Tales From Being Homeless

I strongly disagree with your assessment. I haven’t had any, “Ins,” at any job at which I have ever worked with exception to the hotel in Kansas City, but even that was just me bullshitting with the guy a few times when I stayed at that hotel. Technically, my Father and I worked at the same location where he was a night manager and I worked day shift. However, where I started out there they hired all-comers and I eventually made it up to supervisor. He eventually became the general manager for that location and that prevented me, actually, from becoming day shift manager because he could not be my direct superior. So, having him there actually prevented me from advancing as much as I would have!

It’s not the only thing available, again, it’s just a matter of knowing where to look. For example, we have a number of natural gas drilling rigs coming in relatively close to here, and in order to get a job on one of those, you just have to have a High School Diploma or G.E.D., know your head from your asshole, generally speaking, and be willing to work around eighty hours a week. (Six days, and includes you getting paid one hour just for driving to work and back home)

Furthermore, the coal mines around here are constantly hiring, and all you need to do for that is take a two-week class for $400 to get your certification and actually be good at making it LOOK like you’re doing something. The only people that get fired from the coal mines get fired, not because they’re not doing anything, but because they’re not doing anything and don’t look like they’re doing anything!!! Basically, if you’re six hours into your shift and your face is clean, you’re fucked.

Don’t lie about anything falsifiable. In fact, come up with some service that you’re good at and say you’ve been doing it independently the entire time, one service. Tell them sometimes you make enough to live on just by doing that, and other times you have needed to supplement your income by taking a part-time or full-time job.

Yes, alter the resume, of course. I don’t really care about your identity, though. I’d only be doing it because you seem to be a genuine enough and entertaining guy on here that it would not be a waste of time to help you out to whatever extent that I can.

I’m not a big shot at anything. I manage a medium-sized name brand hotel just like thousands of people in this country do. My income is sufficient to provide for my needs and for me to own a house, but I’m almost certain I make less than you would think I do, especially given that I work 60-70 hours per week.

I’ll do my best to give you a few pointers, though.

1.) Streamline Your Application

-Basically, if you apply to a company with multiple locations in your vicinity, then you can apply on-line (and usually it’s for a specific location), but through the company’s website you can also submit your application at any other location without having to re-type it. Basically, five minutes and a few clicks of the mouse can take you from applying at one location to applying at ten.

2.) Double-Up Your Applications

-You never know whether a manager prefers to look at on-line applications, or whether the manager prefers physical applications. For example, you can only apply to this hotel physically as I don’t care to go through on-line applications, and therefore, have no system by which you can do that. One way to double-up applications is to apply at the same location both on-line and physically.

-Another way to double-up your applications, if you think it is a location that takes many applications, is to request two applications. What you will then do is fill one out and submit it on the spot, and then you will fill another out and submit it a few days later. Obviously, for a place that gets a ton of applicants, the manager is not even going to look at every single one, so having two in the stack simply improves your odds of having it looked at.

3.) When it Concerns How Much You Get Paid

-The best thing you can do with this is to call a location anonymously, or give a fake name, and inquire as to what people in a certain position that has been advertised start at. On your application, you can then request a LOWER starting salary. You will end up getting paid whatever the starting wage for the position is regardless, but if you request more money, then you may not be called because management may be concerned that you will be unhappy with what the job pays or will refuse. However, if you request a lower (not much lower) amount, then management will be under the impression that you will be very satisfied to find that you are actually going to be getting more money than that and start off with a good attitude with the company.

4.) Grammar

-Do not misspell words on your application or resume. Do not make grammatical errors of any kind. Do not use stereotypical words, “Hard-working, motivated, dedicated,” be specific about what you can bring to the company. I could give an example for everything, but obviously, every applicant is going to say that he/she is hard-working, so that doesn’t do shit for me. In jobs where attendance is important, specifically state that you have an open schedule, do not miss work, and are willing to be the go-to guy in case someone calls off.

-The spelling/grammar is most important. If you misspell something that anyone breathing should be able to spell, I’m putting your application in the bottom of the stack. I’ve had people that have misspelled the names of companies that were their alleged previous employers…I’m not ever going to call you if that happens.

