Have You Ever Lived On The Streets?

I am currentily living that reality, and what I have learned is I love spending all day at the library, even a dinky cheeseburger can taste like heaven when you've barely ate all day, and the more you walk or exercise the less anxiety you have and the more confident you become.

I have also learned that senior citizens RUN the streets in central Jersey, and walking through the suburbia after 11pm on a weekday is eerily similar to walking through a deserted, zombie apocalypse ridden town.

Truth be told... I'm enjoying it way too much.

I lived in a tented mining camp several times. Homeless, nope.

No, I'm always dead when I'm on the streets.

Close to it. When I lived in Chicago, I worked at a wholesale company, (Louis MeLind and Co.) as a biller. It paid peanuts, and I lived from paycheck to paycheck. My 'room' was a closet sized room with just a bed. I ate at a restaurant on the corner of the block every day. I ate hot dog most times. The waitress there was very friendly, and all of a sudden she disappeared. I asked what happened to her, and they told me she had committed suicide.

I eventually moved back to California, and went to work for the post office where I worked as a sorter. I shared an apartment with two college students.
With no future in sight, I enlisted into the USAF. That was the best decision I made, because they assigned me to work with munitions and nuclear weapons. I made E4 in 18 months where the average time is 26 months.

After my discharge, I moved back to Chicago, because a guy I met on base was from Chicago, and his parents owned Honolulu Harry's Club Waikiki on Wilson and Nakanoya's across from Lincoln Park. He asked me to move to Chicago if I didn't have other plans, so that's what I did.

To make a long story short, I eventually returned to California, earned my college degree, then worked for Florsheim Shoe Company. After 3.5 years as a Field Auditor, they promoted me to Audit Manager, so we moved to Naperville, a suburb of Chicago. I took the Burlington into the city, and our office was on the next block to Union Station. I did that for another three years, and was ready to move back to California to family and friends.

After returning to California, I was controller for a couple of companies, did consulting work, and retired at 63. During work and after retirement, I traveled extensively throughout the world that included all five continents and 90 countries with many repeats.

So things progressed quite well for me.

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During WWII, we were sent to concentration camp in Northern California where we lived in tar-papered barracks. It snowed in winter, and we had one pot bellied stove fueled by coal in the middle of the room. There were no sidewalks or roads, and during the winters, it was muddy. This is probably the closest to living on the streets.

All my homeless time was Age 14 and younger. That and seeing my parents dodge bill collectors taught me fiscal responsibility and an absolute aversion to borrowing money. It was a good lesson.

Homeless is far more than just not having a place to hang your hat. Some people in this world have a homeless heart. They may have everything externally, but internally... Something is missing. It's different for everyone.

I have been homeless a time or two in my life. It looks a lot different from that perspective. Homelessness isn't just a state of being. It's a state of mind. It's a state of heart. I can't speak for all the homeless out there, but I have met and fellowshipped with many over the years, and I feel it is for them I must speak.

I met many who chose to be there because they were running from who they thought God was. It was easier to just disappear. There were some who simply just enjoyed a simple life, with few requirements. Lots of tragic stories. Bad decisions that led to a downward spiral that eventually dropped them there. They were all different... And unique.

But it was deeper than that. Much deeper. It was a tragic state of heart and mind. Where all the sources of positive motivation were removed and all that was left for them to ponder... Was their mistakes... Their choices. Often times not even stopping for a moment to wonder if there was even a way out anymore. For what? To fail again?

They are lost in a sea of people who have only seen them from the outside. But there is so much more on the inside. There's fear. Feeling forgotten, cast away, perhaps... Isolated even by this world that doesn't seem to care.

Being homeless is a lonely place to be that very few will ever really care enough to understand. It is sad really.

Oh yeah, right . . . if people don't believe in god as you do, that's bound to be their core problem.

Theists are such smug bastards.

I wudda said, ignorant bast.......

Being homeless is a human condition that has little to nothing to do with God... Or lack there of.

Right . . . that's why you wrote this:

Setanta, there are all kinds out there, no matter where you go. Some have beliefs similar to mine. That was their reasoning. That doesn't imply that was the case with all... Or even the majority. People are people no matter where they are in life. We all share the same basic thoughts, needs, wants, desires. As well as fears, doubts, and insecurities. It is the human condition no matter what that particular human chooses to believe about God.

Like all the god botherers, you can't leave you imaginary friend out of the picture, even when, as you point out he/she/it has nothing to do with what is going on.

Speak up rather than thumbing us down. Nothing to be afraid of.

If you're looking for the masked thumb's downer, it ain't me.

That would be because He is an important part of my life and I am not ashamed of that. I don't see what difference it makes really. I haven't judged or condemned anyone. I did not even state a specific belief regarding God or my relationship with Him. Nor have I shoved any scriptures down anyone's throats. So what is it exactly that I have done that is so offensive Setanta?

Huh... I.wonder who it is? Thats kinda strange. Maybe even a little vindictive. Come on masked thumbs downer! Show yourself!

We have chicken little playing kid's games. LOL

It's a mystery. Has nothing to do with the post content though, no pattern at all..

I actually thought about referring to chicken little! Lol