I was living with my friend and his wife and kids for a few months. I come home after doing some work with the Army and he's like "We need to talk". Basically they said I needed to move out. I did need to move out, I'd been there for too long. Anyways I was like "OK, so what's the time frame? Like in a month?" He says "We were thinking you'd be out today."
Luckily I had a little Nissan pickup with a camper shell and a beat up carpet kit in the back. So I spent a week or so sleeping in the back of my truck, working during the day. Ended up staying at a crack-head hotel for like $175 a week for a few months. I could have stayed with my brother or friends, but I didn't want to impose. I'd get jobs with the Army Guard where they'd send me to the coast for a few weeks and they had barracks to sleep in.
When I did have a home before that, I used to go recycle cans to get some pancake mix, potatoes and hot sauce for my food. Worked Labor Ready busting my ass for $40 a day. It sucks to be broke. I've got a good job now, but the job I had before this I was getting $8 an hour loading trucks at a warehouse in Portland.
People saying that only lazy people or dope fiends are homeless have no fucking clue. Everything in your life can change in an instant. There's plenty of hardworking, good people who have fallen on hard times.
