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Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun
After vacating their house and moving into an extended stay hotel, Lela Michael and Rodger Jacobs head across the street to a Denny’s for dinner August 31, 2010.
Sunday, Sept. 26, 2010 | 2:01 a.m.
The New Homeless: Part 1
The New Homeless:Pt 2
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Disabled freelance writer Rodger Jacobs and his girlfriend Lela Michael, a freelance editor, moved to Las Vegas in 2007 to care for Jacobs' ailing mother. On the second anniversary of his mother's death, Jacobs and Michael are packing all their belongings and moving to a weekly rate residential hotel. The Sun ran the first video of this series on August 29, 2010, when a judge gave them seven days to vacate their house because they could not pay their August rent. Now, a stranger's help gets them out in time, and the couple adjusts to their small new living quarters and deals with backlash from the reaction to the first installment of their story.
The New Homeless: 5-Day Time-Lapse
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Disabled freelance writer Rodger Jacobs and his girlfriend Lela Michael, a freelance editor, fall behind in their rent and are forced to pack up and move into a room at a weekly-rate residential hotel in North Las Vegas. This time-lapse photography, taken over five days, is a snapshot of their unpacking and daily routine in their new cramped quarters.
The New Homeless:Pt 1
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Rodger Jacobs and his girlfriend Lela Michael have only lived in their North Las Vegas home for five months, but they have fallen behind on rent and face an eviction hearing Monday, August 23, 2010. Jacobs, 51, is a freelance writer who has had trouble finding work during the recession. Jacobs' cousin owns the house and charges $1,050/month, but the couple will soon be moving into an extended-stay hotel where they can pay $200/week to save money.
How you can help
Financial contributions for Rodger Jacobs will be accepted at any U.S. Bank branch.
For information helping the homeless, contact helphopehome.org, which coordinates with various Southern Nevada agencies to assist individuals and families achieve stable and sustainable lives.
Donations to the Southern Nevada Homeless Trust Fund can be made through the United Way of Southern Nevada (uwsn.org, or 734-2273).
For volunteer opportunities, contact the Volunteer Center of Southern Nevada at 892-2321 or at volunteercentersn.org.
Sun archives
- Couple looks to future after leaving desert homeless camp (7-25-2010)
- As economy sinks, demand for social services soars (7-25-2010)
- Battered women of recession (7-19-2010)
- Las Vegas jobless rate soars to 14.5 percent (7-19-2010)
- The faces of the recession in Las Vegas (12-28-2009)
- Count finds 17 percent increase in homeless population (4-9-2009)
- LV City Council addresses homeless issues (3-18-2009)
- Volunteers seek out valley's homeless for census (1-29-2009)
- Volunteers turn out to help homeless (12-21-2008)
This is the second installment by writer Rodger Jacobs, sharing his experience as one of the new homeless in the Great Recession.
With my freelance writing opportunities all but dried up and unable to afford the rental of my cousin’s home in North Las Vegas, Lela and I now find ourselves at a sort of way station, the Budget Suites of America along the urban trench near Rancho Drive and Smoke Ranch Road.
It is a sprawl of economically depressed off-Strip casinos, fast-food joints, gas stations, choking bus fumes, the rush and scramble of humanity, the insolence of the street beggars, humble yet aggressive (“Hey, cuz, gimme a cigarette … c’mon, I know you got one, man.”). In the beer and wine cases at the Terrible Herbst market on the corner, MD 20/20 and Cisco are offered at $3.99 a bottle, cheap but highly effective booze (Cisco is 13.9 percent alcohol) that is recognized as the preferred beverage of Skid Row denizens in my hometown of Los Angeles.
In fact, returning to L.A. is now our goal — hopefully, by Nov. 15 — because it surely will offer a more supportive environment, where we have a reliable social network and greater opportunities in general. We have little hope of sustaining ourselves in Las Vegas, although some locals have been extremely generous in offering financial support since the first installment of the New Homeless was published in the Sun four weeks ago (thanks to U.S. Bank for setting up the special donation account). I have received several possible freelance writing assignments, and Lela has received some editing work.
But a friend of mine, who has worked with the chronic indigent, warned me about baring my predicament in the newspaper. I should brace myself, he predicted, for a cold shoulder.
“People are uncomfortable with and hostile toward the topic of homelessness,” my friend Joseph Mailander cautioned. “More often than not, they want to believe that the homeless got in their situation because of mistakes that they have made rather than confront the uncomfortable truth that fate is often random and undeserved and homelessness could happen to anyone in the blink of an eye.”
The day the Sun published my essay — which was intended to illustrate how close many of us are to being homeless in the Great Recession — I had planned to spend packing. Instead, I spent many of my waking hours defending myself against allegations of sloth (“30 years of not having a real job”), hypochondria, arrogance (“Your arrogance got you where you are and will keep you where you are”), weak moral and ethical judgment, prevarication (“Writers are liars and opportunists”), alcoholism, drug abuse, liberalism, solipsism, atheism (“Christ was homeless … read the Bible … take up your cross and follow the Lord”), ripping off “the system,” a defeatist attitude, poor money management, a grifter looking for a handout, and, oh yes, I need to stop smoking, get a haircut, and “renounce (my) citizenship, become a Mexican citizen and then come back as an illegal and qualify for free housing, food stamps, and medical coverage and live off the fat of the land.” (How chilling that the last comment unintentionally invokes John Steinbeck in “Of Mice and Men,” perhaps the greatest literary defender of America’s downtrodden.)
Who wouldn’t be distracted from their responsibilities by such loathing and shrill white noise? (Incidentally, I have not quit smoking, but I did get a haircut — from a kind Wal-Mart beautician who was recently homeless with two teenage sons to care for. I did not ask what “mistakes” she made that put her in that perilous position.)
Two days before the article appeared, Lela placed a classified ad on Craigslist offering all of our home furnishings for sale in an effort to downsize to a small storage space; on Friday there was one taker for my new office chair — five bucks cash — and no other offers. Saturday, Lela placed a new ad offering our furnishings for free and the phone never stopped ringing with calls from eager takers, and every one of them, when they arrived to escort our belongings out the door, was a snapshot of economic despair: a man with an apartment but “not a stick of furniture,” a young woman with a baby in tow, her husband having shipped off to Afghanistan (she gladly took our dining room set) — perhaps the man should have rented a furnished apartment and the young lady shouldn’t have married a soldier during wartime; but it’s not my place, nor anyone else’s, to render such judgments. They’re hurting bad enough as it is and I was gratified to see my possessions going to people who needed them.
On the eve of having to vacate the house — which was also the second anniversary of my mother’s passing, the tragedy that brought us to Las Vegas from California — most of our furniture was gone but dozens of boxes of books, files, medical paperwork, and personal belongings would have to be put in storage; we had cash on hand for the first week at the Budget Suites and the storage space was within our projections, but we had no money to rent a truck or hire movers, not if we expected to eat; with stunning regularity, groceries and prescription co-pays have exerted an inexorable influence on our budget planning.
As Lela laboriously stuffed goods into boxes, my anxiety began to mount. Under Nevada landlord-tenant law, if we did not remove every personal item from the property by 5 p.m. Aug. 31, the management company reserved the right to pack everything up, put it in a storage facility of its choosing, and charge us any rate it pleases. We were 26 hours away from this unthinkable option becoming a reality.
All I could do that afternoon was field phone calls from people with potential freelance work and helplessly watch Lela pack; my psoriatic arthritis limits the amount of physical labor I can do. One of the comments in the original Sun article, comparing my condition to “a hangnail,” represents common public ignorance about psoriasis and its arthritic byproduct. Psoriasis is not a skin disorder, it is an immune system disorder with serious side effects. I am plagued by tendinitis, enthesitis (pain and swelling where tendons and ligaments attach to the bone) and I am exhibiting symptoms of severe joint degeneration in my hands and feet. I live with pain 24/7.
I walk with a cane, sometimes I have to use an electric wheelchair that Medicare provided last year when I was under home health care by a nurse service, and my toenails and fingernails have been eaten away by the ravages of psoriatic arthritis, leaving exposed flesh with sensitive nerve endings. I cannot help Lela pack, let alone avail myself of “menial labor” jobs that so many respondents in this paper excoriated me for refusing to do should such offers come my way.
Imagine life without fingernails and toenails and then ask again why I’m not working at McDonald’s. Under the strict definitions of Social Security disability, my “condition interferes with (my) basic work-related activities” and I “cannot adjust to other work.” And getting approved for Social Security disability was no rubber-stamp affair: It takes eight months to one year and requires the applicant to avail himself of food stamps and all state aid remedies while awaiting approval — it is a humiliating and humbling process.
The day before we had to move out, a kindhearted representative of an independent organization called the Fallen Angel Factory (requesting anonymity) contacted me via the Sun to donate moving and storage services on the day of our move-out, an offer that we wholeheartedly seized upon.
By sundown the next day we were ensconced in our cramped one-bedroom affair at the Budget Suites. It’s a far cry from the suburbs and exurbs of Las Vegas that we are accustomed to, but we have a goal in sight — to be out of Southern Nevada by Nov. 15 — and that makes our situation seem temporary and tolerable.
In the next two to three weeks, Samizdat Press will release a nonfiction book, “Jack London: San Francisco Stories,” which I collaborated on with Matthew Asprey, a creative writing instructor at Macquarie University in Sydney. It is a groundbreaking work that I have a percentage stake in. My fingers are (painfully) crossed that the book will attract attention in both the academic and commercial world of publishing, leading to modest sales and more work offers in the field of journalism that I enjoy the most, literary essays.
But life in a residential hotel is far from ideal, and it has offered me a ground’s-eye view of the full effect of the Great Recession, from entire families crammed into small rooms and a school bus that drops off dozens of children in front of the hotel on weekday afternoons.
Every day at 3:30 I walk to the Terrible Herbst on the corner of Rancho and Smoke Ranch to buy a few snacks and a bottle of water for the evening. My path converges with the path of the schoolchildren, backpacks and textbooks in tow, their voices loud and cheerful as they scatter across the sprawling grounds of the Budget Suites. So many families live here, so many people struggling as I am, and I cannot help but feel that we are invisible to the community at large.
The level of vitriol after the last article left a lot to be desired. It says something that people are able to function in society at a level of ignorance that is simply unfathomable. Reading comprehension aside, it's doubtful the attackers are big fans of the facts. Why let facts get in the way of a position they probably mindlessly adopted without so much thought as they give to the brand of toilet paper they buy. Ignoring facts is all the rage, you know. In fact, there is a whole industry based on it.
This will be interesting.
During one of my recent long term stays in Las Vegas I had decided to check out these Budget Suites of America myself. I stayed at the one on Boulder Highway, the one that's closer to Sam's Town. There are two of them. I used to walk across the Street (Nellis or Tropicana, can't remember) and used to hop on the free shuttle to the Bellagio where I used to play my regular 15/30 game. The Budget Suites are ok if you stay more than 1 month as otherwise all these taxes and fees put upon are ridiculous. Unless you bring your own linen and everything else you pay too much for a little and not sound-proof room. The pool was so dirty and not well-maintened, I wasn't even sure if the water quality met minimum requirements. The best thing about it was the HBO channel so I could watch good movies from time to time without interruption.
Las Vegas is a dream world for adults that try to escape from their "old reality" and try to get a new start going. Some people can handle it, some can't. This recession wasn't very helpful for the ones living on the edge and this explains the mass exodus of many locals citizens.
As a tourist you don't really get to see this kind of reality but I can only reckon that the truth of making a living in Vegas is far from what you see on the Strip with all these pseudo happy visitors.
Greetings from Switzerland
Rumor has it that Cousin Eddie (a.k.a. Randy Quaid/Vegas Vacation '97) has become a professional "squatter" while his wife and squatting partner Evi is facing burglary charges.
Sources close to Eddie hinted that he's secretly shopping around his remaining kidney.
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As a frequent visitor to Las Vegas and a resident of the industrial midwest, it is sad to see the working middle class caught up in conditions beyond their control. This is a new experience for cities like L.V. Hang on, this to shall pass.
Why is Willie Nelson's song "Living in the Promised Land" popping into my mind while I read this article?
As a big anti-friend of the hotel resort fee idea I would instead support a 1 dollar-per tourist extra fee , under the conditions that 100 per cent of this single dollar goes to the homeless. I am sure this idea would help a lot and make a huge impact to the lives of these poor people hanging around in North Las Vegas, sleeping in tents or somewhere under the surface in the jungle of some dried water pipes. 1 dollar per day, not a big thing for a tourist, and definetely more helpful than 1 dollar tip to the guy blowing the whistle in front of Caesars Palace or Mirage, calling for the next available cab. I would definetely support this idea.
From Switzerland
I'm one of those who ignores "homeless" beggars with their hands out. Many, if not most, take the largesse to the nearest seller of booze or drugs, get "high," then are back on the street hassling folks for their "change." Forget it! If they are legit, there is plenty of help available to them including religious organizations and other do-gooders. My sister is one of those "good-hearted" folks who wants to "help." When confronted by a dirty, foul-smelling, unshaven bum for a handout, she offers to take them to a nearby diner and buy them a meal. Know what? Most turn her down. They don't want food! They want money to continue the habit that got them where they are. I'm not about to help them do that.
I was one of the commenters on Rodger's first article, and I did mention that he had a defeatist attitude and had made some poor choices. I also said however that I tremendously enjoyed the article, and that Rodger had certainly accomplished his goal of bringing homelessness (or at least drastically downsizing one's lifestyle) into the spotlight.
My computer does not allow me to view the videos, plus my speakers don't work, so unfortunately I did not see the video portion (I am not poor, just too cheap to buy new speakers plus upgrade my computer to handle video).
I hope the Las Vegas Sun has planned several more articles on other residents who have fallen on difficult times. Stories such as Rodger's are valuable in putting a human face on poverty.
Being from Canada, my opinion is that government programs and financial support should be easily available for the poor so that they do not have to sell or give away most of their possessions. I realize that the majority of posters on the Sun will disagree with me, as they want less government involvement in society.
Last week a man and his two kids approached me outside Walmart. They were living in their car.
The kids eat at breakfast and lunch at school but on weekends they don't have food.
I am a teacher and I have kids in my class who are homeless.
Las Vegas is a mean town for those who fall on hard times.
For all those who believe people "deserve" to be homeless and those who can't cut it should leave, how about starting a fund to buy bus tickets for those who would like to leave the state?
You could help them get back to relatives who could help out and fulfill your dream of getting the "slackers" out of your state.
