The Homeless Are a Real Problem With Few Solutions

by Steve Fackerell

Published: January 13, 2010

As bad as life is, it could be worse. I sit here in my rotating office chair and look out the window into a strange, compelling world. I am the assistant manager of a low income hotel. I live on-site, so I have gained a unique perspective on the poor population of this area.

Out this window I see the same people day in and day out walking around like zombies. The same blank stare, the same ‘I don’t care’ attitudes. And it is easy to classify all of them the same way, but in reality that is not the way it is. Seven years I have been down here, me just as down and out as most of them. The biggest difference is that I have a job, and I refuse to live off of society and not even try to better my life.

But I have seen some wonderful people come and go through our doors. People who had it all and lost it through no fault of their own. Some of them never recover, some move on and rebuild. And yes, we also have the stereotypical lifelong lazy people. The zero renters who want everything handed to them, who trash the units, can magically come up with beer money, but come ask me for a light bulb.

But believe it or not, they do not last long here. We do have some very strict and well enforced rules. There are those that act tough, but get them talking and you see a whole other side. And I have to admit that I am getting burned out. Especially when I see a guy holding a sign on the freeway making double what I am doing legitimate work. It is getting harder and harder to have compassion for some people. The ‘what have you done for me lately’ tenants.

So I sit here day after day and contemplate the reality that some people are just not meant to be indoors. Some will get approved to rent here and stay through the winter and move on. Some will come in from the local shelter and make our lives miserable, while they create disgusting messes and do thousands of dollars in damage. Then they are kicked out on the street again and are happy with that.

So many different kinds of people, and not one of them will tell you they wanted to be homeless when they grew up. Sometimes I think that all the stupid crap I did when I was young put me down here, and other times I wonder if I wound up here to teach me that everyone is someone, and not to judge too quickly. I myself am living paycheck to paycheck, barely making ends meet at $7.35 an hour.

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