Homeless for a week?

[treemty]

So, last night, around midnight, my friend and I were walking around my neighborhood and we decided that during the summer, we will be homeless for a week. The reason, is to view the world from their prospective, and see how hard it is to live their life.

We would only leave with 1 set of clothes, matchbook, loaf of bread, cup('s), and something extra, like a jacket for sleeping. Also, we would have $10.

We won't go home for anything, unless we are ill. We will leave all electronics(including cells) at home, with our wallets, and clean clothes. We will beg for money, but only as much as we need, so we don't make any profit ya know.

This "trip" would be, 2 of my friends and I, one friend is good at nature stuff, I'm good at engineering(to build a house ish thing lol) and other friend is...idk.

Tell me what you think... also what I should add, or change?

[HiddenVenom]

As long as you don't get yourself killed or break the law, go ahead.

[SN!P3R]

.

[HiddenVenom]

Also get an army jacket and boots. They are made to last.

[jrfhoutx]

Do take the cell just don't use it unless absolutely necessary. Leave it off unless needed. And do tell someone about your planned itinerary, even if they're not happy about it, just in case something does go wrong...

Just good practices for solo travel...

[laxboy]

Jr is right. If somthing does happen to you on your trip and you are unable to go for help you should have a way of communication. Just incase of a emergancy

[crazy-modder]

Wow, that is gonna be a crazy experience.  You should keep your phone on you and keep us posted on how its going.

[jacobia jacob]

thats technically illegal in my area... also bring a phone, keep it off, tell people where you're going, etc etc.

[Modded Matt]

its technically illegal in my area as well (in city limits)

take your wallet!!!! if you are pan handling for cash, you are bound to get stoped by the law eventually, and you will want to have an id on you.

[crazy-modder]

Lol its definitely  not illegal where i live.  There are bums everywhere begging for change.

[802Chives]

erm... this concept is really odd to me.  It may be because you live in or so close to the city, but why would you want to know what it is like to be in such a terrible existance?  I mean wouldn't you rather walk into the woods with a bag of jerky, a fishing pole, and a lighter for week?  heck drive up to VT and I'll set you up with a .22 and a shotgun, and you can go live off squirrels for a week in the national forrest. lol...

seriously tho, if you want to do it right you will have to develop a drug and or alcohol problem in order to understand the state of mind you must be in to be a bum.  I mean you talking about 24 hours a day doing what? No ambition to better your life, or maybe if you have ambition it is to beg your keep for the day and make sure no one messes with you or ur turf, and trying to get that fix whatever it is that got them where they are.

Now homelessness is different then being a bum, it can be a family crashing with relatives, or sleeping in a car, or someone who needs to crash at the shelter.  however the fact of the matter is someone who is homeless is a far sight different from being a bum.

To me your idea sounds not only dangerous, but kinda pointless.  The idea of taking a week and being self sufficient is not a new concept for young people, however I just dont get why you would want to do it by bumming and slumming.  I could see you wanted to do some off the wall blog or article about the experience, but think about what the overall message is, are you shedding light on this culture? Becuase i dont see it as something that is deserving of exposure.


TL:DR Summary:

It would be 100X safer to walk into the woods with a pocket knife and lighter then spend a night in the city with gun and cell phone. Also being a bum is pathetic disgusting human existance and why would you want to experience that.

[Modded Matt]

well said chad....

99% of bums have mental and or drug problems.
 

[laxboy]

agreed. matts right in nyc alot of the bums have a mental disorder.

[Youji29]

BUMS = today
BUMS = not thinking about tomorrow
BUMS = no life
BUMS = still a human being
B = roke
U = p
M = oronic
S = ickness

Advice you to just go hiking somewhere and have fun..
Live your life to the fullest..
You have a life which can be more adventurous than them..

[jrfhoutx]

Regardless of whether or not you see homeless people or bums panhandling, 99% of the time it still illegal in most places, it just gets overlooked and not enforced.

