[pierrekin]

I get an incredible “narcism ick” from this writing. I wonder if other people feel the same way.

It’s so gross contrasted with the theme. The very first paragraphs start with a poor attempt to humble brag his”credentials” as not just a “normal” homeless person.

The self mythologising, the framing of negative things more like the weather than consequences of his choices.

The fact that despite privileged upbringing and working in tech in the valley he has no one willing to offer him a couch.

The most striking for me is the framing of his own grandmothers death as exceptional, proving his lineage is special.

Calling others NPCs, framing of stealing from stores as being the heroic action, even with approval from grandmother.

I feel this is getting redundant. I’d love to hear if anyone disagrees and what their thoughts are.

[anal_reactor]

> narcism ick

I think that's the whole shtick because most tech workers are so far removed from homelessness they don't even consider the possibility. It's not about the author being a narcist, it's about most people from higher social classes having some flavor of narcism.

> The fact that despite privileged upbringing and working in tech in the valley he has no one willing to offer him a couch.

Totally believable. There are very few people I'd offer a couch for more than two nights, and I imagine that in highly competitive environments, like the US tech sector, the typical situation is more grim. Look around and ask yourself - how many true friends does a typical corporate employee have? Someone they could realistically call "ay I'm going homeless can I get a bed for free for like, a few months". Most "friendships" turn out to be very superficial when tried.

> The most striking for me is the framing of his own grandmothers death as exceptional, proving his lineage is special.

This makes a lot of sense. From his point of view, his grandma was special. From your point of view, your grandma is special. The whole point of this post is the contrast between "I am special" and the world disagreeing.

Imagine a situation: someone steals all your money and frames you for pedophilia. Instantly you lose your job, all your friends distance themselves from you, you get evicted from your house. Suddenly, through sheer unbelievably bad luck, you have $5, an old jacket, and serious charges. You show up at soup kitchen in order not to starve and you see all these meth addicts, mentally ill, mentally ill meth addicts, and other types of folks from the lowest class of the society. Would you stand there thinking "ah yes, I'm equal to them, these are my homies, wassap nigga" or would your brain scream "no, this isn't happening, I'm only passing by, I'm different, why is this woman with rotting face staring at me, I need to get out of here ASAP".

[threatofrain]

> Look around and ask yourself - how many true friends does a typical corporate employee have? Someone they could realistically call "ay I'm going homeless can I get a bed for free for like, a few months". Most "friendships" turn out to be very superficial when tried.

I think a lot of people are willing to open up their couch. That story changes big time when that person has what might be schizophrenia.

[keiferski]

The article is good and worth reading. I think the author was going for a bit of a Kerouac / Burroughs style in his writing.

I have never been homeless or close to being homeless, but it seems incredibly likely that under the stress of losing my job, not knowing where my next meal is from, where to sleep tonight, etc. – I would slowly lose the ability to make the kind of rational ethical decisions you’re criticizing him for.

Heck, even going a day or two without sleep is enough to make the average functional person incapable of pragmatic, rational thought.

[drhodes]

It seems clear to me that the author was experiencing an unmedicated psychotic disorder and gallantly owning the preposterous outlook he had at the time. So, not bragging, just plainly stating the sort of bigger than life delusions that come with the territory.

[viraptor]

Which parts do you think were the delusions?

[nothrabannosir]

> It reaffirmed a delusion that had previously gripped my mind and begun my psychosis; I must be dead. This place, purgatory. I prayed for a quest or that my retribution was almost over, so that I could go back to land of the living.

...

> The old lady’s came marching in, and fed us pasta and bread and cake and cookies. There was Coca Cola. I ate because I had no choice, but suspicious of the sugar they forced on us. We slept on green mats. Most of the folks, drenched theirs in Industrial Clorox. I thought they had it wrong. Embrace the filth. Do you trust the chemicals?

...

> Some of the people around me drenched theirs in mountains of maple syrup. Is sugar the enemy?

...

> My paranoia of the place had dissipated slightly as the idea of having my own room felt pretty nice.

...

> I had refused to steal, convinced I was in purgatory and doing the “right thing” was the only way to pass the test. But standing there, the rules dissolved.

This article is dripping with psychosis. It's a story about a failing health care system.

Reading some of these comments, I'm starting to understand how the system could be the way it is, and just how far we have left yet to go.

[viraptor]

I see how it could be an actual psychosis, but I read it as full of rhetorical questions / observations / figurative speech. For example "is sugar the enemy?" could easily be a commentary on having to choose between unhealthy calories and having not enough when offered free meal. Paranoia and purgatory is phrasing often used by people for more fancy descriptions rather than literal.

[nothrabannosir]

"It begun my psychosis" is a literal statement.

Maybe if you miss that sentence, the rest can fly under the radar. Assuming one also ignores the commonly reported correlation between homelessness and mental illness. But try and have those two elements front of mind, and re-read the article: it should be abundantly clear that this is in no way a healthy person down on his luck--this is a story of someone going through a mental break.