5.) Request a Manager (Menial Jobs Only)

-After you have filled out your application, ask if you can speak to the manager. I would say that, maybe 1:5 times, your initiative will get you an interview. Another 1:5 times, the manager may not be able to talk to you, but your initiative will get you a scheduled interview. Always ask for an interview time if the manager is not able to talk, but do it casually, “Would there be a better time I could come and discuss this position with you?” I would say that 2:5 times it has no effect, and only 1:5 times does it actually annoy someone. Fuck them. If it annoys them, you don’t want to be that person’s subordinate anyway.

-I always interview people that ask for an interview when they apply. I don’t always hire them because they are often idiots, but it’s a break from the monotony.

6.) One Week Before Follow-Up

-If you apply, wait at least a week before you follow-up call. If someone were to call me today about the status of an application that person submitted yesterday, I’m probably never going to speak to them again, “Bottom of the stack.”

7.) An Assumption to Make

-Always assume you’re talking to the manager! Always dress well, even if you’re just filling out an application. Behave professionally at all times. I’ll have girls come in here in sweats, cut-off shorts, whatever, and fill out an application. Bottom of the stack it goes. Actually, screw bottom of the stack, I’m legally bound to hold applications for ninety days and I have a seperate folder titled, “People I Will Never Hire,” that’s where it goes. There are people that do not say, “Please,” and, “Thank you,” and otherwise are rude, condescending, and do not behave professionally. It’s a mid-size hotel, so I’m almost always working at the desk, simultaneously, when I’m here. 90% of my shift I’m the only employee in the building!

I trick people. My nametag just has the hotel’s logo and my name and does not say, “Manager,” partially for that reason. I want to see how people are going to act when they are NOT right in front of their potential manager, then I know what they intend to do when I am not around!

The population of this county is between 50,000-100,000. The population of the city in which I work is between 5,000-10,000. The population of the Census-Designated Place in which I live is between 0-2000. All told, if you put a dot on the map where I work and drew a circle that went 20 miles at its most extreme points, the population density would be around 300/square mile. That’s a little over half the density of Kenosha. However, it would seem that Kenosha has higher Median House Value, Lower Unemployment, and less individuals below the Federal Poverty Line than this general area, percentage-wise.

On a side note, I used to be a really stereotypical Socialist, straight Party-Lines, to the extent that we have them. I was incredibly forgiving, but then I have spent years looking at all of these people that just don’t want to work, and it’s ridiculous. In the summer, when I desperately need housekeepers, I’ll only get a handful of applicants, few of them worth a shit, and I can’t get myself to full staff levels when I’ll hire from all but the absolute bottom of the barrel, it’s crazy! 60% of everyone around here is on some kind of Government Assistance, and nobody wants to actually do anything to make any cash.

I’ve determined that the problem is not necessarily with the entitlement programs, though, it’s with the amount of money people make. It’s mathematically pointless for some people to have a job because once it gets factored into welfare, they basically work for four hours to see better money as though they had worked one hour. The food stamps they lose often equate to about 75% of what they take home from the job, so really, they’d often be working for $2.50/hour, effectively. The only types of single-mothers you really see applying get minimal state assistance because the child support is pretty good, so it’s actually worth it for them to work, they might still lose all of the food stamp benefits, but they could be working four hours to see three hours pay after that’s considered.

It’s fucking stupid. You wouldn’t even need entitlement programs if people were simply paid fairly and couples would remain married, or never get married (or have kids) in the first place. We live in a throw-away society, though. You can throw away your kids, you can throw away marriage, nobody has to commit to anything anymore…

ADDENDUM: Call Centers will hire fucking anybody that hasn’t killed someone. Look for one.

Pav, good posts.

Thanks, Fuse.

made some very practical and productive points there that are even helpful for me. for instance, I think I blew my chances at a job once because I fucked up the part about what I desired to be paid. my dad was telling me to give a higher number to the company when I interviewed than I originally wanted to. I originally reasoned similarly to you and was going to give a fairly conservative reply (even or slightly less than what I assumed they would be willing to pay me), but I took my dad’s advice after they already said they wanted to hire me and told them I had a higher pay in mind because I had come from a higher paying job. …that was a mistake. I never got a call back after that or got the email they were supposed to send with my contract details… though, I might be better off not working there after all.

anyway, lots of good practical points and suggestions.

