[patientplatypus]

I'm homeless and living in the Tenderloin in San Francisco.

People here want you to

- Be in a gang (or a prostitute, thief, ex-con and so forth) - Be on drugs (or in rehab for drugs) - Have a mental illness (so you can go to therapy) - Be disabled - Find religion

There isn't a position for "I ran out of money and my family wouldn't support me, and at some point finding web development work became too hard as the technology became more complicated." People want you to "get better." I don't do drugs, I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't steal or assault anyone.

I just don't have any money.

But people here are morons. They need to have a reason for why someone is poor other than "I'm a person of average intelligence that doesn't know how to find a paying job in this society." I don't want to be psychoanalyzed, be put into rehab, go to church or join any number of the lonely people who have to have a support group because society is awful. I don't have problems other than being poor - if you managed to buy into the crypto ponzi scheme at the right time then no one is asking you to "find god" or "get better".

People are social animals. If you put them in a position where those are the options (jail, crime, drugs, psychoanalysis, religion, disability) they'll take the least unpalatable. There's a whole lot of people who walk around here with canes they don't need because otherwise the San Francisco General Assistance office won't spring for them to have housing. Also known as an apartment with a bed and a door that locks.

If I make more than 1500 dollars I lose my health insurance through Medi-cal.

And I'm no defender of a lot of these people. The bastards that set up tents on the sidewalk and smoke meth are just awful. But on the other hand, I have absolutely no idea how to get a job. None. I've done construction before and all I ended up with was bad memories and scarred hands. I could work "security" by putting on a t-shirt and standing outside a soup kitchen, but that's just bullshit make work the charities give out so the poor can buy shoes and feel special about themselves. Real security jobs outside of bars are a good way to get killed. And that's about it. I'm staying at a homeless shelter and have the clothes on my back so how am I supposed to get a job?

There's your why.

So let me give you a when. When, not if, your industry is automated or the code becomes too complicated for you to understand anymore you'd better have enough savings or a social network so you don't become homeless. Or you'll have to crawl into one of the buckets that allows society to make sense of you.

And today I'm sitting in the San Francisco library looking to make a contribution to a software project for free and I just don't know that I care anymore. And if you tell me it'll get better, then I have to ask if you're about to be laid off or not and what your plans are.

[unsupp0rted]

You've explained this much more clearly than I've seen done before. Maybe because I hear my voice in yours.

Skip the web dev and be a writer. Surely other HNers can hire patientplatypus for this?

[not1ofU]

If you check the comment history it is unlikely that anyone here wants to listen to what this person has to say, let alone provide them with work. I have skimmed through a few of the comments and IMO there is nothing in there that warrents the downvotes / dead comments, which appear to not even get replies (tut tut HN, breaking your own "rules" again)

I do wish this person well however, I hope luck smiles down on them soon.

This comment will go the way of the dodo soon enough .!.. :-)

[the_only_law]

I’m not sure why it’s getting praised. The guy hijacked a thread discussing drug addiction so he could get on a personal soapbox and drone on about his own problems while trying to diminish others.

[unsupp0rted]

It seems relevant to me in a discussion of a vaccine to prevent people inadvertently getting addicted to drugs and having their lives spiral out of control for someone to bring up what it's like when you're not addicted to drugs and have your life spiral out of control.

GP mentioned that it's expected he'd be addicted to drugs because then the system would be able to categorize and address his needs better.

It's not a 1:1 match for the article topic, but I come to HN for the comments, especially ones that engage my curiosity, like GP's did.

[not1ofU]

It was in response to this comment:

"The real issue here that people don't seem to want to face is the WHY."

They provided an answer to "why?". I think thats fair. Maybe I am wrong. I checked further on the comment history, it appears to me someone has it out for this person, as the other topics are not soapboxing at all, and most or dead without comments.

Care to discuss further?

[the_only_law]

Upon second reading, I misinterpreted GP and I don’t think they had any bad intent. So apologies to them for that.

As for the shadowbanning I’m not sure either. It’s not particularly new and like you kinda mentioned they don’t really say anything egregious, at least that I saw. Some accounts seems to be shadow banned at creations and the user doesn’t seem super active, but I’m not sure how all that works under the hood. I guess it’s even possible the GP comment was already dead, and was later vouched.

[kodah]

I can't guarantee that I can help you find a new job or master skills but I'm willing to try. My email is [e-mail].

[cmyr]

Thank you for sharing. I'm sorry.

[notch656c]

I've been homeless and I think part of that is just for someone with no problems it doesn't make sense to be inner-urban homeless in these crim-ridden areas. I assume those people are all fucked up for one reason and therefore as a sane person I don't want to be around them.

I had a very strict rule when I was homeless. Stay away from other homeless people. Camp on the edge of town. Ride the bus into rural areas.

How did I get a job with just the clothes on my back? I hitch-hiked to north dakota in the oil fields where a man is a man and they don't give a fuck what you look like. They hired me to do day labor, and once you have enough money for a van or a short stay airbnb it only gets easier from there.

Get the fuck out of tenderloin, and san francisco at all costs. Hitch-hike if you must. If you want guaranteed housing you can also look into doing seasonal harvesting work for fisheries in alaska. They'll pay your flight from seattle and then cover your food/shelter while you're working.

[spangeanon]

Yeah, this right here.

Fishery: paid for transportation to the job, free housing and food on the job, and at the end of it you have a couple grand that hasn’t been blown on anything — free to do whatever you want with.

Tough work. You’re on a boat for 1-2 months. You work 12ish hours a day. If your body is able (or you can make it able), it’s good.

Next up is getting housing and cleaning yourself up for greener pastures. Oil fields is one. Lineman/tower climber is another.

Easy six figures. After a year of doing nothing but work, figure out what you want to do from there.

The work will distract you from your problems, and the change in environment will reset your mindset.

Lots of well-paid trades work in Washington for people that don’t have anything to lose.

[mise_en_place]

I'm sorry for your situation, but you also have to realize, things are partly your fault. You mention you could be a bouncer at a bar, but you would have to go to the gym to develop enough muscle. And possibly start using chemicals to alter your bone density and muscle mass. In your situation, I'd say you have to go "all in" on something, whatever it is. If you just half ass it and complain that the world is against you, you will not go anywhere. That's just how it is.

[killdozer]

`And possibly start using chemicals to alter your bone density and muscle mass.` Just when you think you've seen some depraved/inhumane takes you see someone suggest that actually this homeless person deserves to be where they are because they're not risking enough of their health by taking hgh/ped to get a meager paycheck as a bouncer at a bar where they could very well get stabbed or shot providing security for a bunch of tech workers that hate their guts.

` If you just half ass it and complain that the world is against you, you will not go anywhere` This man is homeless what are you talking about?