Odd facts about homelessness

I was thinking about some random facts about being homeless that is learned from personal experience:
1. You can have more than one kind of lice. Ive had body lice and head lice at the same time. body lice get quite large. A few months before getting clean I remember pan handling in front of Macys. I counted 200 body lice before I lost count. You have to squish their heads to kill them. When I was living in abandoned buildings, my two friends and I had a lice fight. We put lice from each one of our bodies on a cup. Apparently the lice from the different hosts don't like each other. Who knew?

2. Not all homeless people stay in shelter. Personally, i felt like I would rather take my chances outside. i didn't like being in an enclosed space with people I did not know. To this day, I still take the sleeve from a sweatshirt and drape it over my eyes. it blocks out the kight and makes me feels safe

3. Places to use the bathroom are few and far between. Considering the average person has to use the bathroom 8 times a day, you would think there would be more places for homeless people to go in a humane space.

4. Tampons and hygiene products are completely beyond reach when you are homeless. Fortunately, one of the advantages of being homeless is that you stop getting your period. Is you ask your drug addict boyfriend for money for tampons, prepare to get no sympathy.

5. When you are homeless, there is no good place to masturbate.

Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 13, 2013 at 3:50 PM

    During BTH, most of the interviews were in rooms, and Alice's, Jessica's and Jake's looked lived in. How common were those and about how much did they cost?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. traceyh415March 13, 2013 at 4:10 PM

      Sf used to have lots of SRO single room occupancy hotels. Men used to live in them while they worked in the ship yards. Poor people moved into them starting in the 60s. In the mid 90s a room was $30-50 daily or $120-150 weekly. Jake also received a housing subsidy to assist with his rent.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousMarch 13, 2013 at 4:43 PM

    What was the basis for the subsidy? I believe where I live, drug addiction can be considered the basis for a disability, and therefore benefits.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. traceyh415March 13, 2013 at 7:29 PM

      You cannot get social security income here based on drug addict. Jake had some health and mental health issues that were featured in the film.

      Delete
  3. AnonymousMarch 21, 2013 at 4:13 AM

    what about jessica and alice didnt they have subsidized apartments?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. traceyh415March 21, 2013 at 9:20 AM

      It didn't look like Alice had regular housing from the film. I didn't know her but I knew people that knew her/know her and she stayed in the Bay Area for less than two years. the process to get a subsidy can take many years. Jessica was paying for her apartment with her SSI and her boyfriend was also contributing money. At that time, that apartment would have been around $500 a month. It would have used up almost all of her check so may have been difficult to maintain.

      Delete
  4. UnknownMarch 22, 2013 at 12:33 PM

    Why would a homeless woman's period stop coming?

    ReplyDelete

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