10.01.2012 - Entry #10: Homes & Houses in the Neighborhood

Not all homeless are houseless and vice versa. Going back to the Riverwalk, I noticed quite a few, stereotypical houseless people. Scruffy and somewhat intimidating, they wondered the streets at every intersection, going up to drivers and usually asking for money but sometimes just outright asking for food or beer. Oftentimes, these people are ignored by society at large and so they remain, problem people isolated away from the rest of us. And yet, not all people living in the streets find this disconnect with society- many of are still involved with their community, perhaps even more so than those with a practical dwelling, for they're forced to physically live in their community- to expose themselves to all the elements of Reno. Elements ranging from the rapidly cooling weather to the seedy, corrupt underbelly that exposes itself every night on 4th Street. These houseless are not homeless- they still strive to make a home despite whatever circumstances may have landed them in their current situation today. The homeless may vary; many houseless are indeed homeless, but many more homeless have a place to live, eat, and sleep comfortably. However, they use their dwelling to seclude themselves from the community at large. Leaving only for school or work and never talking to anyone else unless absolutely necessary, they return back to their quarters and immerse themselves within a world that exists only in the walls of their two bedroom, one bathroom apartment. They make no effort to connect with few other human beings and are not bounded to their physically surroundings at all- if appropriate, they will leave to another place, so long as they have their necessities (food, water, electricity) and as such, have no attachments to their houses. Many freshmen at the University end up like this; never engaging in campus life or exploring their new city if they've ventured away from home- they spend their time in their rooms, playing video games or doing homework, just biding their time until they graduate while they fail expose themselves to the full experience of a college education.