This article is part of ‘Improve yourself‘ a category designed to show ways people may scam you, how companies trick you and most importantly how you can improve your life by doing something you love doing.
This is from Niques, a previously homeless man that has turned his life around.
It’s true. I was legitimately a homeless guy. I was very smart and resourceful. I would drag wood pallets onto the roof of Safeway, etc and pitch a tent on the pallet so when it rained the tent wouldn’t submerge in a puddle. REI was my favorite, I shoplifted everything, including tents, snowboarder gear, (its like a wearable sleeping bag), etc. I never stole items that I didn’t consider to be survival gear. I remember asking a manager at Safeway if I could have a tooth brush because I had a job interview and was too proud to steal it. He said no. It was absolutely humiliating.
A restaurant burned down and it was my saving grace. I stole locks and re-keyed the whole place. It was condemned and I made it my home. The building had running water so I was finally able to bath myself and find a job as a waiter.The story of my life is so unusual I literally lead a double life. I cant tell anyone in my new adult professional circle.
My mother was a pedophile and sexed up the teenage members of the band I played bass for. We were banned from the church we went to and my social circle was basically erased. That was about a year before I got kicked out. She recently went to the hospital to have a brain tumor removed, it was about the size of a lemon. I don’t know if thats some sort of kharmatic justice or just life, in it’s strange and unexplained ways.
Dad was clinically schizophrenic, but thats another story.
Today I am an IT manager. I frequently lock myself in the server room when suffering from one of my many extreme panic attacks. It’s hell. I can’t tell anybody because they would either never believe me or I would be fired for being a crazy person. I am very good at my job, it’s just that if any small thing goes wrong I think it’s all going to fall apart again. That I will be homeless again, and the whole nightmare will start over-even though I know full well the house is paid off and that will never happen again.
I’m afraid I’m going to die at an extremely early age. No one I know has endured shit like this and I’m certain it has taken a toll on my body.
I’ve since lost my faith in god but if I were thankful to a god for any one thing, it would be my fiance. She is the only one who knows and believes my story. Without her for all I know I could be living in an abandoned elevator shaft somewhere. Waiting / begging for death to come.
I encourage anyone who has read this far to appreciate what you have, however miserable it may seem. You could be outside right now, not having slept for 5 days because it’s raining too hard. You could be considering performing sexual favors for the drugs you need. You could be living with the shame that your mother fucked a 16 year old boy who used to be your best friend. Life is weird, if you have internet access and the spare time to be on this website, you very likely are quite fortunate and should be thank full.
Homelessnesss never goes away people. Even the most successful of us can never put it behind ourselves.
PS don’t ever give money to a homeless person 9/10 it will only support the substance of their choice. I sometimes buy them a burrito and sit down and talk about our lives, but never money. OH and socks. Socks are the #1 most overlooked good a homeless person needs. Nothing is more awesome than a fresh bag of socks.
It looks like this went viral / front page. This post doesn’t deserve an edit. Be good to people around you. Remember that love is the point of … everything. Take care gang. Have a good Tuesday.
Original article on Imgur
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