I feel for Rodger, and have been in a similar plight years back in Las Vegas - after an automobile accident left me with a nearly amputated leg, and the wife decided she could not "handle it" and decided to leave me.
thankfully, i had some loving family members who stepped up and aided me. i did not go on public assistance. Mind you, i was very tempted. and i would care to add, my family is not rich, just middle class members.
i chose against public assistance b/c i could not stand the embarrassment and the defeat that it would have meant to me - even as i was struggling to stop a staph infection and retain my leg for 24 months.
i am currently gainfully employed and have made a recovery and walk with my leg - only with a noticeable limp - no cane.
what i am trying to say is this, your reality can be changed in a matter of months - cherish hope and promise -- you have your intellect and that is a powerful tool.
you like books and books stores - i greatly encourage you to check out Anthony Robbins and his materials - you could get some of his books at the library, not even charging you penny for the wealth of knowledge. I HONESTLY attribute much of his technologies and ideas to greatly aiding me in planning out a life and recovering!
I am empathetic to your plight and the fear you feel...Vegas can be a very hard place to live when you are "down in life" - yet it is the "king of the mountain" when one is riding high. it has as many valleys as peaks.
Please take hope and massive action to correct your circumstances.
I am rooting for you.
p.s.--- yes, many of those comments are seemingly heartless or cruel. mean spirited, and yet, you give power to how you interpret them. do you see as "cruel statements attacking you" or "a wake up call" with people saying we know you can do better? i am not trying to be overly simplistic, yet, we are in control of what meaning we give to life and its words (i think your girlfriend does a great job with controlling meaning in her life. she control her perspective well).
take hope. be well. i wish you well.
Dosen't these hotels have cooking facilities and a mini fridge?Breakfast at Denny's-$20,a dozen eggs,$2.Bottled water,$2,faucet water,free.I don't go to Denny's for breakfast,and I certainly don't buy bottled water.What they could of saved from just these actions would have paid for half of one's bus ticket.Yes,I feel sorry for Rodger,seems he didn't learn anything about priortizing his wants.Kinda wondering why they didn't use the rent money right off the bat to achieve their stated goal of leaving L.V.If it was so bad here,what was the purpose hanging around an extended grief hotel again?
The 75% of Las Vegas howmeowners who owe more on their home than it is worth made a poor choice. Hindsight is 20/20.
Seems like the same Rodger to me. Focused on the negative, feeling entitled and refusing to see how you could make your own situation better.
The woman cutting your hair wasn't askingfor anything, she wasn't wallowing in her own pity party, she was trying to step up. So naturally, she doesn't deserve you questioning how she became homeless. She didn't write an article, you did.
I read the first article and it was responded to with criticism; when you write an article, you should be prepared for that. It was also responded to with caring comments and offers from people. One couple even offered you and your girlfriend a place to stay. For free. The first article surprised me with how open and caring many Las Vegans are.
If you were going to focus on the negative, Rodger you should have least looked for some lessons in there.
And once again, you didn't spend your time productively packing and looking for someplace to stay, you stayed up all evening and 'defended' yourself. You came off as defensive and hostile. Me thinks thou doth protest too much. If you were so secure in your intention to be a starving artist and a sick person who ignores the doctor's advise by smoking, you'd let those comments wash over you. Look within Rodger.
Mr. Sun, to the extent that your story brought hostility or harmed these two unfortunate souls, it is on your hands...you used them to sell advertising by portraying them in the worst possible way...it was despicable then and it is despicable today...hope you sleep well Mr. Sun...
P.S. The title to this article is SO biased. Sure, some are hostile to the homeless but many are not. Also, criticism is not hostility. Is it hostile to tell people how they could improve their life? Or to indicate they don't want to give money to someone who will burn it up on cigarettes? That's not hostility, that's opinion.
Richard, I believe Rodger wanted to write the article. He was just hoping for a better response. There have been many families in dire situations who've had their stories published by the Sun who have then been showered with charity by Sun readers.
Predicting the future of house appreciation is a little different than using 4th grade math on the choice of the cost of having someone else cook your meal for you and buying tap water in a bottle.Wait,you don't need the math,just put a little common sense to the forfront of your thinking capabilities.It's not 20/20 when everyday choices are staring you in the face daily.I don't think Rodger was a first timer at Denny's.When that $20 disappeared from my wallet so easily,I would at least kick around the possibility of at least cooking for myself to extend my food budget!
In general, once you get a job, start preparing for the next one, you see, you have to screw the company (boss) before they do it to you, that is what I have learned and live by.
The only flippant comments I see is yours dip,the only hatred I see is yours toward others that wan't to see this guy start thinking like he has to start making some rational choices for himself to aleiviate his circumstances.I don't care if he was the King of the world,my thoughts would be the same for anybody who needs to dig themselves out of a hole.
I was Homeless for my first 9 months out of the Army so i know where this guy is comming from but i did not stay in a Budget Inn (How sweet that would have been). I stayed under a little tree with my books, photos and memories. I was so down on myself i could barley stand for anyone to see me. Life is ok being homeless and single, i made the best out of it. Who would have ever thught that after many years of service i would have found my way sleeping alond side a highway. To make a long story short its been a few years, eventually found my way out of homelessness from my GIBILL money and started going to school. I just graduated from college and now i am on a mission, not from God but from Humanity, a mission to HELP everyone person i come in contact that needs help. Rodger and Lela if you need a ride to So Cal let me know and i will gladly give you a ride where you need to go, no gass money, just a good story or two and a hand shake.
Cognastics...you are in the minority...and that's not good, not good at all.
After I looked up the word, VITRIOL, I paused to reflect on my own ignorance.
We are facing a "cumulative effect" from decades of problems that were swept under a carpet that looks more like a carpeted hill now.
"Enforced ignorance & incoherence" is an industry. You're right about that.
The concept of "work ethic" doesn't even have any real application...never did, actually. "Work ethic" is just another linguistic, behavioral control device.
The system tweaks and fast-fixes could only hide the rudimentary, repetitive problems for so long.
Technology has assisted in the "behavioral control of the masses" process. This has immeasurably exacerbated an already growing group of serious, base-line problems.
I tried to explain this in my first book, which I refused to publish (to prevent "shelfing") to MENSAs around the world and the Black Mountain Institute's so-called think tank.
Cognastics...the people at the helm of our modern-day Planet Titanic are COMPLETELY delusional and ruled by fears...both real AND imaginary.
They have their hands on the steering wheel and have surrounded themselves with control systems and bully boy automatons with guns.
But there is a solution. Can you guess what it is?
Hint: You cleverly take the structure apart from the inside, while building a new foundation of thought (based on reality) on the outside.
And yes...I have already done that. I've built the vehicle.
I still don't understand why almost half the country supports spending money on wars but not on helping our fellow citizens. Christian? No! Crazy? YES!!!!
Very good to see a major media outlet get on this issue.
Tent Cities are the shocking reality from the Trickle Down era in America.
Foreclosed office buildings would make conversion condos for those forclosed out of houses / only fair -- a cool site; Balkingpoints ; incredible satellite view of earth
I can only offer up some general advice. If you are still in school, stay in school. Get a high school degree. If within your dreams, get a college education with a marketable skill. If not college, then technical school.
START SAVING NOW!
I know it sounds odd to say this. Try and buy a home. It is still the number one method to get net worth. Money. Net worth of homeowner vs. Renter is astonishing. Average net worth of a homeowner is $73,000. Average net worth of a renter is $500. Those numbers are for people who are in Rodgers income bracket. The disparity grows as your income rises.
IRA's
401k's
I see a lot of 65 year olds still working because they have to. Some have stories of catastrophic events that have put them in a position where they can't retire. Most have the same old story. Failed to save money. The vast majority of them never owned a home. I know the American dream has crashed and owning a home has put a lot of people in deep water but The numbers don't lie.
Good luck on your journey Rodger. Hope it works out.
Turth and criticism is not hostility in and of itself. Sometimes, the truth hurts, but it is not inherently hostile.
If someone really wants to change their life, they probably wouldn't spend a moment at a keyboard "defending" themselves from anonymous commenters. That is a waste of precious time better spent doing something positive toward the goal desired.
OK tell me again why Nevada is paying IT contractors $250 an hour to "fix" the Welfare and Unemployment computers and we have such limited funding to help people in need? Why can't adults get real assistance--unless they pop out a few babies? Why can't the safety net provide dormitories or motel rooms to ADULTS who have worked and paid into the system for a lifetime? Why are illegal children given preferential treatment?
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Roger and Lela are a by-product of the American Dream... Implicit in the American Dream is that you live by your own wits without your fellow taxpayer taking responsibility for your weaknesses, bad luck or poor decisions. There are winners and loosers... America didn't become great by the winners propping the loosers... ya get what ya earn - no more and no less - regardless of whether your luck is good or bad.
It has been interesting watching the tea party movement - this is precisely what they offer the voter (although they don't want the rest of the country to know where or how they plan to cut the 1 trillion in federal spending.)
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Oh boy, here we go again!
"Imagine life without fingernails and toenails and then ask again why I'm not working at McDonald's. Under the strict definitions of Social Security disability, my "condition interferes with (my) basic work-related activities" and I "cannot adjust to other work."
I'm tired of this guy. I told you all, this is just a stunt to help his writing career! He is playing all of us! Trust me, he has made bank since the last story, and I doubt he is as poor as he wants to make us think. I really encourage the Las Vegas Sun to reconsider giving this guy attention. He sounds like every homeless fraud I have ever talked to.
I despise the majority of homeless (stereotypes exist for a reason). I work at a local hospital and you should hear the demands they make of the staff! It is no longer an individuals responsibility to arrange for their own housing, food, transportation, or any of the basics- they think they are entitled to such things and will demand it from our doctors and nurses by yelling "Get me a meal tray b#@%!!" They didn't bother to get an education or stay away from crack, inflicted a myriad of preventable diseases on THEMSELVES and now they demand you pay for it! (taxpayers are the best health insurance policy out there) Get your entitled @$$ to California or some other welfare state. I refuse to subsidize your self destructive way of life here and will gladly watch you and your evolutionarily backwards behaviors die on the side of the street.
I want to say thank you to all those who have reached out to Rodger and Lela. I am Lela's daughter. It pains me that I could not be there to help them. They both work very hard, contrary to some of these commenter's assumptions about them both, and have all their lives.
Just remember, it could be your mom too.
I have a college degree yet i make $10 an hour... there's little room in our economy for those of us who don't fit inside this corporate world.
But happiness and comfort are relative. In this country a clean place to live with drinkable water, food in our bellies, and medical care should be easily accessable to us all. Yet it is not for so many...
Yes there are people in much worse places then Rodger and Lela. Yes there are people who suffer more. That is the point. Why are there hungry children in a country that has more obese people than anywhere else on earth? Why is it that 2 people who work hard can't afford their electric bill?
Doesn't make sense.
Those who simply look at this article as one person's story need to broaden their perspective and see it as a small window into the HUGE unbalance of wealth and resources in our country. In our world.
And please quit comparing my mother and her boyfriend to the crackheads on the street begging for change...it's just uncalled for.
I love you mom and Rodger! Can't wait until you're back in California closer to me. (well sort of)
The character of a nation is reflected in its treatment of children, prisoners, and the destitute.
With about one in six children living in poverty, with our prisons full to the gills, and our weak federal, state, and local social safety networks -- not sure we Americans are "being all we can be."
By the way, I noticed on the TV this morning that Nevada leads the nation in high school graduation rates -- well, if you reverse the standings, we're #1!
Roger, the greeter position at many supermarkets does not require any sort of manual labor. All you have to do is wave. That's why elderly people and those with mental disabilities mostly have them. Tell me you couldn't get one of those, if you have a problem.
Samjung23;There were plenty of suggestions in part 1 on how to manage his money.I sure this is called vitriol by some.But right off the bat in part 2 we see him squander his money needlessly again.No,he didn't ask the hairdresser how she got in her position,but he forgot to ask himself that question.Regardless,many people stated that a budget was priority #1.Completely ignored in my estemation.If I wanted to write about my poor circumstances,I certainly wouldn't include buying bottled water and going out to eat in my story.Mabey Rodger sees this as normal activity for a near homeless person,therefor didn't even cross his mind that other people look at this as luxuries,for even middle class people.But why even listen to people that say to make a budget,when all you are seeking is sympathy for a handout,no budget needed ,in fact no rational thinking needed either.
@roguerunner, I was around for part 1 in the comments section. When Roger complained about the commenters in part 2 here, the first thing he mentioned was something I had said.
As much as I hate to say it, I definitely think I'm on the money.
I have been homeless,just wasn't stupid enough to eat out and buy bottled water.Bought an old truck with a crummy camper on it, saved much money because it didn't go to a stupid 200 a week dump.Bought fresh fruit and veggies,didn't even spend money to cook.Did whatever I could to make a buck.Yea,that was a long.long time ago,and Ia'm doing just fine now,mostly by using my common sense.Ia'm a real bastard to suggest he do the same and learn to live within his means and save a little to stop digging a deeper hole for himself.Nobody did a dam thing for me,nor did I expect anybody to.What have you done Frankie boy to help poor ol Rodger along,spew your hatred towards others like Rodger if we don't lavish praise for his comlete aversion to reality.
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Exactly roguerunner. What Rodger and Lela and Becca fail to understand or maybe don't want to understand is that no one owes them anything. Life is sometimes tough and sad. Some times you get a helping hand and sometimes you don't. Many people have reached out to help Rodger and Lela. Not everyone. And no one is obligated.
I love that Becca says people aren't allowed to make assumptions but she sure seems to make some assumptions. Her mother is better than the crackheads? How do you know what circumstances those crackheads had in their lives? Maybe, like Rodger, they had a dream that didn't work out. Maybe they just made some bad choices. So you judge them. Others judge Rodger. Welcome to the real world.
Again, opinion is not hostility. Just because I have zero desire to help Rodger based on the information he gave me doesn't mean I wish him any harm. Or that I don't help others. Now that I know they have a daughter who apparently loves them, I will trust she'll be helping them out. She makes $10 an hour. That's more than my friend makes and she took her sick mom into her home. Becca should do the same.
I DO wish them well. I feel for rogers health problems which are terrible to live with and not his fault.
I do wish they had made the choices that would have given them a better chance at retirement, good health insurance, stability and a future.
They didn't and here they are. Here we all are.
I don't feel sorry for I have been here for almost 3.5 years i came with no job and now I have 2 1 full and 1 part time you sit around drinking smoking and it have a jerry springer hat on man whats up with people from cali I came from the north east people act diffent thier you can't find a job doing any thing esel I work with a guy that has the same problem as you and he does'nt get a free ride yea you have no job but you drink and smoke and your girl friend has nothing worng with her but she is not working?
