I guess this one falls under 'homeless prep'

7 things no one tells you about being homeless

"...it turned out my roommate's rent checks had been bouncing, and my landlord never bothered to notify us until he showed up with eviction papers..."

Ah, the freedom to be young and dumb, I miss those days.

I was going to refrain from second-guessing him, until I got to the part about homelessness being so boring he just had to do acid.

Interesting piece, actually. I'm not sure about the need to do acid, but substitute that for your poison of choice. He puts it in a perspective that is at least worthy of consideration.

He does point out, in essence, the critical importance of presenting the appearance of being (and then being in fact) worthy of trust. A great deal of success and failure rests on that: the ability to trust, and to be trustworthy, keeps civilization on the rails.

It gives me pause -- what have I done today to reinforce the network of trust and mutual assistance, vested in family and community, that is the final safety net for just about everyone everywhere?

(And as we comment, please let's not devolve into a mutual congratulation society. There have been hints recently. Lord preserve us.)

Although Cracked.com is primarily a humor site they do have a lot of well written, insightful and well-researched stories on a wide variety of subjects. I hit the site at least once or twice every week.

I sort of understand what the article writer says about doing acid might make a homeless man feel "productive." I was so sick once that taking prescription meds (which did little more than alleviating the symptoms and pains temporarily) felt productive. But you'd think that as a homeless man trying to get off the street, you'd have some use for that extra time.

That was kind of an eye-opening perspective. For background, my employment causes me to come across a lot of homeless people. There are the "frequent flyers" who know what to say and how to act to cause the reaction they are looking for (a warm place to be with a sandwich), but they know how the system works and how to work it; and they still don't get out of the loop. This then leads to the mental illness aspect, which I think is the root of the issue. I sympathize with it, sometimes, but at the same time, it makes me more jaded. It's a tough balance. Sometimes, a referral is made, but the person doesn't want to go with the program that wants to help them. Then what?

I'll go to bat for the person that truly needs the help, but when I see it being abused, the coin flips and I "turn off." This is why I tell people not to burn their bridges, especially with their parents (assuming the parents were alright in the first place).

I'm glad the author of the article was aware of his outward appearance and how being honest and trustworthy means. This, in my opinion, might keep anarchy at bay. I think in terms of how Japan dealt with their recent disaster; there were no reported acts of violence (like riots) and it appeared to be orderly (at least on TV). I don't have a lot of confidence here.

I wonder why he did not just stay in his work camp until he found a new place.

Very eye-opening. The question now becomes, how does one best go about helping those who have found themselves in such circumstances (and preferably without compromising one's own personal safety/security)? Not sure there is an easy answer for that one, and may be different depending on the person/situation. Personally, I prefer to give food (like a granola bar or something else portable and non-perishable) instead of cash, but there may be times when the cash is what a person needs more.

I learned ASL (American Sign Language) in college. I am "deaf" to pleas for BOOZE money, but I am more than willing to buy FOOD for those who are hungry: if I get "hit on" for money, on my way for dinner--or beer--I offer to buy a pizza and soda...sometimes they're hungry, sometimes they're just thirsty.

Kinda like feed the bears, don't feed the bears, ain't it?

You wanna feed the bears, you know you do. But you've seen what happens when others try it. Sooner or later, everyone who feeds the bears gets bit.

I had this happen to me. Roommate snorted rent up his nose. Came home one day and he was packing. Told me we were getting evicted. Lived in my car. The person I thought was my best friend said I could sleep on his couch as long as I needed. His wife was not having it. So back to the car.