants.... regardless of how illegal their actions are.
This
country always jumps in to assist other countries, while ignoring
their
very
own citizens in the same circusmtances that they imposed on us. This
country,
and
especially the State of California, is making the cost of living a
price that
most
people can no longer afford... breathing itself is becoming an
expense.
The
cost of living is making life unsustainable, to live in any regards,
especially
when that life is lived outside, where it makes getting the barest
necessities
a very costly endeavor, and more challenges with each passing day.
We
are now required to purchase bags in order to carry out the
purchases
just made, which cuts into the funds for the necessities,
and
you end up getting less because the costs added, and the
extra
charges tacked on become a great deterrent to cover
your
basic needs.
Being
forced out on the streets, then continually denied and refused
assistance
to
get into better circusmtances while imposing stringent “Guidelines”
on
who
they will help, when they will help, and how.... as long as you are a
junkie,
an
alcoholic, chemically dependent, or an illegal immigrant they will
give you
housing
of your choice, claim they are requiring you to go into
“Rehabilitation and
Recovery”...
and when you do not fit this “Requirement”, then obviously you
are
not really homeless and
therefore do not require assitance.
As
far advanced as this country, and world, are.... Homelessness should
not
even
exist in this time in History... But it is the worst it has ever been
and
continues
to spiral down the black hole of non-existence, while prices
continue
to skyrocket so far out of control only the Uber and Ultra Wealthy
are
able to have housing and shelter. Life is not sustainable on the
streets.
But
you areforced to find out how to keep moving forward and
sustain
life in the shadowed existence of what had been real and solid.
Circumstances...
have you ever given any thought to circumstances?
Have
they ever defined you? Were you ever known only for your
circumstance?
When you are forced to live on the streets, outside, 24/7
and
your circumstance goes from being inside wrapped in the safety
and
sheltered by those 4 walls and roof to the wide open skies
that
literally become your home... you are entirely defined
by
your circumstance, which then becomes a Catch-22
when
you do not fit the stereotypical image of the Homeless.
Denied
assistance for NOT looking, smelling and behaving
like
the preconceived image of what the Homeless
are
“Supposed” to present themselves as.
A
role I am very ill fitted for. A sewer smelling, trash
dweller
who is belligerent and stupid, while displaying
psychotic,
CrAzy, very erratic behaviors, who is addicted
to
drugs, alcohol and very chemically dependent
who
is also a chain smoker.
I
have enough demons to contend with without adding more to the mix.
Now,
if I were removed from my circumstance and once again
had
a home with a solid roof over my head, no one would recognize
me.
Because I was only ever seen as nothing more than a
circumstance,
not a living, breathing human being.
My
life and circusmtance, a continual History in the making.
