General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Activists poured concrete all over some "anti-homeless spikes" this morning [View all]nilesobek
(1,423 posts)and my first question to the locals was, "where are the rest of the homeless?" I was told they had moved on, got a job or froze to death.
One thing I noticed right away was that there was very few fences in Northern rural Maine. Dogs roam free and a campsites are available 20 feet off almost any road, even if private property. No one ever objected or took action against our presence. I agree with you that it shouldn't matter which coast we were on, but it somehow did.
When we got in California very tired from driving a van I bought, we parked on a roadside pullout to catch some sleep. We were rousted by the first cop who came by. He spent a lot of time on us, didn't find anything illegal but let us go with the warning that we were, basically, forbidden to park anywhere. Then it hit me, California is one fenced off place. Even the most modest properties look like compounds. There's really no where to go except the National Forests, unless you want to pay at least $50 a night for an unsafe motel. And that rate applies to pay campgrounds as well. We were well aware that no one cared about us except us.
In contrast, in Maine, they really did care. The locals saw to it that my son and I got jobs in a tree and wreath factory, where we made wreaths for the fallen soldiers in the WAA, (wreaths across America) program. They were quick to give us referrals for food and clothing. The factory owner seemed genuinely concerned with our welfare, asking what we would do when the seasonable work ran out.
Now I work two jobs. I cut and drop headstone monuments for a monument company in the daytime and work graveyard as a convenience store cashier at night. Yet I'm barely making it as these bosses are like the ones you described. I'm always one paycheck away from going back to the homeless life, stuck somewhere between the surreal and sublime.
I'm not sure if that answers your question or not. Maybe California has "homeless fatigue."