Thanks again, Fuse, and you’re absolutely right about what happened with that company.

The problem is, from a manager’s standpoint, you would have an employee who is starting the job unhappy and disenfranchised with the company because he (seems to) think the company is fucking him compared to the money he is supposed to be getting. He’s not eager to have the job, he’s pissed because he’s working for less than he should be. It can also be presumed, that if he’s working for less than he thinks he should get, most of his attention is going to be focused on trying to get a different job still instead of the task at hand!!!

Sometimes, you also have to underplay your qualifications. I took that call center job when I first moved back to this area because the base wage was OK, the bonuses/commissions were great (and I know I can sell) and you could work all of the overtime you wanted. I would decide what my paycheck would be every two weeks, basically, because if I wasn’t going to commission very well, I could compensate for it by working more hours than usual! Oh yeah, and the job was, EASY!!!

In any case, I was also offered a job at two different distribution centers and a dairy manufacturing plant. Even though I had a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, do you think I mentioned that when applying for, “General Laborer,” or do you think I went ahead and knocked myself down a peg mentioning only my Associate’s Degree or sometimes H.S. Diploma only?

I wasn’t entirely truthful about the work history, either. You know something about work history, though? If you fill employment gaps or, “Replace,” jobs with other jobs, all you really have to do is know what single-place locations around you have closed! If I say that, three years ago, I worked at a place that’s been closed for two years, and therefore, has no phone number or independent records, how could you prove me wrong? They’d have no reason not to believe me!

From:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=177965

"On a side note, I used to be a really stereotypical Socialist, straight Party-Lines, to the extent that we have them. I was incredibly forgiving, but then I have spent years looking at all of these people that just don’t want to work, and it’s ridiculous. In the summer, when I desperately need housekeepers, I’ll only get a handful of applicants, few of them worth a shit, and I can’t get myself to full staff levels when I’ll hire from all but the absolute bottom of the barrel, it’s crazy! 60% of everyone around here is on some kind of Government Assistance, and nobody wants to actually do anything to make any cash. "

Interesting: for every story I hear about “how hard it is to get a job”, I read an opposite and equal story of “how people are lazy and don’t want to work” or “there are loads of jobs”, etc. So where is the truth ? What is the truth ?

The real logical mistake is probably that of assuming that there is a truth in the first place: there is no truth only so many specific, individual situations and conditions all very varied and as varied as people are and as varied as the impression of things people have when confronting those impressions.

Everyone kind of makes up the truth that suits them either to justify themselves (maybe they are lazy and don’t want to work but “blame the system”) or that they are on the other side looking for people and justify that they can’t find “the right one” by saying “people are lazy”, etc.

I think these debates, these contrasting positions will go on forever, there will never be a common ground because for each story, made up or real or partially real, impression, subjective impression (or objective with statistics ?), for each one who is to blame on either side there will always be an opposing view and story and explanation on the other.

My personal conclusion ? Man Sucks. End of Story.

Good post.

However, in my version of Socialism, it’s all about fair wages/salaries, and graduated scales based on job types. In the event that there was not the capacity for full employment, menial Government jobs would simply rotate out where the underemployed would work two months and be off for two months (or what have you) and make the same amount of money until full employment was possible.

In your version of socialism, who would police the government?
This is very important, because socialism normally gives more power to the government without specifically policing it.

It’s fun to fantasize about a responsible fair socialism, but how will we make anything like that happen in a good way?

Also although I have not met allot of homeless people, the ones i seen seem to be mentally defective in some strange way.
Their family isn’t finantially supporting them. Normally in times of big hardship, one’s family is supposedto give support, within reason of course.
So already their family is probably disfuctional before they become homeless. So if that is genetic, then homeless people also have genetic defect inherited from a defective family unit.

1.) Nobody
2.) Yes, it does.
3.) No, we won’t, so it doesn’t matter who polices it.

-If it could happen, I guess there would just be a Government oversight committee comprised of ordinary citizens (who score high on General Intelligence, Business and Political Knowledge tests) that would make the minimal salary. They’d handle the Ethics of each person of power in Government on an individual basis. In fact, there would probably be one, “Ethics-Verifier,” per elected Government official. The, “Ethics-Verifiers,” would be appointed (but would request the position) from sub-committees elected to appoint that position.