I'd like to thank those of you who have sent us support and financial donations over the past few weeks. We've been able to pay off Rodger's pay day loan, a major event in our tiny household.
We've also been able to rent our room at the Budget Suites, which is clean and safe. Being able to pay weekly rent without utilities has also been a load off our shoulders.
There is one shot of me in the video showing that I, too, have had my hair cut. Because I went to Great Clips, the hair cut was free due to their "Love Locks" program. As for going to Denny's on the first night we lived in our room, there was no energy left after the move to cook that night, let alone do the dishes after. I may be Rodger's devoted long-time companion but I'm not Wonder Woman.
We've put enough money aside to cover our rent for the month of October, again thanks to the generosity of Sun readers. Any suggestion that Rodger's articles here are a "scam" is just silly, as are nit picking arguments over whether or not we know how to properly budget. Deconstructing our every action to the nth degree misses the larger point, as was pointed out in the comment by Becca.
What's frustrating and scary to us is the recession's impact on our ability to earn a living utilizing our skills to the best of our ability for our own good and for the greater good of society.
I'd like to add that I've been volunteering a few days a week at a local food bank as a way of giving back for the support we've recently received. I'd also like to thank the people who offered their homes to us as a temporary solution; not to gross anyone out, but Rodger's psoriasis flakes and occasional staph infections are not something to wish on anybody. Nonetheless, the offers were appreciated.
Good luck to them.
There but for the Grace of God goes I....
Lela, perhaps you should be writing the articles. You seem to have much more appreciation for everything you've been given by others.
Rodger ended his article with "So many families live here, so many people struggling as I am, and I cannot help but feel that we are invisible to the community at large."
Invisible? Look at all the blessings heaped upon you by very generous Sun readers. And yet Rodger focuses on the criticisms and gets defensive. No one is taking care of my moving expenses, or cutting my hair, or sending me money. Not that I expect them too. I also didn't write an article complaining about how tough my life is.
This article should be focused on how much the kindness and generosity of Las Vegas people have helped you out. Not on trying to disprove the things people say. The title alone is a slap in the face to everyone who reached out to Rodger.
People think Rodger shouldn't spend money on bottled water when clean water runs out of your faucet. Or that maybe he shouldn't smoke with all his health problems. That's their right to think. You should ignore that and thank God that you have a roof over your head and food in your stomach and a daughter who loves you. And money sent to you by people who don't even know you. That astounding to me. And should be to you.
Proper budget?Rodger gets 900 from disability,over 800 a month for crummy motel room.Eat at Denny's once,and you got a few bucks left for bottled water.Hey Las Vegas,Thanks for the ongoing bailout to ensure Rodger dosen't have to make any critical choices for his own survival.If I had 200 bucks to move to the budget hotel,or use it towards what they say is a better thing going for them in Cali,as their stated goal was,what the hell are they waiting for.Milk this story for all it's worth?What are we soon to find in the L.A. papers,how bad they were treated here?Rodger was what,spending 1100 for rent before,when he was guarenteed only 900.Now spending only 85% of your income on housing is called budgeting.I read the comments from part 1,I remember about 50 suggestions where you could have done alot better than that.Ignore good advice at your own peril,oh wait,it dosen't matter what you do for yourself,you can get a bailout and forgetaboutit.
All the best to you, and your companion. Maybe I am misreading this, but your a lucky guy. You have a lady who cares and sticks with you. You have a plan. I still think some probiotics, & maybe some AHCC could alleviate some of your symptoms, that's just from a layman's perspective, I ain't no nurse I just know that anti-biotics do kill the good stuff, as well.
Could be worse; and smoking, well that's your choice. How do you know the price of cheap wine? I am a little jealous, cause I can't afford to take my wife to Denny's but that's ok, "Life is a mystery to be lived, not a problem to be solved"
If Mr. Jacobs were able-bodied then I could understand some of the criticism but his disabilities should not be minimized in leading to his current predicament. I wonder what his critics would say if they had the same medical issues? I suspect there would be a LOT more sympathy!
Life becomes a problem if you can't take a litte time to figure out the little mysteries that need to be solved,especially everyday ongoing occurences.No mystery to me,some people allow others to solve their problems for them.Then the mystery of life becomes who is next to solve my problems for me?
Harry verified himself via the Facebook verification process through a false Facebook accounty. This account has since been unverified and banned.
Hello Rodger and Lela, I've been waiting for an update on your story. Hope you get back to LA soon, and I'm glad you wrote your story. Sometimes we all need to be reminded that "it could be me". Don't give up. I'm rooting for you too. I'm on holiday in Vegas in November for a week, and as much as I love it there, I now look at the city slightly more realistically.
I still wish you all the best. And hope for further updates. Regards, Mary
Like I said in part 1,I was hit head on by a drunk driver while riding my motorcycle.Even with medical insurance I was left destitute,for the drunk had none.Homeless and on crutches,I worked at a call center while saving for a camper to live in.My dire circumstances made me even more determined to get back to a normal life.To do that I had to make very wise choices to save from a meager salary.But I knew I alone was best at deciding my own fate.I saved my money religously from then on,not ever wanting to be in those circumstances again.Well savings has allowed many things,a nice home,cars,advanced education,investment's etc.The one thing I learned was to put off immediate gratification to ensure something was there in reserve when I need it.Sorry to say,Even today I would of grabbed an apple,some bread and lunch meat on the way to the motel,for I still remember how precious 20 bucks was at one time.I know it's a lot easier to piss money away when it just comes in the mail,but I can afford to eat at the best restaurants 3 times a day if I wanted too but won't.I have learned from my homelessness to be frugal,like the people of the great depression learned,If they wanted to survive.Hey Rodger,how bout working at a call center,nobody cares about how u look there?What I could of done with a guarenteed 900 bucks a month at the time,oh well some people have all the luck.
Roger, have you even tried to consult a doctor on the best way to treat your psoriasis? It sounds like you aren't really trying to find a solution to that problem.
After surviving a horrible divorce with domestic violence and a gun pointed at my head, then unemployment for 2 years, depression, disgust, disappointment, discouraged, and hopeless - I found hope. There is hope. There is love. There is happiness. I began giving of myself each day, to anyone I could, acts of kindness, generosity, and love. What you put out in this universe, you get back in spades. Unless we find ways to curb our desires and produce the things we truly need in less destructive ways, the sustainability of human life on our planet is questionable.
In my post to your previous story, I began: "There, but for the grace of God, go I." I believe this. When I was a kid, I realized that the ONLY WAY I was going to improve my lot in life, was to DO something about it MYSELF. THAT REALIZATION was a big "GAME-CHANGER." in my life. With positive thinking, I climbed up the "Ladder of success" and achieved my own version of the "American Dream."
Although there were pitfalls along the way, I persevered. And I realized that "failure was not an option." So, I submit that if Rodger intends to GO ON LIVING - HE WORK AS HARD AS HE CAN TOWARDS WHAT HE WANTS - and, somehow, deal with the medical issues that cannot be eliminated (at the time). Lela must understand this; I commend her for sticking with Rodger. That must be what love is all about.
Yet Rodger ALREADY KNOWS there are many ways to get help. He has "been there and done that." As a writer, Rodger should be adept at analying problems, finding information, and identifying solutions. JUST DO IT!
Someone once said there are only two things sure in life: Death and Taxes. Well, THERE IS ONE MORE. It is called: HOPE. But you can't dwell on the negative, and expect to have hope. I suggest Rodger re-read all the comments posted, take written notes, and WORK ON the recommendations that people have taken time to offer. ISN'T THAT THE HELP YOU WANTED? (BTW, forget the irritating comments.)
I cannot end this post without saying what I believe. That is: GOD WILL PROVIDE. He does, you know. I see this has already happend, whether you attribute it to God, or not. In my life, NO ONE but God could have solved many of my problems. I saw this over and over again. So, I believe God gives us help - if we have faith.
But FAITH in God is not the end. It is a BEGINNING; and a frame of mind. Do you think everything you've received (advice, assistance, money) just came from "bleeding hearts"? NO! It came from compassionate people who were motivated to help someone in need. Coincidently, the Bible says that: "God moves in mysterious ways, his purpose to achieve." And God uses people to do His will. Many religions teach similar things. So, what do you think Rodger? It wouldn't hurt to trust God, and ask for help.
Rodger has been dealt him a hard situation to handle. But, he has lots of company. Millions of others are worse off, and many of them will die tonight! Rodger, I kow you can MAKE LIFE BETTER better for yourself and Lela. And I know YOU believe that. Why else would you go back to CA? Just don't see your move as an ESCAPE. NOTHING will change unless YOU WORK to change it - no matter where you are. You just have to try a little harder.
Finally, LOOK for and FIND the ways God is sponsoring people to help you. And maybe, if you give Him a little credit, He may just do it more often!
Hang in there guys. After a four month stint of living in a non-working motor home with a tarp set up outside, my wife and I were able to land decent jobs. I'm two years away from full Social Security and my wife is three....it won't be much but we've been poor before and can live poor again. In the meantime I'm buying a decent truck and trailer so that I'll have someplace to live just in case. I'm rapidly running out of faith in our government to provide the safety net necessary for capatilism to work beneficially.
best regards
I have very mixed views on this.
Like most, I was raised to help those in need when I could. But my experience has taught me that "need" is not always as it seems, and this has tempered my desire to help others at times.
I offer this incident for illustration.
I was a division manager at a small manufacturer and had an opening for a telephone sales person. I offered the job to a local beggar I knew who would have been more than capable of doing the job (a vet with an amputated leg.)
He turned me down. Even though the job would have paid a reasonable wage plus commission, it would have been equal to only about half what he made on the streets begging plus service disability pay.
I have been very reluctant to help like that since.
Rodger and Lela are not homeless. They have a roof over their heads, food to eat and access to medical care. And lets not forget, a forum (The Las Vegas Sun). They also have a guaranteed income courtesy of the taxpayers that go to work even when they are sick and injured (See story of the 101st Airborne Soldier that returned to combat with two artificial limbs in the R.J. 9/26/2010).
The arrogance that he has diplayed in these articles and his rebuttals has probably done more harm than good to the real homeless. If he truly is the new face and voice of the homeless, I will not give one more dime to any charity that claims to help the homeless. Thanks Rodg.
This gent is on Social Security Disability(SSDI) and has access to Medicare health insurance- he is far from the bottom of the barrel. No sympathy here as I am also on SSDI.
Being a spiritually influenced person when I read comments from people criticizing others who are less fortunate than them. I think of the many parables that have influenced my life over the years. It brings to mind the following Idoms. Such as;
"You will know me better when you walk a mile in my moccasins."
"There But for the Grace of God go I"
Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
I believe in Karma and those who criticize should be very careful.
"But if any provide not for his own,especially for those of his own household,he hath denied the faith,and is worse than an infidel" Timothy 5:8
Rodger & Lela, This is Kim. I wanted you to know that I created an account so that you could contact me via the Las Vegas Sun, I also added some comments to the new policy about linking to Facebook.
You two are are welcome to contact me at anytime, for any reason. You have touched my life in a way in which I can not explain.
I hope the best for both of you, and Lela it was nice to see that your daughter "Becca" commented on your behalf, I am sure she is devastated that she is not able to assist you, as I am also not in a postilion, as you know, to help my parents, god forbid anything happened to them.
You two do not deserve the ridicule that was bestowed upon you in your 1st article (or the articles to come), and I told you face-to-face, I am in similar shoes as you both, and in life you can not possibly always have the "right" choice to be made, therefore we all have made due with our choices, and they are proving to be quite difficult to handle as of late.
Godspeed to you and yours! Please remember that you are not alone, and that many are willing to be their mentally, physically, and emotionally. Our few hours together, and the quietness you saw, was just me observing how alike we really are.
Kim Pavao
I worked for nearly 30-years, had my retirement account butchered by the financial crisis, faced a divorce from a pampered wife and forced to sell our nice house after being permanently disabled, and now live on roughly $500 a month.
So please tell me how much you good-hearted taxpayers are coughing up to help Roger & Lela and how many of us "newly homeless" you are willing to support with your hard-earned paychecks?
Just kidding... I'm quite happy with the simple life that I can myself afford.
Comment removed by moderator. Off topic.
I think the issue most people have with Rodger is the "woe is me" attitude. He seems to think himself worthy of a higher standard of living, seemingly unaware of how lucky he is. The fact of the matter is that this world is made up of all sorts of people. Some are extremely conservative with their resources and sacrifice today for a better future, while others live in the moment. It's a personal choice.
Someone who works for me lives paycheck to paycheck, always complaining about how unfair it is that at his age (mid 50's) that he still has to work a normal job with no end in sight when people he grew up with are retiring or are ready to retire. He's a pretty bright guy, but he hasn't managed to figure out that he throws away thousands upon thousands of dollars on unnecessary things like cigarettes, premium cable, etc. etc. etc.
I think that's fine. Life is about choices. I just have a huge problem with people who complain about the reality they themselves created. How many people have perfect health, good looks, and fall into a comfortable lifestyle by blind luck? Not many. How many have been down and out then scrimped and saved, clawing their way back to a better standard of living through sacrifice and determination? Many more.
I also have a problem with anyone who thinks society owes them something. Paying taxes and paying into social security is not an insurance policy. We pay into them for the privilege of living here and to help those who can't help themselves. One of the biggest problems with our country is how readily people accept and even peruse public assistance. Likewise, it's amazing how many "disabled" people can push themselves in the name of recreation, but declare themselves completely disabled vocationally. The truth is if you took away the "disability income" from many of these people they would actually improve their standard of living by having to provide for themselves.
Continued...
This all comes down to entitlement. I don't know how, but somewhere, somehow the idea has permeated our society that everyone should have a house, a nice car, cable TV, a cell phone, a computer, internet access, cigarettes, brand name clothes, and ample entertainment as though they are basic human rights.
I have a problem with Habitat for Humanity. Why do you have to give people of limited means a house? The money could go towards building clean, safe multi-family housing that would be much more cost effective and ultimately help many more people. Should anyone who lives in an apartment think less of themselves? Apparently that's the idea. I think Bill Cosby said something along the lines that he was a perfectly happy kid and had no idea he was poor until someone told him he was.
