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The descent into homelessness can occur with terrifying speed. For Mike, a 33-year-old aspiring Web developer, it happened after an emergency loan from a relative suddenly fell through, driving his family out of a motel and onto the streets of San Francisco in September.
Read more at
[dailyfinance.com...]
So many different things I can think of to say about Mike.
My own story would be titled "Successful programmer ends up sleeping on streets of Berkeley on a path to find real happiness."
But what I consider to be success and happiness today is truly out of sync with the mainstream. And, I found my way without having a family to care for as well. In fact, I waited until my family responsibilities were reasonably concluded before starting my own journey.
Back to Mike. The main problem I see here is an unhealthy grip on economics. Without money, Mike is lost and cannot fathom life without an income. And this leads a lot of people down the road of despair and depression. I'm not saying money is evil, but our attachment to it isn't healthy. Mike needs to learn a true sense of worth, one that isn't tied to a paycheck. When that lesson is learned he can then be successful at almost anything.
Our measure of self-worth and success (or mine at least) is driven by the attitude that we should be able to keep up with the Jones'. That's the lesson I grew up with. And you can be sure the Jones' weren't sleeping at Golden Gate Park and keeping the wife and kids in a shelter.
Reading the story, I can see where Mike made one major mis-step along the way. While in Seattle and still in school he should have been sending out those resumes. Instead, he waited until he finished school - then found the responses coming in too slowly.
And why would he move his family to San Francisco? If you live there, or have lived there at any time in the last decade or two, you would know that the cost of living is exorbitant. No job, no income, move to an expensive place to live? It doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
So, I think some of Mike's problems are of his own making, and some are of his cultural situation. He might have prevented some, and he can change others.
Mike certainly isn't alone, and I suspect more than a few more individuals and families will find themselves in a similar situation in the near term. There is a solution, one that I consider to be a spiritual solution. People need to change their way of thinking when faced with this dilemma (if not sooner), and through that change they can find another way.
And finally, if you are among those who will be unlikely to ever find yourself in a similar situation, I applaud you. There's nothing wrong with a little foresight and planning.
</babble alert>
After a decade of working as a chef, he was looking forward to finding a job as a Web developer.
And he just assumed this was a great idea? With kids to support?
Instead, he waited until he finished school - then found the responses coming in too slowly.
Only advantage, I see, would be that he would be alerted sooner to the problem. Ten years ago it was predicted (projected, rumored, whispered, whatever) there would be a glut of workers in the IT industry. And there is, and those who are hiring can pick and choose the greatest talents and at near slave labor. Outsourcing hasn't helped the workers in this industry, not one bit.
What gripes my gourd about all this is not this person's story, but the exploitation of it. But that's just me.
I live in a low income area. Hell, **I** am "one of these people," but like Grandpa, my idea of "success" and "happiness" most of you would consider poor and insufficient.
I see this stuff daily, hard luck stories are everywhere. This time of year brings them out in the media, almost as if to say, "here you go, you think you got it rough?"
As for the move to S.F., it makes sense only on the level that the article says, that's where the IT jobs "are," so let's go. I have a feeling, though, that this descent would have taken place just as badly in Seattle.
Unlike myself, Mike is young, Mike will pull through. Be strong.
Still seeing how things will work out after several years.
@grandpa, you are right about attachment to money, but, as you say, it is difficult when you have children to support. "Blessed are the poor", but its not a blessing you can lightly impose on others.
People want money to get respect as well. I am currently OK on that without it, partly because I have learned not to care too much, and partly because no one around here can figure me out - i.e. whether I am rich and stingy, or poor and extravagant, a nobody or influential etc.