That’s true, many (but not all) of them are mentally fucked up. It’s on them (or a family member) to get them to seek the help they need, and if they are declared, “Fucked-up enough,” they will get disability and qualify for low-income housing. It’s really easy to do, actually. All you have to do is cut the wrong way on your wrist a few times and check yourself into a mental health place, you’ll get disability for damn near a year for being batshit crazy. Should your disability ever run out, you can just do it again.

In a planned economy, if planned well enough, everyone could have jobs and the prices for things would change dramatically.
Again, the authority would need to free itself from corruption somehow. Either through being a direct democracy or through being a meritocracy or some such thing. We suffer from unequal distribution of power.

Dan,

I appreciate the support, but even I realize that all of my thoughts on political matters are 100% useless and could never be used to effectuate anything. In fact, I almost have a tendency to question whether or not I am a complete fucking imbecile that just happens to have a better-than-average vocabulary and just enough writing ability to merely be an idiot who stands out as opposed to an idiot that nobody notices.

In other words, I can use words to capture attention, but that makes my ideas no less completely fucked.

Even if we were going to try to effectuate what’s being discussed here, the principles themselves are entirely foundational. You would actually have to begin a country this way, and the way the country is now, it’s too vastly different from what the end-result of what’s being discussed would be and, if there is a way to take this pile of shit we have now and get it there, it would be a long and difficult process.

I don’t know shit about construction, there’s a gap, and I can’t even begin to draw up plans as to how to build a bridge.

The problem is that all of the things that I think should be taken for granted, very simply, are not taken for granted. I think that a burger-flipper that works full-time should be guaranteed a minimum wage that’s indexed to 200% of the current federal poverty line for a family of four. I don’t think that you need entitlement programs such as social security or medicare making up the difference, you just need people that make reasonable amounts of money.

You need a society that is very driven on family values to the extent that people will start to see that there is value in being homemakers, not to the extent that the homemakers are actually compensated by an outside source for their work, but to the extent that family is viewed as important enough to say, “Okay, we’ve got to make it so that one person in a household can work and support the entire household.” I can do that, but not everyone can.

You have women now that do not work as single-mothers because the difference in what they will get, or their overall improvement, is not worth their time because (after the benefits are cut) they have to work four hours to see additional money for one hour. You have a society where someone can get a divorce from their husband and go to school, now they will collect child support because of the divorce, will get free child care at the school, and will also qualify for other benefits (such as food stamps) while they are in school to the extent that they are financially better off not to be married. Not to mention the straight up cash they get from grants geared specifically toward single-Mothers.

To that extent, we have engineered and Legislated for a society where family doesn’t make a fuckload of difference to anyone. I’m probably one of the only people that cares about family, my so-called, fellow fucking liberals, don’t seem to give a shit about it.

Anyway, so then the single-mother will graduate college, get a job that pays as well as the ex-husband’s, if not better, and he will get to continue to pay child support to someone that doesn’t actually need it and be fucked for years to come.

In any case, the first thing that you have to do is get the country back to, “0,” in terms of deficit, and then you might begin to think about having some kind of Socialist agenda.

Some people are going to have to die.

The first thing that you have to do is execute all prisoners that were found guilty, in a Court of Law, of any felony involving either a weapon, a child or an inherently violent act. They must summarily be killed without all of the bullshit dramatics and build-up that typically accompany executions, the same executions that the condemned will occasionally die waiting for…

In the meantime, some people just aren’t willing to right themselves. Therefore, anyone convicted, in a Court of Law, of any TWO felonies, arising from separate acts, will also be summarily executed. I understand that there must be an appeals process for new evidence and all that bullshit, so let’s give them one year…I guess.

People convicted of DUI or DWI will also be summarily executed, first-offense. By driving in that condition, they will now take the same risk that they would so callously expose innocent people to. I think we can change a catchy phrase to another one:

“Over-The-Limit, Under Arrest.”

TO:

“Over-The-Limit, Underground.”

I would also say, with respect to misdemeanors, when you reach the point at which you have spent five years (1,825 days) in either jail or prison, you must die, as you are too much of a burden on the system.