Last but not least, I have a problem with the droves of people who are unemployed or under employed due to their poor life and career choices. Being a professional "freelance writer" makes the assumption that you think what you have to say is of such tremendous worth to others that you should be well compensated for your efforts and exempt from such menial tasks as manual labor. Most of these new college grads who can't find jobs chose a major that no one needs. Newsflash, college isn't hard. Graduating doesn't make you special or even necessarily well suited for a particular job in many cases. Often times it just means you had the conviction to show up most of the time and manage to make it to the right class. Those qualities are strikingly similar to the qualifications for a good counter person. In the real world, people pay you based on what you can do for them. Do you think anyone wants to be a coal miner? Is that anyone's life ambition? Actually yes, I'm sure it is. Because some people actually realize that there is a direct correlation between their tangible efforts and their lifestyle.
what amazes me is that the people commenting here that are critical of Rodger & Lela feel it necessary to KEEP POSTING comments to somehow REINFORCE their nastiness.
"Just in case you didn't hear me the first time, losers, let me phrase it another way"...
WOW!
It must be interesting to feel so self-important and egotistical that you must lash out at those less fortunate than yourself, to whatever degree that may be.
Denny's, a few snacks, BOTTLED WATER, whoa! Talk about high off the hog!
I have my own arthritic demons; if you don't, you have no idea what the physical pain does to your mental psyche.
Man, it is SO EASY to sit at your bloody keypad and type a rebuke to the downtrodden.
Well, judgers, your day will come, in some form or fashion.
I hope you'll recall the harshness with which you flayed these folks when it comes at you, out of the blue, in all it's randomness and unwavering accuracy that you can't possibly dodge.....
Good Luck & Godspeed, Rodger & Lela; You'll come out on the other side, as good people that fight the fight typically do.
Watched the video, toward the end they show a typical day in Lela and Roger's life. Guess what it looked like they had the T.V. running 24 hours a day and somebody was nearly always on the couch. Why can't Lela try to work at finding a real job? News flash taking care of Roger isn't it.
There are a lot of freelancers who claim they work hard but the reality is that most of them never put in a 40 hour week. It's a nice gig. You can make your own hours, dress as you please. So what if lunch lasts longer than 45 minutes. Need to pick up dry cleaning? You can go mid afternoon. Feel like waking up a little later? No problem.
Freelance work for some can be lucrative. Those that are highly skilled in tech or computers can make a nice living. But for the most part freelancers do what they do because they like the idea of working from home. No real boss breathing down your neck. No 9-5. No dress code. The problem is that most barely can get by. That has been Rodger for what seems like the last 10 years.
I would rather hear from someone who suffered a catastrophic event that left them destitute. Not from someone like Rodger where the path has been bad decision making, poor planning and no real desire to join the ranks of a regular 9-5'er.
Exactly Tom1228 let's hear about somebody who has been laid off, or is working 2-3 jobs to get by. This to me isn't a story, all they need to do is downsize.
I have to say congratulations on your ability to get a place at Budget Suites. It may not be much, but living there shows that one has found a way to not really be "homeless" in the sense that it is normally used (living in a tent, under a bridge, in a car, etc). A weekiy room is certainly not the Ritz, but it is a (fairly) secure "home" until you can find something better. Probably a better situation than the relative's house which required maintenance and utility bills, along with a costly rent. When I worked in LV in the 1990's for a development company, they rented an apartment out near the Showboat (Castaways) for the out of town employees (like me). It was truly on the low end. I called it "The Beverly Hilton" which it was not. One morning, I had to "break in" to my company truck with a coat hanger, took awhile. The on-site security didn't even bother to check out what I was (obviously) up to. I imagine that place has a lot of folks in your situation living there now.
Good luck on your future ventures.
So just above BrianK says,
"I don't know how, but somewhere, somehow the idea has permeated our society that everyone should have a house, a nice car, cable TV, a cell phone, a computer, internet access, cigarettes, brand name clothes, and ample entertainment as though they are basic human rights."
!Don't know how! What? Isn't that a description of "The American Dream" that has been used so successfully for the past several decades to market a culture of consumption to the American people? To create an exposure culture where success only depends on a solid acceptance of hit and niche.
Don't expect it to change any time soon, either. Although all the signs seem to indicate now would be a good time for Americans to adjust their expectations there aren't many signs that indicate that will happen this time around. It seems those who talk about coming to terms with a "new normal" don't exactly expect that adjustment to apply to them.
Why should they when to hear them tell it, all we have to do is put the same people back in charge so they can restart the programs (or lack of) and policies that started the current conditions at the end of their last term.
If I had the opportunity to ask one question of each of the parties:
I'd ask the Republicans where the hell are the jobs that they promised when they gave away the tax money to the upper-wealthy in the country? Naturally they would start to hem and haw, so I would have to call BS and say that if their policies were as sound as they claim, the country wouldn't have lost millions of jobs and have millions unemployed as the new norm.
What I'd like a Dem head to explain is .... Well, they've got me so confused, I'm not sure what I would start off with though I would like to know why they seem so collectively ashamed of their party as though there is no honor in taking the position that a country that can send endless billions of dollars to countries overseas might be expected to save a little more than minimum for its own citizens.
If the upper-elite want to pay fewer taxes they might want to pay the working class a little better wage to lessen the demand for a social safety net.
Although most would probably call it good business, it seems a little more sinister when, since they have a seemingly permanent perch among the top ten richest people in the country, a Wal-Mart employee asks for a raise so they can feed their families they are given a list of government agencies in the local area. Apparently Wal-Mart is adverse to providing wages that impact profits, because instead of giving raises they give Wal-Mart employees a list of all the government agencies that provide assistance in the local area.
Corporate welfare is obviously good business, but it just seems wrong for American taxpayers to subsidize profits for one of the richest families in the country. At least it used to seem that way before the new normal.
The problem with this story and the headlines is there is no homelessness.
I wish Lela and Rodger the best of luck, especially on getting out of town. I gave them some tips in comments I made in the first article since I was homeless twice during the course of almost four years.
I worked much of that time and slept at the airport, on buses, on sidewalks on Foremaster Lane or Main Street, in Parks, at friends homes, and when I was lucky to get in at so-called "shelters".
I don't and didn't drink, do drugs and I don't have a gambling problem. Financial and medical problems yes, addictions no.
I ate at soup kitchens, slop like elbow macaroni in water, and at church homeless feedings.
I never once asked for a penny from anyone.
This story does present the plight and perils of those in poverty, but NOT the homeless. And it does demonstrates that the Great Recession is not over with, far from it, although it has been officially declared over by the government and media.
But it does not address the facts about homelessness in Las Vegas. It doesn't even come close.
The writer and this newspaper has no clue whatsoever what homelessness in Las Vegas is about.
The Las Vegas Sun has for a long time ignored the true facts of homelessness in Las Vegas.
Although I have pointed out to the Las Vegas Sun numerous times, it still fails to cover the real hostilities against the homeless and poor citizens of our community.
For over a year all vending machines were removed from DTC. (To keep homeless and poor people from hanging out and so they can be arrested for loitering and trespass since no machines are available.)
For many homeless, especially the old, there is no SAFE place to sleep. Some homeless are near 90 years old and combat veterans that this town steps on like cockroaches.
Just some of the hostilities against the homeless by local officials that you fail to report follows:
For over a year no hand soap dispensers were operating at the DTC outside men's room. until I complained to the State of Nevada Health Department and threaten a lawsuit there were zero, despite the hazards of disease being spread from not being able to wash your hands. Now there is only one for six sinks in the outside men's room. No hand driers and sometimes no doors on stalls. Yet, thousands of dollars of security equipment and signs put up after my complaints to protect $15 soap dispensers.
A radical Black Panther type armed security force patrols DTC and RTC to threaten and intimidate the homeless and the poor.
Million dollar city parks closed because city and county officials don't want the homeless hanging out yet every year over 50,000 (Fifty Thousand) people experience homelessness in Southern Nevada.
Illegal barricades have been placed on the sidewalks of Foremaster and Main streets, against American with Disability Act regulation, but no coverage from the Sun. Handicapped homeless in wheelchairs and walkers have to travel in the dangerous streets because they can not use the blocked sidewalks.
Illegal acts against the disabled in violation of ADA run out-of-control on the city buses. (An Oscar Goodman co-chaired government entity among many he is a member of that forces hostility upon the homeless population of Las Vegas.)
There are countless abusive, hostile and aggressive acts committed by the corrupt Mayor, Sheriff and County Commission chairman, and other government personnel, including illegal actions by Clark County Social Services. Yet the Sun covers none of those.
The amazing thing is they are all Democrats who claim to stand for helping the poor, but instead enrich themselves. Mr. Sun, you don't cover that!!
I've noticed since I suggested to the Sun, along with other people, that using verified names on comments would cut down on the hate and insulting comments made by ignorant people. For that the Sun deserves credit.
But if you want to cover the real homelessness story in Vegas you need to get some direction to your misguided lives.
Oh, and by the way the Help Hope Home that you suggest your readers contact and donate to is just another of many government propaganda machines Oscar Goodman is on that does more to hurt the homeless than to help them.
But you already know that, don't you?
Boris,
The $1.00 per night room tax you mention (I assume you mean per night) has one major fault. Like many of the "homeless shelters (including some church based), a large portion of the money goes to pay "executive staff" high salaries. One "shelter" in my town is constantly on TV and sending mailers asking for your $10 or $25 or more donations, and saying how many meals that $10 or $25 will buy. What they fail to mention is that the reverend in charge makes $140,000 and the "fundraising director" makes twice that. Think how many $10 donations it takes just to pay these two fat cats to live in seven oaks and drive a Mercedes or Lexus. Not to mention, these types will usually get high priced meals comped at restaurants because they are "helping the poor". In trality, they are helping themselves.
The couple in the article is doing better to find the cheap accommodations they have (I wouldn't call them homeless, since a cheap room or apartment is a "home").
The "homeless advocate" profession is very lucrative for a few. (No intent to take away from the good that the true volunteers or lower paid staff does).
We can thank Mr Goodman, for allot of this.
One would think that an individual who is begging for sympathy, understanding for their plight and/or money for cigs would be inclined to use a little humility instead of demanding respect for their situation!
But I guess that we live in the new world where we feel that we are intitled to the good life and that someone else should sacrifice some of their earnings to balance out the herd.
Has Rodger quit smoking?
I noticed in one of the pics that they are in a no smoking room
Rodger: You've written a fine, vivid piece, well, two of them. I do hope your life improves and that you have the opportunity to use your writing skills for a very long time. All the best as you walk down the road and thanks you for an enlightening piece of writing.
The hatred and lack of compassion in so many of these posts is apalling and heartbreaking.
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Matthew 25:40
Good luck to them. I hope they can rebuild their lives in California.
Mayor Oscar Goodman is not homeless and neither is Harry Ried. There is not one politician that feels the depression or has any care in the world about Vegas, they just want you to believe that while your starving and having feelings of hopelessness. Objective is that we were all on borrowed credit and living above our means in a former lifestyle of inflated dreams thats partially our fault as people but sadly it is something we became accustomed to. The politicians and wealthy corporations are now in the position to monopolize us all and we will suffer because now we have learned or dreams and lack of focus has led us to the long road of ruin.Hey buddy can you spare a dime.
Vegas has a not in my backyard policy, we as citizens can always leave if we don't like it. You are free to go, by decreasing the population you decrease the pocket money of the politicians. Not all things have to stay here in Vegas.
Hopefully we will all be abducted by aliens and taken to a rich and wealthy SPACE VEGAS. It's one way of looking up and hoping for an answer to the sluggish economy. Beam me up now before I sink in the Great Depression of Vegas.
Comment removed by moderator. Refers to deleted post.
Over 14.5 percent of everyone I know are out of work.
It is a fictitious number to comfort all of us that things are not as bad as they seem. I think it realistically is more like 40 percent of Las Vegas is out of work and it will decline to almost 50 percent or worse. What are we going to do and where are we headed, could be like Russia after the cold war when you can have a potato 101 ways for breakfast, lunch & dinner.
Living in the Budget Suites is not homeless. Many construction workers, salespeople and vacationers stay there. The writer is poor and marginally housed.
Texas used to offer students an extra skill, even if they were college-bound. So in addition to the academic curriculum they would learn restaurant skills, welding, animal care, auto mechanic, etc. That way they might find a job in their more rural community.
A writer, poet, photographer, comedian, etc. needs a "day job," some skill or trade, whether it is a convenience store job, telemarketing, repair work, computer skills, etc. that they can fall back on.
Las Vegas is not friendly to cultivating extra work. You couldn't even be a carpet cleaner without a "sheriff's card."
I was in similar situation two years ago , I do get work while I was in Vegas , but not enough . So I walk out of my home and head back to California . I do sympathize with the Jacobs on their hardship , because I was in same predicament where they are now . And please dont blame these people as " LAZY " , because I wasn`t lazy but just cant`t find work in your city . Luckily I was able to save enough money and move out of Vegas and head back to Los Angeles . A move that I would never regret in my life . Have I stayed too long in Vegas , Am sure I would be in very very bad financial situation . Go ahead Mr . Rogers , come back to California , where there are more opportunities than Vegas .
Economically speaking for the masses what we now may think of our daily lives as mankind. Got ya saying---top ten. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...............
1.I am so depressed I have forgotten to tie my shoes.
2.Oh yeah Mr.Visa and Mrs.Master Card are deceased.
3.I can remember I had a career once.
4.Retirement? Good Luck Buddy
5.Flying to Aruba and getting away from it all? NO
6.Trying to gain employment? Gave up almost.
7.Watching the local news? More depressing.
8.Gambling? Out of the question.
9.Increase in the consumption of alcohol? Affirmed
10.Take a look at the man in the mirror? Who's that guy?
Bigelow at Budget suites builds spaceships, where does he get the money to own an aerospace company in North Las Vegas. I bet its from all those construction contractors staying at Budget Suites.
I have to agree...Roger is not homeless. Homeless means just that, no home at all, it does not mean no rental house or owned home.
If it is so painful to cross his fingers, why does he do a job that requires typing? Personally when my fingers hurt, typing is the worst thing I can do and how can he spend a whole night typing and defending himself and yet cannot do what he should have been doing and that is help pack to move so they did not lose their articles to the management company.
Priorities are misplaced for sure.
Whats crazy and no one gets its very Maxist but Hey some one wins and some one looses period... and you guys that have no compassion...life deals out its own justice..... great story great way we have ben able to interact with them...... most are 2 paychecks away... from the same spot
By CliffHarrison (Cliff Harrison -
You make some good points about the lack of accomodation by for the "real homeless," and insufficient reporting on homeless people. I have commented before that some SUN REPORTERS (and other news organizations) DO NOT tell the whole story.
Two examples are the COSTCO killing of Erik Scott, and the ST. ROSE Hospital "drill" with an off-duty cop. SOme deeper investigation, and more questions asked, would have resulted in FEWER critical comments from readers.