The crazy mental and drug problem stereotype is just that. While, yes, there are many who have these problems the majority of homeless people have fallen on hard times. It's a vicious cycle that is nearly impossible to get out of without some kind if help. Many aren't brought to the place they're in because of drugs or mental problems, nut the drugs and mental problems are often the result of the situation they're in.

I will agree that this idea is a dangerous one. Having spent a week sleeping on park benches, etc. I can say I would much rather spend a week minimalist backpacking or camping (I've done both as well). There is nothing enjoyable, entertaining, or pleasant about being homeless in the city... Especially someplace like DC... I'll take bears and mountain lions of crackheads and gangs any day. At least if you have to kill a bear or mountain lion in self preservation you won't be put on trial for murder...

[dedafmonteur]

- flin stone
- knife
- bit of rope
- fleese vest
- a led light

that is what i would take extra with me. I used that wne i was backpacking with my parents for 4 days trough south africa.

[HiddenVenom]

- Army Jacket (Surplus)
- Tarpaulin

[Modded Matt]

The crazy mental and drug problem stereotype is just that. While, yes, there are many who have these problems the majority of homeless people have fallen on hard times. It's a vicious cycle that is nearly impossible to get out of without some kind if help. Many aren't brought to the place they're in because of drugs or mental problems, nut the drugs and mental problems are often the result of the situation they're in.

, these are two different types of people that I think you lumped into one. there are homeless people in the world who fell on hard times and have no choice but to sleep in a car ofr parking lot, these are the kind of people who when panhandling if offered a job for some money will jump at the opportunity. Then there are bums, people who have no desire to better themselves, this stems from mental disorders and drug addiction. Wehen offered money for a days work they refuse. I would consider the train of thought of being happy living in a box and not have the desire to do better a mental disorder.

I screw with them. I offer them $20 bucks to wahs my truck, or tell them my grass needs mowed, 99% of them are bums and will refuse. I have had people ask me for a dollar at the gas station, I never give money, I offer to buy them a sandwich or something from the store, and they refuse. these are bums, not homless people, who would jump to get a free meal.

[jrfhoutx]

Now I know it seems like I'm lumping them in together, but I'm not, I think you misunderstand what I'm saying. I'm saying that one begets the other. not being mentally active will lead to the deterioration of the mind... if you don't lose it you lose it, think about all that you've forgotten since you were a kid, or you were in high school, or college, hell five years ago... it's the same thing, if you don't occupy your mind you lose it, so to speak... how do you know that what appears to be crazy behavior to you is not just simply something to occupy the individuals mind and keep the brain active? see the problem lies in the personal experience, or lack there-of, which is why I understand why treemty wants to do this.

I don't recommend doing it voluntarily, but I get why he wants to. I don't think that "the train of thought of being happy living in a box and not have the desire to do better" is a mental disorder. I see it as simply a difference in perspectives and priorities, how do you know that you really have the better life? maybe we're the crazy ones with the mental disorders... how does the question go? "What if I told you 'insane' was working fifty hours a week in some office for fifty years at the end of which they tell you to piss off; ending up in some retirement village hoping to die before suffering the indignity of trying to make it to the toilet on time? Wouldn't you consider that to be insane?"... I know I do, but I deal with it because I don't personally want to live in a box on the streets, or sleep on park benches again... maybe some people would rather it be the other way around...

You may not give money to the people you consider to have mental disorders, but many people do, far more than you would imagine... in fact in the time that it would take one of these 'bums' to earn that $20 for washing your car, he could probably make twice that panhandling on a busy corner... I don't give money to the 'bums' simply because I know that many of them are not 'bums' or even homeless for that matter... years ago when I was a kid I remember staying home from school one day and there was some morning news show on and they were interviewing a 'homeless' man in NY. The gist of the interview was him saying that he wasn't poor, he wasn't homeless, he wasn't a bum, he actually lived in a nice townhouse in NY and was actually a millionaire... he made all his money panhandling in NY... I've seen it here in Houston, there's a guy that's at the corner of I-10 and Hwy6 every day. I went by there one day on my way home from work, after rush hour traffic, and saw the guy I had seen earlier that morning, cross the street to the shopping plaza parking lot and get into a brand new Audi...

