day without food or day without a home

canon digital rebel xsi

This is the question I pose today: Would you rather go a day without eating or a spend a day on the streets?

I ask because as the holiday season is ramping up to full speed ahead, this is the time of year many people give to their local food banks. And while that is great, what I have become painfully aware that we often feed people, only to send them to the streets to sleep. And while there are many food and clothing drives, I have never heard of a housing drive for the homeless.

So again I ponder the question, which is would be more difficult? Certainly it is true that if you go without proper nutrition for long enough, it will kill you. But so can life on the streets, even with adequate food.

Going for a day without food would affect your body, mind, and spirit. Your stomach would grumble. You might also feel tired and even cranky. Your blood sugar would drop. You might feel dizzy. All of your energy would be focused on when you might get your next meal. You definitely would not be at your best.

Putting you on the street, would do something entirely different. It might feel like the rug had been pulled out from under you. That your safety net was gone. You might feel alone, not to mention frightened. Your body might feel cold as the temperature dropped after the sun set. Your mind might race as you tried to find somewhere safe, or thought of all the possible things that could happen if you let yourself close your eyes and drift off to sleep. You would probably end up feeling tired and maybe even dizzy. As for your spirit, it might be broken, or at least a bit drained, depending on what you saw during your time on the streets. It is hard to say.

I was fortunate that we never went hungry when I was growing up. There were some close calls. I remember one period where my Mom made a pot of spaghetti sauce that she had added too much red pepper flake, last well over a week. There were other times when the cupboards were pretty bare or we made some strange things with what we had on hand, but we never were without food.

The closest we came to homelessness was the night we fled from our father. We drove across California all night. We arrived in Los Angeles in the morning, but by evening had a roof over our heads.

When B and I came back to California the second time, we were living in an extended stay for a while, on and off. When we would change locations, we would usually need to be out by noon, but couldn't check into our next hotel until mid-afternoon. Those few hours left me feeling woozy. I would worry about all sorts of things. All of our stuff was packed in the car - would someone try to steal it? It is hard to explain, but I would feel off kilter. I would often snap at B for no apparent reason. I know it is not the same. I only mention this because I imagine actually being on the street so much worse, and cannot even imagine.

I stumbled upon SLO Homeless' blog today. He posted today about how we need to work as a community to make sure the homeless have access to a rod and reel, so they can leave homeless behind. I think he is onto to something.

I also don't want you to think I am saying helping the homeless around the holidays is a bad thing - it isn't. You can leave a comment on this post, and $10 will be donated to Second Harvest Food Bank. Land' End is also accepting gently used coats until November 30. So far they have collected over 8,000 coats!


on the night stand :: Juliet, Naked by Nick Horby.

on the road again

As the quest to find home continues, Seattle has become a possible possibility. I have never been to Seattle, or anywhere in the state of Washington. B has been there a few times, but isn't an expert on the city by any means. Thus we have decided to head due north.

We have rented a car as the civic isn't a big fan of rainy days. We think we may have solved the problem by replacing the cap ($20) but it has only rained once since then. We figured better safe than sorry.

The woman who assisted us at the rental agency was a bit pushy. B bought the extra insurance. She only told him about the one. She said there were three. Explained the most expensive. Paused and didn't move on. It was kind of weird.

It has been fun though getting use to the keyless entry and the automatic lights. Still, I don't see much innovation going on in new cars. And was very dissappointed in the 34 mpg we got on the first phase of the drive. Not to brag, but the civic, which is over a decade old, gets almost 39 mpg. Think about that for a moment. Yes, this is a slightly larger vehicle, but in ten years we still can't do better?

Then there was the hotel issue. I wish I could explain why it can take us up to six hours to leave the house for a trip. Some of it is 'mother-in-law' cleaning and putting everything away. And also that we are usually gone for over a week at a time. But when we realized check-in started almost an hour ago, B called the hotel to ask if they would hold a non-smoking room with a queen bed. He was told they only had smoking rooms available. This was a first for us (in California, at least).

We had used priceline, so there isn't much that could be done. We devised a plan on what to do if the room really smelled to keep the majority of our stuff from not smelling like an ashtray.

We finally arrived just before 11:30pm. B went inside and came back to report they were overbooked! We were being sent to the hotel just down the block - but just for the night.

It really was just down the block, but they are in the middle of repaving the parking lot, so it was not clear where the lobby was. I drove around the entire property, getting quite snippy, saying how a lobby sign usually comes with a hotel once it is built, and threatening to go inside and go all rock star on them.

B found the lobby and realized he could present his rewards membership. He has reached gold status with this particular organization, which entitles him an automatic upgrade. And thus we ended up in a Cabana Suite with a reserved parking space at just before midnight. There are two flat screen HD television sets in the room - one slightly larger than the other. There are also two doors to get to the bathroom.

We also did not have to check out this morning, but were able to stay, at the priceline price, until we leave to head north tomorrow. I guess I went to bed anxious as I had a weird dream in which B let housekeeping in 'to clean the toilet'. Instead an entourage of at least half a dozen women entered the bedroom and started insulting me. One checked my nightstand for jewelry while the rest giggled about why the sheets were all tangled up. Another, whose name I learned was Elizabeth, told me to my face that my life sucked and it was all my fault. At that point I called the front desk, where after demanding to be transferred, I spoke to the manager on duty. I actually woke myself up talking in my sleep. Thankfully B did not hear me.

on the shuffle :: Gray's Anatomy Volume 3

on the night stand :: Maynard & Jennica