Omissions in stories seem to be the result of "copy deadlines," or a lack of investigative skills, at times, by would-be ("CUB") reporters - who write short news "summaries" vs. stories. WHY Mr. Greenspun and SUN editors don't catch such "incomplete" stories - my guess is not all stories are not edited.
The result is the SUN's communication of the news is short-changed. And after all the up-front, chit-chat, many stories fail to follow the reporting guidelines of: "who, what, where, when, how, and why."
If Rodger is supposed to be a "new" category of "homeless people" - I think the story fails on this point. I have a few friends who are NOT homeless - yet - but have fallen on hard times, themselves. One of them (a former millionaire), has lost HALF her monthly income (which was not exhorbatant). It was destroyed when the companies where her money was invested went out of business last year. Now, she could become homeless if things get worse.
This is because, even though her home is paid for, she has many bills, taxes, living and medical expenses that must be paid each month. So at 69 years of age - she is thinking of getting a job to supplement her reduced income - BUT WHERE, at 69?. She saved for her retirement, and now, just like millions of others - much of that retirement income is gone, and cannot be replaced. So much for her Golden Years.
But this is just another "face" of the (potentially) "New" homeless. People in financial dilemas - regardless of their income level - can experience life-changing events, and lose their ability to support themselves. Who's next?
Incidently, she tried to get a "bridge-loan" but the BANK TURNED HER DOWN - due to a lack of sufficient annual income! If things get worse, she might have to sell her home and buy a smaller one. Plus, she has to have back surgery in the near future, so she is trying to keep up her medical insurance payments; another drain on her income.
The singular example just illustrates how the "NEW HOMELESS" can come from anywhere. The SUN is (not) writing about that, nor the other homeless people mentioned herein. There are millions of others - with smaller incomes - who have also lost much of what they had. Rodger seems to fit the latter mold. But where does it begin - and end?
Without a broader, more objective view, this story about the "NEW HOMELESS" seems to ring hollow.
If Roger is physically unable to write or type with his own fingers, can he simply sit on the couch and dictate/talk to Lela and let her type the words?
The NEW HOMELESS rings HOLLOW to you, Chuck?
Words fail me...and I'm a writer.
Why are so many people here so cruel? If you don't care to help people in need just shut the hell up.
The first installment of this story disturbed me, so does this current installment.
I have empathy for anyone who has hit hard times, yet I object to this couple being called homeless. Yes, this couple is in a hard situation, yes, it is heartbreaking and many face similar. This is not however a glimpse at homelessness, nor is it a good choice to open the hearts and minds of those who have been blessed by fortune, family, and hard work to never know hardships.
When you are sleeping in your vehicle, you are homeless, when you are sleeping out of a tent, under a bridge out in the open you are homeless. When you are going from shelter to shelter sleeping on concrete floors with only a thin mat under you are homeless. When you are happy to have the privilege of using a group showering facility twice a week you are homeless and grateful for a congealed mess they call oatmeal or canned soup once a day you are homeless. When someone at one of those facilities offers once a week to wash the sole change of clothes you have while you are sleeping and it moves you to tears you are homeless. I have been homeless twice in my life, it is a humbling and life altering experience. The first time in my youth and ignorance, I allowed a relative whose dwelling I was living in to be added to my banking account. That relative emptied my account and when I found out I confronted them. I asked how can I pay the rent, the utilities how can I keep a roof over our heads, when you get paid you need to put the money back. The response was to kick me out on the streets with a two year old. I had no money, I had no access to food, I had no roof over my head, that was homeless. I asked for help, I begged for help I tried to use programs for people in my situation not for me but for my child please understand I was recovering from a serious spinal injury I could not work. Those programs were woefully inadequate. The homeless assistance amounts available for a single woman with one depended was not even enough for the deposit on a studio apartment much less deposit and first months rent. The waiting list to get into a transitional housing program in that area at the time was four and a half years long. I own that I made poor choices that resulted in the situation; I made even more poor choices out of desperation to get my child off the streets and back in a home...even after I had a home again the after-effects were lasting and resulted in a mental breakdown...
The second time I was homeless was a conscious choice. I was living in a volatile and dangerous situation first I took steps to ensured my child was in a safe place. I tried to improve my situation and was making strides then the situation continued to degrade. Rather than remain and not feeling I had anyone or anywhere to turn to for help I grabbed a backpack of clothes and walked out the door. I had lost everything once before and rebuilt I did not care they were just possessions and things. What mattered was my child was safe and that I remain unharmed to raise him. I struggled to change my situation for the better; truthfully, it was qualifying for disability that gave me the opportunity. When I had a breakdown the hospital filed the paper work for me, no one was more shocked than I at being approved. That measly 600+ a month allowed me to find a home, it allowed me to bring my child home and be a parent again. Yet I hated it, I still hate it. For years, I have tried to go through the system to learn new skills and return to the working world always only qualifying for jobs that paid minimum wage or to be told condescendingly oh honey just go home and spend time with your children. Those jobs I did qualify for were ones that my body would not have been able to hold up under for long. I hated it, I wanted to work but at minimum wage; my children would have less not more, for which my then spouse criticized me for being selfish. With the end of our 10-year marriage, I realized I have to take control of my life. I needed a decent vehicle so I sacrificed and found a lot that would finance and work with me. I started with a POS vehicle and faithfully made my payments working my way up into a reliable and decent one. If I needed an education to earn a decent living, so be it, instead of going through rehabilitative programs I realized I could apply directly to colleges. If I want a future off disability in a job where I can support myself, I have to make sacrifices to accomplish it. One of those sacrifices was sending my children to my ex-husband. Much as I do not like it, he can provide better for their needs than I can right now.
I miss them ever day and visits are hardly enough time, but I do not have the recourses yet to relocate. Therefore, I search for work, and yes, I search for cash paying odd jobs. Sometimes this means working and not being paid. I will continue to do so, because every extra dollar is a step closer to paying off my vehicle, and saving money to move where my children are living. I fully own that my choices and my lack of skills created my situation I do not expect others to fix it for me. Instead I try to create opportunities to fix it for myself. Not that I am going a great job but ahh well when learning to walk you fall down quite a few times before you get it right. I am learning I am growing and I refuse to give up.
I have empathy for you Mr. Jacobs, I know what daily pain is like, I know what it is like to be angry and defiant. I know what it is like to have your body fail you. The thing is no one owes us anything. We are blessed to live in a country with programs such as disability where would you and your beloved be without this program? Please read my words and open your mind to see what you do have, what blessings do exist in your life instead of outrage at the opinions, judgments and advice of others. You sir are asking for charity and compassion as if it is your right as if your plight is everyone's concern and problem. The truth is it is not their problem; the truth is many who are working make it on less money than you have. They make sacrifices; share a home with family or friends to save money while working to create lasting solutions. Can you not see how it would be challenging for them in these times to not feel bitter at your complaints when you still have more than they do? Do I think you anticipated this happening? No sir I do not, I think you have always managed somehow and were ill equipped to deal with what has transpired. It is easy to look backwards and think I should have done or could have done differently. It is also a waste of time and energy. Tell me sir have you learned and grown as a person from this hardship? Tell me what do you intend to do differently so you do not end up in this position again? What offends so many sir, is that you are not in as bad of a place as you believe yourself to be in. What offends so many sir is that even with all the kindness you have received you write in a manner that see's only what you do not have and did not get. What offends so many sir it that you write in a manner that says I am a victim pity me, and takes no responsibility for your own choices. Not once have I read that you admit you regret anything. Not once have I read that you in anyway are humbled or grateful. You write sir like the kindness and generosity of others is your right and due you. You write about how a local organization assisted you but asked for anonymity yet you post their name. Why did you post the name of someone/group who wished to remain nameless? Honestly, sir when I read your story I it reads as if someone is seeking attention and hand outs and it reads like someone who has decided to take this journey and profit from it. It does not read like someone falling on hard times seeking to find a way out, you sir write seeking a hand out not a hand up. That you dare write badly of those whose paths you cross that actually are homeless who have even less than you do and show contempt for them infuriates me. When so many have shown you kindness you have none to show others? I hope you sir never have to walk a mile in their shoes, it is not something I would wish on anyone, but I do hope sir you learn humility and gratitude.
Everyone should read Thia's comment, very well written, accurate and moving.
Sun editors, you should print an article on Thia
"You write about how a local organization assisted you but asked for anonymity yet you post their name. Why did you post the name of someone/group who wished to remain nameless?"
*******
Thia, first of all, the gentleman requested that his full name not be used but he did encourage both me and the Sun photographers to use the name of his charitable organization, which is what I did.
As for the rest of your comments -- and many of the other comments that have appeared here in the last two days, remarks that often reinforce the header of this article -- I will simply quote from journalism professor Celeste Fremon, who wrote about this article at her website Witness LA this morning:
"One of the things I found astonishing about the hostile comments is that so many people focused with blind fury on the small personal details of Rodger's dilemma, as if they themselves were entirely foible and error free.
"Many commenters also seemed outraged that he'd had the nerve to write about his troubles at all, as if the writing itself constituted some kind of whining, when actually the narratives were examples of skillful and courageous storytelling, particularly in that Rodger made no attempt to sanitize his predicament, but simply told his story as it was, without literary Photoshopping, so to speak.
"It should also be noted that, by writing his story for the LV Sun, Rodger was behaving proactively. He was using his talents to fashion the scary circumstances he was living through into an income-producing piece of work--which also has the advantage of shining a light on a larger issue.
"These are uneasy times. One in every seven Americans is now living below the poverty line, according to figures released earlier this month. Unemployment rates remain in double digits, with no sign yet of dropping. Kids coming out of college are now routinely doing free internships for extended periods because the paying jobs they assumed would be theirs have vanished.
"So maybe all these angry commenters are ranting to keep their own fears at bay. But to do so, they must convince themselves that Rodger's difficulties are of his own making. That way they can more easily believe the fiction that they could never, ever wind up in a similar predicament.
"It is a form of whistling in the dark."
You may find all of Celeste's thoughts on this series here:
http://witnessla.com/
Wow...it baffles me that folks would be so critical of fellow human beings who are suffering. Vegas is a tough town for sure.
why are you buying bottled water? cant you just keep refilling a water bottle with tap water?
i agree with Carolyn Singer about the need to see criticism as constructive. I hope the main characters of this story don't see criticism and unsolicited advise as 'hostility'.
i might add that hardship is a relative term. I am an immigrant from a really poor country and know what hardship means. And when i say poor, i mean famished poor(check pictures posted at unicef please). I can't believe what we call 'poor' here in america have cellulite(if not grossly obese) and have vices.
buying a carton of cigarettes here costs what would be a month's salary where i came from. A box of bud light would probably cost the same.
i don't smoke and don't drink alcoholic beverages. Heck i don't even drink soda or coffee. When my kids ask for me to buy them candy or junk food, i tell them i can only afford to buy them bananas, apples, and other healthy stuff available at the dollar store. When they ask me to buy them soda, i tell them i can only afford to buy them milk, soymilk, orange juice, apple juice from 'food for less'.
the only junk they ever have is when a friend or relative treats them to mcdonalds or during halloween when they go trick or treat, and even that i have to limit if the intake is unreasonable.
i tell them if ever they want to smoke, drink, or eat junk food, they will have to get a job so they could finance it. And also tell them i hope that they will treat their kids the same way i treated them.
i now earn a hundred grand a year, and could well afford to splurge on a big house, a fancy car, or eat out at denny's if we wanted to, but you know what, we still live in a modest shack(which we paid for in cash, benefiting from the depreciation of real property, thanks to that bandwagon of lavish investors who bought more than they could afford), and walk or bike to the 99c store almost every day and get our cans of pork and beans, sardines, bananas, a couple of chocolate bars for the 'cravings', and a few pounds of rice---and can safely say my kids aren't less happier or less healthier. Sardines and beans actually make more brain cells than anything one could get at denny's. I've been buying them books which could be had for a few cents each over at goodwill. And most, if not all, our furniture were bought there(most of them solid wood and made in usa---and not of fiberboard that was made in china).
for a good time i take them to the library where they could read whatever they want and borrow dvd movies as they please.
sure, a hundred grand year is a lot of money(especially for a previously famished immigrant like me), but like many here have insinuated, complacency is a sure way to bankruptcy.
while all this is unsolicited advice, hopefully not many see it as hostile.
lastly, it is hard to find a job if one smells of cigarette fumes.
most people who want to help you can't afford to give you money, but most people here could at least take some time to help you find ways to earn a living.
"why are you buying bottled water? cant you just keep refilling a water bottle with tap water?"
********
And I suppose, likewise, we could use strips of newspaper instead of bathroom tissue; this sort of nit-picking that is on ample display in these comments contributes absolutely nothing to a meaningful dialogue, it just makes the commenter appear petty and trivial and blind to the larger issue.
So let me get this straight....he hasn't quit smoking, eats dinner at Denny's and buys snacks from a Convenience Store?
Why wouldn't he:
1 - Quit Smoking (save a ton of money in the process)
2 - Eat Top Ramen & Cup o Noodles....Hell, I did that for 5 yrs in college....instead of eating at Denny's.....at $.25 each, you can have 12 meals for a $3 Denny's entree.
3 - Buy snacks at a grocery store, which is 1/2 the price of a Convenience Store.
It doesn't look like he's making good decisions despite his situation.
"lastly, it is hard to find a job if one smells of cigarette fumes"
********
My work is done on a computer at home as it has been for the last 20 years: telecommuting. I hardly think my cigarette fumes waft from Las Vegas to Los Angeles and New York, where most of my clients are.
Furthermore, Tweaky, we have been shopping at Dollar Tree and the 99 Cent Store since we first landed in this sand-blasted furnace. Are you assuming we do not know how to shop or simply using these comments as a venue for patting yourself on the back for your thrift? (By the way, check the labels on those items at the discount stores and you will note that a good many of them are manufactured in China, El Salvador, and Ecuador, even the canned and packaged foods.)
"eats dinner at Denny's and buys snacks from a Convenience Store?"
********
Where did you or anyone else reading this article and commenting obsessively on the visit to a restaurant after a hard day's moving get the impression that we eat at Denny's on a regular basis? Please go back and review the article and tell me where you got this information. You are incorrect, sir, so, no, you did not "get this straight."
And one Nature Valley granola bar twin pack and one bottle of water from the convenience store costs just under $1.50.
I'm glad you could survive on a high-sodium diet of Top Ramen and Cup of Noodles but I am a 51-year old with serious health conditions and on a doctor-ordered low sodium diet. What worked or works for you may not always work for others, a point that several commenters need to understand.
Hey Rodger.....how about reading the caption under the main picture of the story....
"After vacating their house and moving into an extended stay hotel, Lela Michael and Rodger Jacobs head across the street to a Denny's for dinner August 31, 2010."
