If you have nothing better to do, many of the "Experience" series in The Guardian are a fun read: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/series/experience
I like how honest the titles are, especially with the "Experience: " before everything.
A stranger secretly lived in my home
11–20 of 199 posts
Re: A stranger secretly lived in my home
#12This read like it could have been a chapter out of a Stephen King novel, until the stranger saved the puppy: > I got a puppy. While she was being toilet-trained, I kept her in the bathroom. One day, when I was out, the apartment flooded. I came home to find the puppy in the sink. She was tiny. I didn’t know how she could have got up there unless someone had put her there to save her.
I visited SanFran a couple of years ago, and this reminded me of a homeless guy, in his late 60s I imagine, that I saw at a fast food chain. So I was I think at in-and-out, and a homeless guy was going through the garbage bin to find food. When I came over to dump my stuff in the bin, he was immediately considerate and stepped aside so I could dump the covers and napkins, whilst making sibilant sounds and keeping his…
Offtopic but I feel I must add, sibilant sounds are an effective way to get boring meetings to end quick.
Re: A stranger secretly lived in my home
#13Wasn't there a similar story in Japan? Also multiple stories of people secretly living in office building and warehouses. Gotta make do, I guess.
At one company I worked for, a new hire started living on a floor under construction in the building. He thought no one knew, but we all did. Stayed up there for months since management was afraid of confronting him about it for some reason. He did do good work, I guess.
How did everybody know? What gave it away?
Re: A stranger secretly lived in my home
#14The worst part of the story for me was the puppy. I couldn't care about her, but poor puppy
Re: A stranger secretly lived in my home
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
I visited SanFran a couple of years ago, and this reminded me of a homeless guy, in his late 60s I imagine, that I saw at a fast food chain. So I was I think at in-and-out, and a homeless guy was going through the garbage bin to find food. When I came over to dump my stuff in the bin, he was immediately considerate and stepped aside so I could dump the covers and napkins, whilst making sibilant sounds and keeping his…
Offtopic but I feel I must add, sibilant sounds are an effective way to get boring meetings to end quick.
They are also tropes in old movies and cartoons when someone wants to pretend “there is nothing to see here, I’m just whistling in the wind… minding my own business” maybe throw in some foot shuffling.
Re: A stranger secretly lived in my home
#16Wasn't there a similar story in Japan? Also multiple stories of people secretly living in office building and warehouses. Gotta make do, I guess.
At my university a student lived in the physics building for a while since they didn't want to commute. I've also heard that at my high school, after I graduated, a kid was found sleeping in the drop ceiling due to likely an abusive home.
Re: A stranger secretly lived in my home
#17This read like it could have been a chapter out of a Stephen King novel, until the stranger saved the puppy: > I got a puppy. While she was being toilet-trained, I kept her in the bathroom. One day, when I was out, the apartment flooded. I came home to find the puppy in the sink. She was tiny. I didn’t know how she could have got up there unless someone had put her there to save her.
I visited SanFran a couple of years ago, and this reminded me of a homeless guy, in his late 60s I imagine, that I saw at a fast food chain. So I was I think at in-and-out, and a homeless guy was going through the garbage bin to find food. When I came over to dump my stuff in the bin, he was immediately considerate and stepped aside so I could dump the covers and napkins, whilst making sibilant sounds and keeping his…
Pro-tip on charity - see someone eating out of the trash? They could probably actually use your money. Much more effective than giving it to panhandlers.
Re: A stranger secretly lived in my home
#18This read like it could have been a chapter out of a Stephen King novel, until the stranger saved the puppy: > I got a puppy. While she was being toilet-trained, I kept her in the bathroom. One day, when I was out, the apartment flooded. I came home to find the puppy in the sink. She was tiny. I didn’t know how she could have got up there unless someone had put her there to save her.
I visited SanFran a couple of years ago, and this reminded me of a homeless guy, in his late 60s I imagine, that I saw at a fast food chain. So I was I think at in-and-out, and a homeless guy was going through the garbage bin to find food. When I came over to dump my stuff in the bin, he was immediately considerate and stepped aside so I could dump the covers and napkins, whilst making sibilant sounds and keeping his…
Living in one of the worse parts of San Francisco, for the past few years (west SOMA), I can say that people going through your trash is quite a nuisance.
You'll put your trash out for pickup day, and a significant portion of the time, someone will come and go through it. And often as they are going through it, they will just throw random things on the ground. So our little side street kind of has a constant layer of trash.
The city does employ people to come through and pick it up, and they do that regularly, but they would have to do it daily to really keep the street clean. I think they come more like weekly.
Tangentially, I was walking my dog this morning, and had to ensure she didn't step on the used hypodermic needle on the sidewalk. Nothing covering the needle. This happens all the time.
Right now they are at least 3 tents on my small side street block.
For businesses, like if you were at an In-n-out you must have been at Fishermans wharf, that's the only one in SF. They regularly have to ask people to leave who are acting in various disruptive ways, and bothering their customers.
A few years back, I was sitting at a bar in SF, that had outdoor tables. I think I was on a first (and only) date. I guy walked up, took my dates glass of white wine, drank the whole thing down, and then said "I'm an alcoholic". And then just stood there looking at us.
(Also as someone who's lived in San Francisco for years, I just can't help but be triggered when someone says San Fran.)
Re: A stranger secretly lived in my home
#19Wasn't there a similar story in Japan? Also multiple stories of people secretly living in office building and warehouses. Gotta make do, I guess.
At my university a student lived in the physics building for a while since they didn't want to commute. I've also heard that at my high school, after I graduated, a kid was found sleeping in the drop ceiling due to likely an abusive home.
After the first time I dropped out of college, I had a three week period of homelessness. Since students had the keypad codes for after-hours access to the academic buildings, I slept in the math department lounge. There was a visiting professor from Germany, I think, who would come into the lounge every morning, see me sleeping and leave. I then would hide my pillow and blanket behind the sofa and walk to a dorm at the far end of campus where I could take a shower (most of the dorms on campus had bathrooms accessible only from dorm rooms but the one farthest away had a more traditional bathroom down the hall arrangement—and also a keypad whose code I knew).
I like to imagine that the visiting professor would come back with some other faculty/staff member in tow saying, "I tell you, he's HERE! sleeping in the lounge!" only to be treated like Big Bird trying to show people Snuffleupagous.
Re: A stranger secretly lived in my home
#20This read like it could have been a chapter out of a Stephen King novel, until the stranger saved the puppy: > I got a puppy. While she was being toilet-trained, I kept her in the bathroom. One day, when I was out, the apartment flooded. I came home to find the puppy in the sink. She was tiny. I didn’t know how she could have got up there unless someone had put her there to save her.
I visited SanFran a couple of years ago, and this reminded me of a homeless guy, in his late 60s I imagine, that I saw at a fast food chain. So I was I think at in-and-out, and a homeless guy was going through the garbage bin to find food. When I came over to dump my stuff in the bin, he was immediately considerate and stepped aside so I could dump the covers and napkins, whilst making sibilant sounds and keeping his…
> there, but for the grace of god go I
You might be interested in this:
[Disclosure: that is my movie.]