The thing that you have to understand is that it takes $63.41 per day, using the State of Tennessee’s numbers for 2009, to house an inmate. That’s a little over $23,000/year. In the case of someone that spends over five years in prison, it is highly unlikely that the amount spent housing the inmate will be recouped in future taxes paid back to the state/federal (whichever is applicable) by that inmate, and therefore, the prison system operates at a loss with respect to that inmate. Furthermore, even if such taxes were recouped, they wouldn’t necessarily entirely go to the prison system, and if they did, then that means he’s not paying a fair share of other shit.

Wastes of space, wastes of money.

Further, we need to quit the fucking coddling that we do with all of the current prisoners. From now on, all jail cells are to be six feet long by four feet wide. Inmates always be kept in solitary confinement, except during common times. Inmates will be permitted to leave their cells for thirty minutes every two days to shower, they will receive a new change of clothes once/week, they will be allowed one hour per week for solitary outdoor recreation. There will be no television, there will be no internet, there will be no education, there will be no candy bars, there will be no haircuts with exception to the one they receive going in and the one they receive when they leave. There will be ABSOLUTELY NO FUCKING HEALTHCARE OF ANY KIND, if they die, they die.

Prison will once again be considered the detractor to crime it is supposed to be.

We must also legalize marijuana, but it can only be legally sold by Government-licensed manufacturers and companies. If anyone grows/ditributes/sells marijuana without a license, then that person will be subject to the death penalty. There’s no reason to piss away such a great source of tax revenue. In fact, the Government could own the rights to the distribution of the marijuana, and basically handle everything except the growing, and still tax it over-and-above all of that. Of course, you have to find the tax level where the Government makes the most money, and that level will be found by having a significant number of people smoke weed, so be it.

I have plenty of other props, if you care to hear them. I lose most people as soon as, “Death penalty,” comes out of my mouth, though.

2011 Summer In Seattle-

After walking fifteen miles looking for work in the city where I was dehydrated with my cantene empty along with the soles of my feet destroyed at the end of the day I began to look for water.

I went to a cofee shop dying of thirst first looking for water.

They told me that they were sorry where water and the bathrooms were for paying customers only. I then proceeded to the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th place where the answer was the same where I was treated with a sort of kind disrespect from the people of all those places because of my homeless figure. Since it was the area of the wealthy and influential there was the impression that I was on the wrong side of town where I was considered a general nuissance to them.

At last going to the ninth place getting ready to pass out from heat stroke with a fierce menacing look in my face somebody finally allowed me to fill up my cantene.

Summer of 2011 Seattle-

In the city homeless were quite forbidden from using the bathrooms of the local businesses.

There were very few places where a person could relieve themselves homeless.

The downtown public library was a favorite place to go for all the homeless.

It’s bathrooms always smelled like the bowels of a hundred people everyday.

When everything closed there was no access to public bathrooms.

It was not uncommon to see human feces in alley ways or sidewalks from the night before in the mornings.

After seeing and going through all of this myself I came to know the meaning of depravity.

Yes, only in America would people camped out under an overpass rail against the horror of “communism” as espoused by the evil Democrats. Americans are so naive - they pretend there is this big difference between the Democrats and Republicans - there really isn’t, especially if you compare the US government to social democracies in other parts of the world. Take Norway as an example. It is probably one of the most socialistic states in the world, yet they rate #1 on the Human Development Index and are #3 in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) at purchasing power parity per capita. Of course Norway did it a little differently - they opted out of the uber-capitalist “free-trade” globalism model and have been smiling all the way to the bank. In Norway not only is health care totally free, education is free all the way to the post-grad level. All Norwegians get a “living wage” - that means that even if you are a manual laborer, you make enough to maintain a decent lifestyle. Unlike the US, Norway does not import foreign workers to fill low paying jobs. Every occupation is seen as useful and necessary. Yes, the cost of living is high, in part because of the tariffs and trade barriers that keep Norwegians working in their own industries. No headaches trying to deal with a burgeoning population of illegal immigrants… And the rate of homelessness is about 1.4 per 1,000 (compared to estimates that go as high as 1% of the US population).