Doesn't matter how much items cost at a Convenience Store....it's ALWAYS more expensive than a grocery store....I can't even believe you're trying to argue that!
Yes, Ramen & Cup o Noodles may be high in sodium....but I guarantee you I can find low sodium food for cheap at a grocery store....certainly cheaper than a meal at Denny's.....can't you see....in order to make a change, you must change your thinking and actions....instead of arguing with me, open your eyes to change and do it.
I love how you avoided the Smoking point altogether....the $5 for the chair you sold barely covers a pack of smokes.
And how about reading my question:
" ...get the impression that we eat at Denny's on a regular basis?"
I'm not "trying to argue" anything with you; get off the Denny's lunacy. It was a one-time thing, almost four weeks have passed since that photograph was taken. And seeing that we do not have a personal vehicle, when the temps are in the triple digits, you're damn right I'm going to walk one block to the convenience store when I need something instead of one mile to the nearest grocery store. That's simple common sense.
ok...this is not a direct comment towards these two people, but I have to say that I personally know several people that live in Las Vegas that really have no business being there.
One in particular lost her job over a year ago. She has no family there, except for an ex-sister in law who happens to be friend. This person asked if she could stay with my friend for a "month" until she found a job. After two months, my friend had to make her leave because she didn't even look for work while she was there. When she was encouraged to move back to Ohio where she had family, or California where her mother lived, her response, " I don't want to leave Las Vegas."
Either because of her gambling addition, easy access to free booze, or other "issues" she refused to leave even when she had other places to go, because she simply didn't want to leave.
While I have sympathy for people who have no were else to go, I have a hard time with people who refuse to leave because they like living the lifestyle that they obviously can't afford. Previous comments are right on. Many panhandlers take the money that is given to them and put it in a slot machine.
Furthermore, working in the medical field, we offer housing options for the homeless that come into the ER for food and a bed for the night, but they don't want that because they don't want to live in a place that has rules. Usually no drinking, no drugs, and your expected to keep your space clean.
Most people have family and other places they can go, but they choose to stay there. So if you do choose to stay in a place that has no jobs, very little compassion or resources for the homeless, you need to leave. A greyhound bus ticket is very cheap. For those of you who say Vegas has no compassion for the homeless, you need to talk to the people who run the shelters there. They will tell you a much different story.
So many things to take issue with, and only 3000 characters to do it in. I'll save everyone the bandwidth. Rodger doesn't get it and he never will. Those calling the critics cruel don't get it either, and never will. That's just the way it is.
The rest of us who do get it can keep on working hard, being responsible, and making sacrifices; all in the name of a better, more secure tomorrow. We all have adversity to overcome in life and I would venture to say the critics have had more than their fair share. Interestingly it is overcoming those obstacles and succeeding in spite of them that makes the critics so hardened in their resolve towards the angle of the story, and ultimately life itself. They aren't living in denial about how close they are to being in Rodger's shoes. They've already tried them on and decided they didn'fit.
Meanwhile, Rodger can keep on phoning it in like he has for the last 20 years. I don't think very many people really have a problem with any of Rodger's life choices. It's kind of a pay now, or your pay later kind of thing. Rodger has enjoyed a rather leisurely existence for the last couple decades and it's only logical that he's not going to have the same resources later in life that someone who scrimped, saved, and prepared for retirement would. The only thing that's shocking is that it seems to come as a surprise to Rodger.
goodness gracious, Mr. Rodgers, i don't think anybody is patting anybody's back here... in fact, one could easily conclude(as i see it, at least) that the great majority in this forum wants to help you. As for nit-picking, you are absolutely right about the majority here doing just that. Using newspaper for toilet paper is not ok, because newsprint is too stiff and will clog your toilet-- costing you more in the long run. But buying bottled water is a bandwagon anyone cannot afford. Not good for your budget, and neither for the environment. Bottled water profits are in the thousand percent, and not hundreds. I have been drinking lake mead water for years and i doubt if it will subtract years from my finite existence. Besides, where i came from, the tap water is not as palatable as what you natives are shunning here. And i apologize if i have to point it out to you like many others here already done: but smoking really is bad for your health and finances. It is hands-down far worse than drinking tap water. If your girlfriend does not smoke, your smoking will surely debilitate her in a cumulative way and further lessen her chances of giving you and herself a better life. Also, as you've pointed out yourself, writing does not pay much nowadays, so you can't limit yourself in this endeavor, and definitely can't afford to further hinder yourself from trying other employment avenues- which aren't exactly partial to smokers. In other words, we are nit-picking because we want you to save money, and save your health so you can find other forms of employment.
incidentally, there might be some flyers that are thin and soft enough to use as toilet paper. It is possible that in many parts of the world, people are probably using this to economize, and the people there are human beings too-- they are no more special-- and no less special-- than you.
and speaking of flyers, 99 c store offers soymilk, pork and beans, spaghetti o's, and many other foodstuff of real substance that are made and/or grown here in usa.
so if i should pat my back again here, well, i got by on no more than 60$ a month on food from 99c store and many mexican budget grocers when i first landed here, which, even if you think otherwise, is still the only land of opportunity on this planet. Analogous to what sinatra sings about new york, well, if you can't make it here in usa, then you can't make it anywhere. Clearly, some darwinism is still at work here, and we are watching it live at lasvegassun.com. We hope we have reiterated enough for you to take steps in helping yourself. But you don't need to change your DNA or evolve physically to better your person, all you need to to is get rid of all the self-damaging habits. Besides, even you might agree that many more people would reach out to help you if you never showed video of yourself smoking and drinking. At any rate, i hope all this publicity you're getting paves the way for a more lucrative career.
"Rodger has enjoyed a rather leisurely existence for the last couple decades"
********
Please tell us how you come about this bit of speculation, Brian. I do not know you and you are not acquainted with me, so how could you reach such a conclusion? (And in framing your reply, don't forget to bear in mind that for eight years of those "last couple decades" I have lived with chronic pain, as essayed in the article).
And Rodger continues to avoid the tough issues like quitting smoking....instead trying to defend his "1-time" Denny's dinner weeks ago.
Dude, do yourself a favor and take action on things that can improve your life....like QUIT SMOKING....or find a Budget Suites that's close to a grocery store, so you don't have to walk a mile to it. You're only renting week to week....so move to one next week near a grocery store. Simple solution, doesn't cost any money, and will help you live a better life.....or does that make it too difficult to write Part 3 of this story?
Rodger basically does not want to take responsibility for his actions. Quitting smoking will save money, drinking tap water will save money, choosing a location nearer to a grocery store will save money. All I see is a person who just wants attention for his inaction. It's funny that he calls himself 'homeless', but still has a computer and an internet connection. I could say that he went to the local library to use it, but I doubt it.
Rodger, will you please comment on if you were compensated for this article by the Las Vegas Sun? Will you receive compensation for the work on the up coming book? I really doubt that you are in as tough of a situation as you would like us to believe.
Mr. Jacobs
Thank you for clearing up the issue about the gentleman/agency who helped take your remaining belongings to storage. Perhaps in your next installment you will take care to be clearer so you do not mislead by mistake. The way it was written comes across as disregarding the wishes of a generous individual who did you a kindness. In short callous disregard.
I must protest Mr. Jacobs, how unkind of you to attempt to discredit my comments by lumping me in with the blatantly hostile and unfeeling. Yet sir that does not hold water. I have been in your shoes and worse.
In fact, in May I was moving I had planned and budgeted carefully. Yet despite my careful plans things when wrong. Over a year of careful planning undone in that one instant, I was stuck on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere smoke pouring out from under the hood at 2:30 in the morning exactly 59 miles east of Kingman AZ. All my worldly belongings in a 5x8 U-haul tow behind and in my vehicle with me only my dog for company. On top of that, I could not get any cell reception. In the 12 hours I was stuck on the side of the road not one person stopped, did not even slow down. Yet even devastated I held onto the hope there was a way to salvage something from the situation. When I look back on that day yes there is disappointment, yes there is frustration, but what sticks in my mind more is how blessed I was but I am getting ahead of myself.
The best my sister could do at the time would be to come and fetch my dog, a small suitcase and me. I decided to wait until business hours and call my car lot, you see they have worked with me for two years now and they actually care ya I know in Las Vegas surprising isn't it. I knew the manager could give me a good idea of what exactly was wrong and possibly where to have my vehicle towed for repairs, and I had already promised to check in until I made it to my destination. So I left a message on the voicemail and then followed up with a call half an hour after the opened at 10:30 am. Did I forget to mention it was a weekend? Through several phone calls, repeatedly losing my signal a tow truck out of Kingman came to fetch me. The shop in Kingman was beyond unprofessional, by this time I was almost in tears.
"Rodger, will you please comment on if you were compensated for this article by the Las Vegas Sun? Will you receive compensation for the work on the up coming book?"
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"Affirmative" to both questions, though I believe that Celeste Fremon's comments that I posted above ("an income-producing piece of work") and my quote in the article about having a "percentage stake" in the Jack London book should have answered this query.
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"I really doubt that you are in as tough of a situation as you would like us to believe."
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What can I say? You're right, you busted me. I actually have a sizeable portion of cash and bonds in an offshore bank account but I have a sociopathic urge to con Pulitzer Prize-winning newspapers into publishing stories about myself that are outright prevarications. I'm also a silent majority holder in Denny's stock (I even gave them the idea for the "build your own omlette" schtick -- it's doing quite well, from what they tell me).
Throughout all of this, the manager of the car lot kept calling and checking in on how things were progressing. He tried talking to the shop in Kingman, to no avail they would not give me a diagnosis, an estimate, or anything and were extremely condescending. At this point you are say well sounds about right big deal it is what happened next that changes things. They (my car lot) sent a tow truck from Las Vegas to Kingman, AZ to get my vehicle, the U-haul, my dog, and me. Was I charged for the tow truck yes, but it was a nominal amount. I do not know what the charge normally would be. They asked that I pay $350, the other tow company charged almost that much for only 59 miles. He went out of his way to help me, called and checked on me several times until he knew I was safely back in Las Vegas and with my sister which was not until around 9 pm. Mind you, the business closes no later than 2 pm on Saturdays. I stated in an earlier post I have a reliable vehicle (present tense not past) that is because even knowing I had no way to come up with the money upfront they fixed my vehicle (a complete engine rebuild). That day I lost a job, I lost a hard worked for opportunity to move near my children and it pains me more than I can express. However do you know what sticks with me, it is how blessed I was. I owe my sister over $1600 dollars, I have no clue where I will be living at the end of this year and how I will keep a roof over my head, but I am fortunate things could be much worse. I count my blessings, and despite all of the progress I lost that day, despite being deeper in debt look at all I gained. In a city, know for using, discarding people in a city with so much haltered, and callousness. In a society such as ours has become this was a beautiful act of compassion and kindness. Do not try to discredit my comments as though I am simply picking on you hoping I will not be you. Without my sister, I would have ended up homeless, without the manager of this company I would be without my few possessions and without a vehicle; I take such pride in having financed on my own. Should I fail in the next few months I will not have the luxury of a budget suites and yes even with my best efforts I may very well fail. I get discouraged, I get depressed, and no, I did not plan for this. My choices put me in this situation. I committed resources and spent money counting on move and a job that did not happen. I am not complaining, no sir I am grateful for what has been done for me, I am grateful for today and a roof over my head. I am actually glad they charged me something to come fetch me, for I would not sleep well otherwise.
Sure, I was and am a good customer I pay my payments on time or early. Sure, this man calls me his friend (save the jokes about used car salesman and the crude comments please), but I have never spoken to him off the car lot. Our families do not socialize, we do not belong to the same religious group, or clubs and we are not neighbors. I Mr. Jacobs choose to focus on my blessings, I do not ignore the challenges in life. I have many I am facing right now, and trying hard to find solutions.
This is the fundamental difference between us, you see my first posts as criticizing and yelling when what I was doing was quietly calmly sharing my experience and trying to show you where others point of view was coming from. What you fail to realize is in the morning and through the next day, many will take to shred my words and my choices apart. They will question my character, complain about how I am a drain on the system and lazy. The thing is sir it is a fallacy to claim you are homeless, and it is wrong to focus on the criticism instead of those who have helped you. It screams entitlement and victim, your writings and your outrage only seek to entrench the hard hearted who walk away believing you are the example of those facing homelessness. Many of those facing homelessness are working class families, and the elderly who have lost their jobs, and retirements. If the goal of this series was to sway the public and open their minds and hearts someone on disability should not have been the focus, people are angry and fed up. People are tired of entitlement attitudes, and they are tired of social programs.
Thia, in the article I clearly stated that the gentleman, not the organization, requested anonymity. I cannot help it if you concluded otherwise so please drop the refrain of "callous disregard." It sounds like you've had a rough hand dealt to you too. I wish you the best. Sincerely.
"People are tired of entitlement attitudes, and they are tired of social programs"
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Well then, by gosh and by golly, just opt out of the social programs and do not pay into Social Security, as I and millions of others have done through paycheck deductions for many, many years; SSD is simply giving me back what I paid into for several decades; without SSD and Medicare I would not be able to afford the approximately $1500 a month in prescription costs and doctor co-pays that my "social program" pays for (and that's after my $100 a month deductible.)
What, Thia, would you suggest that I do if I did not have this assistance, apparently, from your words, born of an "entitlement attitude"? (Tell the truth -- you've been going to Sharron Angle rallies, haven't you? Do you think we should privatize the Veterans Administration too?)
To: Roger, whenever I come to Vegas I usually stay at the Comfort Suites out on Rancho. I grew up not very far from there, during the sixties and early seventies, escaping Vegas, as so many that grow up there cannot, in 1977. I've been back in the last year to see after my sick and ailing parents; my father passed and my mother is in a nursing home down on E Cheyenne in NLV. I may be down in this next month or so to check on my mother, she has Alzheimers. If I make it down before you and Lela leave, I'd like to meet you just to say Hi! as I have really enjoyed your articles. They resonate with me, I've been there. Keep writing your excellant stuff, I 'll be looking for it in the Sun.
Sorry to to hear about your mother, bullmoose, and my sincere condolences on your father -- as you may recall from the first part of the series, it was my mother's terminal illness that brought us to Las Vegas in the first place.
Mr.Jacobs
My life to use and old phrase "Is better than some and worse than others." There are many who are worse off than I am, and well I know it.
I do not measure my life by the rough hands dealt, but thank you for your wishes. I measure my life by the laughter, the joy, and the blessings I find not inspite of the challenges but mixed in with them.
I wish you and your partner well Mr. Jacobs, may you return to California soon.