I just think that simply labeling all bums mentally ill but not homeless people, and not all homeless people will 'jump to get a free meal'... besides giving food to the homeless is just as illegal as panhandling at an intersection, at least in Houston it is... in fact so is soliciting any kind of work... but that's overlooked (after all how would any of the illegals make money if they didn't chill at westpark and 59 all day?), the feeding the homeless however is not overlooked...

[802Chives]

I agree Jr with the fact that not all bums are mentally ill.  when I wrote what i did I thought long and hard about stereo typing a group of people as I know that stereo types are never true.... not entirely. 

However I do have to say that the people who are "Bums" who do pull down $30k a year and do have decent homes and regular lives are not exactly the example of mental health. I realize that there are "legitamate" professions that are morally no better then bumming, however I have a hard time swolling treemties idea of just trying it on for size.  just trying it out is probably how the the sound minded bums got going and to me that is a poor character trait.

Now it  may sound like we are beating up on treemty here, and I know that no one is trying to pick a fight.  It is just the begging piece of being homeless that we take issue with as most of us know that  a sad looking kid can make a pretty good living with a sad story and a dirty face. 

I also must state that mentally unhealthy people come from all walks of life, and I agree 100% with the point that someone who works 50 hours a week could be considered crazier then someone who begs for a living.

[loboplayero]

oh wow thats the craziest i ever heard off not for nothing or bring back my old memories i use to be homeless for almost a yr and in 1 or 2 weeks you wont really feel the difference try a month now that will start to feel anoying when your butt starts itching your mouth is kicking like ass ear wax all the way to your earlobes head itching actually your whole body!! penhandling my b a little hard a lot of people dont like to b ask 4 money some of them will cuz u out,well i understand what u want to do but is not the same when you know u got somewhere 2 go i dint have nowhere 2 go no place 2 look back i slept on my car for a few months then it got towed do to no insurance inspection and all that safety stuff ya know, well now in days im very good have my own got my self back on my feet i cant ask 4 nothing else im very satisfied i end it up on the street when my mom past away it was hard to take care of the house n bills so i claim bankrupt so from there the worst happen.
so why you dont try to youtube it and show the world ur exp it would be cool to see you do like a documentary.
anyways good luck and yes take atleast your id it would prevent you from a lot of trouble god for bid anything goes wrong GOOD LUCK!1

[jrfhoutx]

I will agree with lobo on making a documentary out of the experience. That would at least give you some justifcation for your plan and not just 'cause I wanted to see what it's like'...

I'm not gonna say don't do it, cause who am I to tell you what to do? (leave that to mom n dad lol) just be smart about it... I mean there is nothing wrong with wanting toexperience all aspects andpositions in life, but you have to be smart about experiencing them... Not to sound pessimistic or Anything but there are far too many people out there who will think nothing of preying on a young white kid who they think no one will miss, and putting yourself in this situation opens yourself up to being preyed upon by these people...


Oh and that 50 hours a week quote was from 'ConAir' lol... It was on TV the other day and that quote stuck in my head cause I feel that way quite often...

[Kilokk]

take a video camera with you and say its a documentary (not exactly useful tech, and it would be a decent youtube vid)

[nez]

i can see your point and thought behind the whole thing but the prob like has been said many times is unless you lived their experience that brought them to that point then you wont understand any of it leaving your trip pointless. It is the way humans are we tend to try and force others see things how we see them instead of seeing things the way another person does. Every one has their own stories and experiences that filter and dictate how they see the world. So you going from a well off family compared to the "bums" will not and cannot understand or see the reality of their world. Unless you completely indite your self and open your eyes and really try to understand theses ppl that means getting close to them and not look at things threw your eye but yet their eyes. If you can truly say you can do that then go for it but it is very dangerous and hard. It is the basic anthropological understanding of cultures.(no not man out of monkeys but the way we interact with each other to the deepest level)