[size=85](Looks like we found some common ground after all, Dan)[/size]

In the summer of 2011 Seattle-

After spending the first five days sleeping on the ground of the woods just outside the city I finally went to a over packed homeless shelter of seventy five men.

It smelled of filth, shit, piss, and alcohol. The entire place was dirty both rat and cockroach infested.

The first day of orientation amused me as a atheist because a priest sponsor came out saying how we were all “God’s” children where he cared about and loved us all.

The cafeteria was operated by people through enforced community service by the local courts when it was not done by local religious fanatics. They always looked angry and displeased being there.

At night time there was all seventy five of us sleeping in two small over crowded rooms on thin floor mats seperating us from the concrete floor being elbow to elbow next each other.

If you rolled over there was a great chance of running into somebody else.

On my second week there I developed a rash all over my body from the unsanitary blankets passed out there. The rash turned into blisters where some bled out.

It was that day I left the shelter to go somewhere else where after two weeks the rashes all over my body disappeared.

Your a idiot for bunking with tweakers. I would never stay in a homeless shelter. If you trust the cops or mayor, your signing your health, life, and clean criminal record away. Your just a statistic to abuse and a photo opprotunity. They get paid public health professions getting federal and private grants left and right… therefor claiming they are employing others.

Its remarkably easy and super cheap to house hobo males in sanitary conditions. 4 functioning washing machines, 4 dryers, shower room, and popping up cots in the shower room after washing. Doesnt even have to be a permanent structure in warm climates, just plastic pvc piping and access to water and sewage lines. Would be wise for a city to invest in storage… many homeless wont abandon their last possessions for renting a clothes only foot locker. Those people… those pathetic people… they ARE Liz, Pav, and Smears… people who are afraid of the poverty and hardship, attached to a housed lifestyle, to their goods. Life is miserable for them, and they have zero capacity to recover on their own. Fear swirls around them… and they clutch to their carts hating the world they want desperately back into. The current ideology for homeless storage is a absolute failure in regards to them.

It would be wise for the post office to manufacture non existent addresses in real neighborhoods so homeless can have mail sent to them without it looking like a P.O. Box to potential employers. If they get mail to one of these addresses, put it in a po box for the hobo. Goal should be stream lining the homeless towards sustainable employment, not funding socialist burecrats sucking up tax money and not helping anyone. They are public enemy number one, not the taliban. We need to send special forces after them, unleashing hell on their cubicals, with the diet coke cans with straws with lipstick on the spraying everywhere, their troll dolls shot up and mutilated, and these thunder thigh leeches run down the hall mooing, back out into the world, and off the public pay roll. Put homeless in charge,they will be much more competent and capable of cutting through the bullshit.

Honestly… the idea of putting these dumbfuck socialists in charge of social institutions is like putting videogamers in charge of special ops missions. Intellectual enthusiasm doesnt translate to effectiveness or realistic understandings of whats life is like. You wouldnt have to train a formerly homeless councellor on empathy… they would tell the new hobo ‘fucker, stop being all emotional, I was there, I got out, fuck the world… this is what you do.’

To Contra:

When I was homeless in Seattle it was the first time I ever spent in shelters. Never again!

They are run by liberals, communists, and socialist scum that act more like fascist tyrants towards those they charge custody of. They are also operated by religious nuts.

Many of the staff don’t treat you like a independent adult where they instead look down on you treating you like a child. If you try to challenge them they will threaten you with the police every time.

Homeless shelters are over glorified gulags. Nothing more.

They don’t even help you find work. Their storage lockers are a joke and if your not careful they will pawn off all your personal belongings.

I remember one of the shelters there was no bathroom stalls or shower curtains for privacy.

The entire place was run like a prison.

To Contra:

Before Seattle when I was homeless I lived in either the woods or under a bridge.

Having lived in the gulags known as the modern shelter I rather live in the wilderness or under bridges if I was forced to be homeless again.

In the modern shelter you are just warehoused human cattle.

You think that might be how it’s designed? Perhaps shelters are purposely made to be inadaquate so that the homeless don’t get too comfortable being homeless.

Thats how the old poverty control laws were in Europe, they’d give you a Job but it wasn’t a good Job so the impovershed would be more motivated to find themselves a Job.