I am done trying to open your eyes to a different point of view. I have tried and perhaps now I can sleep peacefully.
Be well all I will leave a thought for you.
You cannot tell someone something they are not ready to hear.
This man rodger makes me sick to my stomach. He still is just looking for handouts, that is why he reads these comments instead of looking for work. Keep drinking your beer and smoking your cigs rodg, especially in your non smoking room, lol. Lazy Lazy Lazy loser. Your just going back to cali because you can't find anyone in vegas to take care of you and pay for your cigs and beer. You piss me off so much I want to reach through the computer screen and smack you. I would respect you if you even worked part time at walmart or something but instead you have your coupons on your fridge for little italy. You scum, keep working on your fake crying also by the way you piece of garbage.
Hi Rodger, with regard to my assumption that you've led a rather leisurely existence as a telecommuting freelance writer for the last 20 years ; I'll try to put it as clearly as I can, but I don't know that you'll grasp it.
Some people live life in pursuit of their passions, others live governed by prescribed notions of duty and responsibility. They certainly both have their merits. I've personally try to balance the two.
My assumption about you is based on the fact that I don't think you know what it's like to drag yourself to a job you hate so much it makes you sick, that is completely unfulfilling, raises your blood pressure the second you walk in the door, and genuinely makes you miserable for an average of 70 hours a week. The time you aren't there is consumed by the dread that comes with knowing you'll do it all over again tomorrow. Some people do that for the better part of their lives. Fortunately I just did it long enough to achieve some measure of financial security. Not all jobs like that pay well and to be fair, not everyone would hate it as much as I did. The point is, to me, it was hell, but it was a means to an end.
How does a career in freelance writing compare? Being an artist, a writer, an actor etc is the ultimate throw of the dice occupationally. Sure, some people are fabulously successful, but many more ultimately give it up when confronted with the harsh reality of trying to pay the rent, much less set aside something for the future. It's right up there with kids wanting to be video game designers. The ideal solution would have been to be a part time writer, full time living wage earner. If at any point you managed to make enough writing to both live and save then it's a viable full time occupation. That appears not to have been the case. That is unless you had your fortune wiped out via a series of nasty divorces in community property states.
The bottom line, is writing is not quite like printing money. You have to hope there's a demand for what you write; whereas a guy who digs 30 feet of ditch can reasonably expect to be compensated accordingly. Which do you see as a better plan for retirement: the potential of writing something that captures the reading public's imagination and wallets or digging 300,000 feet of ditch?
You may render any judgements you prefer against me, Ron, but mocking my grief over my mother's passing -- a genuine and spontaneous moment caught on camera by Ms. Euphrat -- is inhumane and cruel; have your little LOL moment there, pal, but I wouldn't desire to be anywhere near your vicinity when fate and karma deals you a payback.
"I don't think you know what it's like to drag yourself to a job you hate so much it makes you sick, that is completely unfulfilling, raises your blood pressure the second you walk in the door, and genuinely makes you miserable for an average of 70 hours a week. The time you aren't there is consumed by the dread that comes with knowing you'll do it all over again tomorrow."
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Sounds like catalog advertising copywriting, which I did for four years, Ron, absolute repetitive drudge work, though it paid well ... but a divorce (cited in the comments in part one of the story) wiped out my savings.
"I would respect you if you even worked part time at walmart or something ..."
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No, instead I was invited to write two articles for the LV Sun this month, which I would wager paid a tad more than a Wal Mart greeter but since, in Brian's words above, that's not "a job you hate so much it makes you sick" then I guess it doesn't count, right?
Congratulations on your writing assignments for the Sun. I hope you get more. As one who had made a living off of one time short term jobs, and contract work since a layoff nearly 2 years ago, I know that any work is good work, and a small check is better than none. I have managed to find something most of the time, and ebay fills in the days off. (40 years of collecting "stuff", I can part with some). I've even considered writing an article or two (on subjects that I have a lot of knowledge or experience) just to see what happens. We're all surving out here right now. Good luck.
Rodger - Why do you continue to Dodge the SMOKING issue? It's funny how you respond to everything else except this......$5 a pack can go a long way. How much of your Social Security check goes to this filthy habit? Does your girlfriend smoke too? Chances are she does. As a former smoker, I know how hard it is to give up....but if I was facing HOMELESSNESS like you are, it would have been 1000x easier to quit. Give it up dude....your "smokescreens" aren't working.
Rodger is a writer. Proof. He wrote two foolish articles about his "woe is me plight" for The Las Vegas Sun newspaper. Since Rodger is able to perform in his chosen profession, can someone please tell me why he is collecting disability payments?????
"Since Rodger is able to perform in his chosen profession, can someone please tell me why he is collecting disability payments?????"
Because he can, plain and simple. Here's the best part. Rodger isn't a great writer. Rather than relay on keen observations, thoughtful insights, or passion; he writes like so many do, with a thesaurus up his backside. Here's a hint. Taking 14 works to say something you could have said just as well in 5 gives you more room to focus on content and connecting the dots that take the reader on your journey. Throwing around words that only a small percentage of the reading public can define, much less use, does not make you a good writer.
The irony here is that Rodger has probably found a new angle for his career. Write badly saying things that will bother people enough to read his stuff. It's done all the time. The difference is that Rodger honestly thought this was a touching piece and window in to the life of an unfortunate soul. There's no way he has enough talent to recreate the phenomenon intentionally. Unaware of this, he will consider these two articles a smashing success. I can just see his next pitch, "I'm a controversial writer who appeals to both sides of the issue. Why look at all the comments I inspired on the Sun's forum with a small article. Just imagine what I could do with a larger piece."
Caring for the protagonist is an important part of any story. In this case the writer failed miserably. Also. The angry, sarcastic rebuttals did not help his cause either.
let the guy be. damn, what a pile on.
bam1969
No doubt, we should let the guy be attempts have been made to help, attempts have been made to offer suggestions.
Here is the problem for many, his own responses.
Here is my problem he writes in a sensationalized manner that takes away from the plight of others while claiming to do the opposite.
He attacks anyone who has solutions and is unwilling to compromise.
I know people who are facing homelessness not just here in Las Vegas. I have a friend in NorCal. For almost a year, she has slept on her mother-in-laws floor (no air mattress as there is no room for one). In that small 3 bedroom home are 4 generations of a family 5 if you count her son who is there part-time. Her body is failing her most days she cannot feel her legs, she cannot feel to have a bowl movement and still she is trying. Her husband is signed up for every temporary agency in the area; he hunts for jobs taking whatever is offered. They cannot relocate for better opportunities without leaving behind her child. They are the new facing homeless.
Stories such as theirs would better serve to educate and enlighten the public.
This man uses rhetoric and woe is I, while he says my life is hard, he uses classic stereotypical sensationalistic garbage to describe those less fortunate than him. This man demands compassion, empathy, respect and unaccountability yet gives none.
Yes, I am done talking to him. As a professional writer, he fails miserably at a persuasive piece. As a professional writer he should well know better. Shoot pay me (or any college student) to edit and re-write this propaganda just for comparison and you will see a drastic difference.
The Las Vegas Sun either screwed up by picking this guy to be the face and voice of the "New Homeless" or the whole thing is a hoax to cause public debate and outrage.
If his story is real, I hope he leaves town as soon as possible.
If a hoax. Great job Sun for the spirited debate.
Rodger,
Why don't you address the issue of cigarette smoking? It is an expensive habit that could save you a lot of money.
A few notes.
To those inquiring about Rodger's smoking, it was discussed at his monthly doctor's appointment last week and what to do about it is between Rodger and his doctor.
The debate as to whether residents of hotels are "homeless or not" is not new; it is unfortunate to see not much progress has been made within that debate.
Thank you to those readers who understand that a freelance writer is an independent contractor, and that independent contractors in the creative arts have been hit very hard by the current recession.
Rodger's temper and occasionally grouchy remarks here are not born of arrogance. One of the first things a writer hears from early on is "Don't be a writer." Next comes "Why aren't you famous yet," followed by "Your writing isn't really that great." Some writers cave in to such remarks, others fight back.
Lela,
Actually in my opinion, Rodger opened the "door" on the issue of smoking. We are not concerned about his private discussions between him and his doctor, we are commenting on an expensive habit that takes deep bites into finances. And since Rodger is claiming "woe is me" about his down turn in luck, it is amazing he can literally burn money on cigarettes.
Lela - As Rodger pointed out in his article.....he sold a chair for $5....barely enough to buy a pack of smokes....yet, he tries to make it seem like he's doing everything possible to stave off homelessness....NO HE ISN'T! Since when does smoking cigarettes trump saving money to eat, sleep, move, clean up yourself, or find transportation??? It's that kind of thinking that got him in that situation to begin with!
Okay, guys. Rodger started smoking when he was a teen. I wish he hadn't, but he did. Smokers who have been addicted for that length of time (30+ years) are at risk for a heart attack if they stop. The fact that Rodger discussed it with his doctor, and that they are formulating a plan based on his overall health and safety is enough for me, which is why I say, that is between him and his doctor.
He is not in dire financial straits because of smoking. It is because of the recession. There may be other people who are also having a hard time, some perhaps suffering even more than Rodger, but that doesn't erase the fact that as a writer he is hurting.
Rodger is a writer of literary fiction. His "day job" is freelance journalism, book reviews, and the like. Independent contract opportunities for anyone in the creative arts has dried up and those people are frightened, some are angry.
"Get a job," "learn to budget correctly," and "stop writing" do not solve the problem; in fact, those comments exacerbate his frustration. He wants to keep writing and sometimes fears he cannot, it's that simple and that complicated.
"Since Rodger is able to perform in his chosen profession, can someone please tell me why he is collecting disability payments?????"
Yes, it's amazing how Roger receives disability payments, yet works as a writer (making more than a Walmart employee) and posts replies here online despite his "chronic pain" which supposedly prevents him from working as a writer.
Someone should inform Social Security that Roger has healed enough to go earn a living.
It's unfortunate that the real homeless victims and truly disabled are marginalized by articles that inaccurately portray such non-working people as Roger & Lela as victims of anything.
Lela - I'd like to become an actor.....or hell, be a philosopher.....but guess what? I'm not going to make any MONEY doing any of those things. I gave up dreams of ridiculous professions that will never pay me more than a few dollars here and there because the reality of living in this world....right now, is that you have to be able to support yourself.
Time to give up the writing, the freelance journalism and find a freakin' job! He's not a 22 yr old college grad, he's 51 yrs old! Time to move on and be responsible don't you think?! I was in diapers when he graduated college....assuming he went to college. He's been screwing around chasing this dream for most of the time I've been alive.....instead of building a career and finding a job that would have kept him out of this type of situation.
"He is not in dire financial straits because of smoking. It is because of the recession."
Not to be snippet, but it sounds like Rodger is blaming George W. Bush!! Making choices and living within a budget is a responsibility everyone has. If he can afford packs of $5.00 plus cigarettes on a regular basis, then he has no room to comment on being in "dire financial straits". Again it the question is being begged to be asked: is Rodger clueless and unable to be responsible for himself, or is he truly an arrogant grifter??
Actually just read thru the many posts here. What is most amazing is how Lela always defends Roger. She is right under his thumb and she doesn't even see it or want to believe it. Roger is a very negative person who only brings you down. Why you wouldn't try to find a job yourself is probably the saddest thing of all. To hang out with this guy 24 hours a day would be painful and depressing.
To all and Lela
I cannot say anything about the smoking since I smoke. I will also be the first to say that my cigarette addiction is not a habit I am addicted. If I have to choose food or cigarettes, I will go without eating.
If I have to choose paying my bills or buying cigarettes I pay my bills and ration myself seeking any reasonable way to earn some extra money so I can smoke.
I cannot say anything about bottled water I drink bottled water. That I drink bottled water because I have to due to health reasons holds little sway with most because I smoke. It is also a valid point, since smoking harms my health.
I do understand being in chronic pain every frigging moment of everyday. I have been in chronic sometimes mind numbing pain for close to 17 years. Yet in searching for work I have applied for jobs delivering fliers door to door, I have applied for jobs washing dishes, cleaning houses. If I am in pain, doing a job so what if it will help me out of a mess I created banking on a situation that fell through that is all that matters. What Rodger and Lela do not comprehend is how privileged their existence has been, and how it is not everyone else's problem. They do not hear there were possible actions they might have taken to avoid this learning so it will hopefully not be repeated.
(continued)
The truth is this, you all open your life/choices to the public asking for understanding and the kindness of strangers like it or not you all contributed to creating the situation. When you do this you do not get to demand what help they will give.
In my area alone (granted I live in a nice area thanks to my sister) there is a place that rents studio's partially furnished for $600 a month. They do short term leases as little as 3 months, with $900 a month seeing this coming you could have broken your lease and chose such a situation.
It would have been hard, it would have been an adjustment but you all could have possibly held on until things got better. I know I have seen places cheaper not good neighborhoods but sometimes you make sacrifices to get by.
That you and Rodger give no indication such an option was considered is what enrages many. Those angered often have had to make those sacrifices and do not have disability to ease the drying up of job opportunities. Many people work in constant pain. What we read shows the attempts made were to find writing gigs but not to downsize or plan for what if jobs do not come in time.
I am very sorry if it offends but writing these installments, asking for charity, and moving to a by the week motel does not count as a contingency plan.
I did not share parts of my life or my situation to pat myself on the back or get sympathy. I was seeking to explain in a manner Rodger might possibly be able to hear why there are so many angry responses.
I am sorry it was in vain I do not think any lessons were learned by anyone from Rodger and Lela's situation.
I think it only served to further inflame the very real issue of homelessness and those on the brink of homelessness.
"They do short term leases as little as 3 months .."
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We do not plan on being in Las Vegas for another three months (that point is in the article) so what would have been the sense of locking ourselves into another lease, even a short term lease?
Rodger
Yes right now you do not plan to stay in Las Vegas another three months but what about six months ago, what about a year ago? I said you could have broken your lease and averted this. I did not say get a studio now.
When I moved to Las Vegas, it was after I had cleaned up the financial mess left to me to resolve on my own from my marriage. I believe his words were "You are the one who wanted a divorce why should I care about what was our debits." I was a passive person, I caved to pressure by him for instant gratification and we were deeply in debt to several payday loan companies on a join checking account. I paid off all of them while struggling to feed clothe and shelter our children, he just walked away leaving me to cope while he sulked and pouted. I struggled living in conditions with children worse than a pay by the week motel, finding homes for the horses and other pets save the one a dog I have managed to keep. The problem with living in places like that in a rural area is no one wants to rent to you afterwards. You are forever labeled trash, and addict even if you have only fallen on hard times. When after more than a year of trying hard to make changes on my own and seeing that it was not going to get better, I made a choice I made sacrifices. I came here where I had family, not having all of the burdens of a providing a home on my shoulders alone I could afford a decent neighborhood. It eases the financial burden for both my sister and I. When she moves I will be on my own and since I see it coming I am doing my best to find solutions now, not in a few months. So once again, had you allowed yourself to plan for what might go wrong you could have made choices and sacrifices to avoid this situation. Or are you trying to say that work dried up over night? I am not foolish freelance work is on again off again in the best of times sir. It is not unlike seasonal truck driving up north, there are periods of no work you plan accordingly and live modestly.
It's difficult to fault Rodger for defending himself when ppl misread what was said in the story, or introduce things that weren't in the story in order to support a position they have taken. I know how frustrating it is to me when someone does that in a conversation.
What is interesting is the attitude ppl have toward disability or the level on has to sink to in order to be worthy of assistance.
A lot of the posts seem to say more about American society than the printed word. It is quite simple, this country wants you as long as you are young, healthy, and able to work at the expected level of productivity. If not, please stay out of public view.
The way ppl attack his disability leads me to believe they are younger, healthier individuals. The odds are their attitudes will change as they grow older or when their body starts to give out on them.
It just doesn't make sense that someone has to get down to the point where they have gone through all their assets and are damn near totally destitute before they are deemed worthy of assistance (if then). If you don't have certain assets it is lot harder to get back up.
Maybe some one knows someone who has taken actions in life because they had a deal with someone, say for a job that was to start Monday or the first of next month, and then their fellow American decided to go with something better that had come along. Then the person, through no fault of their own, was screwed (in a big way).
It's pretty clear that not every little consideration is in the article. Certainly their were other considerations along the way. A lot of the ppl on the attack come off to me as nothing more than petty flamers.
Good luck Roger and Lela, I hear the weather in southern California is wonderful this time of year.
"Yes right now you do not plan to stay in Las Vegas another three months but what about six months ago, what about a year ago?"
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What about six months or a year ago? Things were not that bad six months to a year ago. Before you lend any more long-winded advice, Thia, I would strongly advise you to go back and read both articles again. Carefully. You are reading things between the lines that simply are not there and you are averting what content is in both articles. Case in point ...
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"I said you could have broken your lease and averted this." (Thia)
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Clearly you missed this, the eleventh graph into part one of the story:
"This month we called for a mediation session with the property management company, through the Clark County Neighborhood Justice Center, to discuss the fact that we believed we were in over our heads with the additional costs of leasing the house in Aliante and to suggest a renegotiation or outright cancellation of the lease."
Enough, Thia, if you cannot discuss our situation based on what was written, then do not bother at all; you sound foolish when you are offering advice without a sound knowledge of the circumstances that can be rendered from reading the articles. Stick to the facts, please, not to what you imagine we did or did not do. Okay?
The same advice applies to all other commenters from here on out: stick to the points raised in the article and stop going off text. There are almost 6,000 words for you to digest and comment on, all else is supposition; when you start arguing about issues that are not in the articles, speculating about what mistakes you think we may have made, criticizing my work as a writer and suggesting that I've not been a contributing member to society because -- God forbid -- I actually enjoy my work when I can get it, then you are going off-topic and violating the Sun's Terms of Use. Stick to what has been written; if you have a question, ask. Do not speculate.
I still am curious as to why you continue to smoke. It is an expensive habit to have.
ROFL you cannot have it both ways Rodger. I have read both of your articles, I have also read all of your blog responses as a point of fact I read them aloud. Though both from a literary sense are well written, they are in my opinion also bit elitist in vocabulary and phrasing for a newspaper article. To us common folk it comes across as pretentious and entitled I am sure we cannot help ourselves. You are after all the professional writer what do we know, being your intended audience.
Who are you to tell me or anyone else to stick to the facts of your printed article when you spew such negative nastiness in your post on the blog accompanying your article?
Yes, it is that as well we weigh your character, your situation and your actions by. Sir you are defensive, angry, and frustrated, yes, some have blatantly attacked you without provocation however, you chose this venue, you chose to respond in the blogs. You chose to egg people on "defending yourself". From your blog responses I can see easily why you are on disability, you should be sir. I can understand why your afflictions prevent you from holding down meaningful and consistent employment. I would not work for you, I would not work with you, if I lived next door to you I would move were it impossible to avoid you. Good day sir, I wish you the best, I hope you can return to California soon.
"Though both from a literary sense are well written, they are in my opinion also bit elitist in vocabulary and phrasing for a newspaper article."
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Please explain your use of the noun elitist. Did I employ a phrase or make a literary allusion that you did not understand? That's not elitism.
And if you read both articles, Thia, why did you accuse me of not doing something that I clearly did (attempt to negotiate a termination of the lease)? You are choosing to bow out and sidestep your own errors now.
For me your 'elitism' comes down to an arrogant tone that conveys the idea that you are automatically entitled to sympathy.Your article is filled with anger, and instead of helping the reader see your world, all you do is pronounce that the world some how decided to pick on you one day. Not too mention you are pretty sensitive to any form of criticism. I guess that is what "writers" do these days.
Go back into the article and find quotes to support your thesis. I'm not sensitive to criticism in the least; I'm sensitive to unsubstantiated arguments; those are the rules of engagement for any debate.
"suggesting that I've not been a contributing member to society" ??
Mr. Jacobs, not many people in this forum expect someone like you to contribute anything to society.
Forget about us, ok? Most of us writing these messages care for your well-being, and care not about what you plan to contribute. If there's one contribution most of us here will regard you for, it is when you start to contribute or invest in your own person first.
believe me, this forum is all about you, and most specifically-- helping you help yourself(as well as stop you from debilitating yourself further).
I think you have shown your sensitivity to criticism throughout these comments.
I will say a toast to you on Oct 15 when you leave LV for California. Have a cigarette, or two, for me if you decide to write Part 3 about the virtues of living amongst the liberal elite in California.
Adios!!
Oh, forgot to mention. If California is not left enough for you, I am sure you will be welcomed in Venezuela.
"Oh, forgot to mention. If California is not left enough for you, I am sure you will be welcomed in Venezuela."
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Finally, we get down to what's really at the heart of the matter ... politique.
Oh please. The 'they are picking one me' attitude is wearing thin.
Le contraire, mon ami ...
Mr. Jacobs
Once again you are mistaken I did not accuse you, I inquired and am I giving up not in the sense you mean. I recognize you are not well, I recognize nothing I write will be taken as it is intended. You will take bits and pieces you can rage against and disregard the heart and meaning. This being the case it is pointless to feed your tirades.
As for answering your question (thank you Area 51) it was answered perfectly for me. Thank you as well tweaky your words sum up my feelings and intent in posting here well as I am sure it true of so many who have posted.
On a personal note
B.M. I am sorry that I was not clearer in my words when my life was a mess.
I now understand your reactions (but shoot the bookcase grrr I loved that bookcase I am never forgetting or forgiving the bookcase LOL).
I now understand why you thought my words and anguish meant something other than what they did.
I now understand just why things blew up that day.
I am grateful to call you friend and glad we could make peace and move forward.
Not much for an amended apology but sugar, it is a public one.
Hugs and thank you my adopted big brother.
The article has been a sham from the beginning. Calling it "The New Homeless" is absolutely absurd. It should have been titled "An Underachiever's Guide to Downsizing " or perhaps "How to Elicit Sympathy and Financial Support from Naive and Well Intentioned People." Better yet, how bout "A Practical Guide to Maximizing Your Lifestyle While Minimizing Your Effort" maybe even "Manipulating the System for Fun and Profit"
In no way is this a personal attack for you heavy handed moderators. As reflected by the comments here those are very real interpretations of the article by readers.
Even if Rodger and Lela choose to watch TV all day instead of using their skills and abilities to supplement the $900 a month they receive from the rest of us it's extremely easy for two people to survive on that. My shipping clerk rents an apartment for $500 a month including utilities. A decent room for rent can be had for perhaps $300 a month. That leaves plenty of money left for food and basic essentials.
It just dawned on me, "The New HOMELESS" must mean those who live anywhere but a conventional single family house. Oh the horror of having to live in a multi-family dwelling or worse yet, share communal space with non-relatives. It's an epidemic I tell you. The very fabric of our society is crumbling before our eyes. Worse yet, by this standard I was "Homeless" for much of my childhood and didn't even know it. I can only assume I was in deep denial for thinking I enjoyed it.
"Even if Rodger and Lela choose to watch TV all day"
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Where did you get this idea? From Katharine's video? The time lapse photography that you see in one excerpt of her excellent video took place over four days; you might also note the amount of time spent in front of the computer at the desk in the kitchenette area of the room.
Now, how do you define a "very real interpretation"?
One more thing, Brian: your "underachiever" epithet baffles me. If I am an underachiever how is it that I have an original essay, "Running with the Wolves" (1999) in the permanent online collection of Jack London Studies at Sonoma State University, sanctioned by the late author's estate?
http://london.sonoma.edu/Essays/redbeard...
How many underachievers have written and produced two feature documentaries ("Guns of the Civil War", "World War II: Breadlines to Boomtimes") for sale in the Smithsonian Institution Book Store in Washington, D.C.?
And how many slackers out there had their first website (8763 Wonderland) selected for inclusion on the syllabus of a University of Maryland literature course titled "Literature in a Wired World"?
I may be many things but an underachiever sure as hell isn't an epithet that fits.
Rodger, I have been reading your blogs and the blogs of your friends that you mentioned on here. You and other writers from LA speak ill of Las Vegas, yet years ago you railed against how uncaring LA is when you were evicted from there.
It is also clear from reading your blogs that your financial woes started well before the recession, and you always struggled with paying for your drinking and smoking habits despite finances and doctor's advice to the contrary.
According to your blogs the only time you didn't live in a weekly motel type situation since 2003 was in Las Vegas. You've begged for money over a dozen times, while ordering that there be "no 'get thee to a soup kitchen' styled postings in the comments section this time."
You ask for compassion, yet in this piece mock the homeless who beg for cigarettes. I am sure you will call me a "hater" or hostile. I am neither.
"It is also clear from reading your blogs that your financial woes started well before the recession"
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Indeed they did, Stephanie, in fact I chronicled the downfall of the freelance market in a May 2009 feature-length essay for Pop Matters titled "Depression 2.0: Sunday in Kerouac Alley":
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/9376...
The point you may have missed is that although I have experienced some bumps in the road over the last several years, this time the car almost went off the cliff; indeed, had it not been for my trade talents -- writing these articles for the Sun and the positive response they elicited -- this story would have had quite a different ending; but instead of congratulating me for using my vocational skills to prevent a crash, so many have chosen to excoriate me instead. That's logic that only the denizens of Lewis Carroll's Wonderland could understand.
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"According to your blogs the only time you didn't live in a weekly motel type situation since 2003 was in Las Vegas." (Stephanie)
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Not true, read more closely; for six years after my divorce I resided at the J.P. Allen Extended Stay Suites Days Inn in Glendale, California, quite different from, say, the Budget Suites or Siegel Suites here in Vegas; it was a monthly rental and quite a comfortable place to call home (except for the lack of a dishwasher).
In 2007 Lela and I lived in a weekly rental in North Beach, San Francisco, but, again, circumstances that you did not take into consideration in your casual perusal of my blogs --I was working through a situation wherein SSD had accidentally cut off my benefits and a weekly was what we could afford until the red tape-laden procedure to restore the benefits was concluded.
(By the way, I worked as a doorman at Vesuvio in S.F. for six months while waiting for my benefits to be reinstated, a job that hastened the onset of my psoriatic arthritis from standing in the night chill for six hours, four nights a week -- so much for those who say I don't know how to find non-writing work when I'm destitute).
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"You ask for compassion, yet in this piece mock the homeless who beg for cigarettes" (Stephanie)
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Do you know what immersion journalism is, Stephanie? That's what my first two articles are, a striving to accurately recreate circumstance and environment, even dialogue.
When I encounter that man who practically lives at the RTC stop near the corner of Smoke Ranch and Rancho every day, he utters those exact words to me: "Hey, cuz, gimme a cigarette .. c'mon, I know you got one, man." Those are his words, Stephanie. I am not mocking him. I am recording his words. Or would you rather I unrealistically sanitize it so he says, "Excuse me, dear chap, might I borrow a cigarette from your person? So sorry but I seem to have waylaid my own package somewhere."
Thanks for commenting.
Hello there, Roger, the last couple of times I stayed at the Budget Suites on Rancho, I was always being hit on for a smoke. I didn't mind the sharing, because I know how broke these folks were that they couldn't afford a pack of cigs. And if they had a pack, it was what I call horse-turd cigs, you know GPCs or something similar. In the area of the complex we were in, quite often people would try to give me a quarter for the Marlboro I would share. They still had pride in themselves, I think. My one sister, Carole, that died of a stroke this past April at the age of 53 had descended down to the level of scrounging her smokes from the cig butts she would find in peoples ashtrays and yards around where she lived. She once offered me one of her 'used smokes'that she kept in a Marlboro hardpack. It was a shock to me. I went out and bought her a carton; she was back to her used smokes in three days. She was a generous soul that would share with her pals.See ya.
Rodger, I'm afraid that I didn't have time to peruse your blogs. You've written so much over the past five years that I really only had the chance to skim through most of your entries and not devote the time for a careful and complete reading that a perusal would require. I will not post anymore quotes from your blog, as it is apparently against the Sun's policy.
I understand that you were trying to preserve the original dialect with the use of the apocope "cuz" and the contraction "c'mon." However, this is not what I felt was mocking or condescending. Rather it was the phrase "the insolence of the street beggars". How are they insolent? Because they dare beg strangers for an addictive, unnecessary and harmful substance when they are unable to provide themselves without the basic necessities of life?
Simple, Steph, "gimme" or "give me" is insolent and demanding, in my opinion.
I understand. Best of luck to you, and I look forward to reading more of your writings on Jack London.
Here's an idea... When you are at your nce cushy job for life, because it seems so many here are blessed with a gaurenteed career and household budget... What would you say to working next to a guy like Roger?? I mean having him with you doing the job you are doing 9-5?? Warts and all.
I'm betting you would not like it and want your boss to get him out the door ASAP.. But yet, you want him to be hired by somebody else, just not your place of employment...
Lovely....
Denny's $4.99 grand Slam for dinner.. a reward to be finally moved from a house to a rat trap... Yup, that's living high on the hog. I guess maybe the SteakHouse at Bellagio must have been full...
Give them a break folks, You would do the exact same thing when you get in this position.