Mystery Machine
Every morning, I get up at 5:30 and take a short run before work. I take the same path every day and I can't help but notice whatever minor activity is happening along my exercise route because there are so few signs of life at that hour. Like for the past two months, there's been a creepy looking blue Chevy camper van parked on a side street next to this cut rate apartment complex across from my house.
It's hard to tell if the van owner lives in the complex or if he just stays with someone in the complex. Sometimes the van is there, sometimes it's not. The van has one of those camper tops on it and some windows on the sides that were added after it was manufactured. And from the looks of it, the aging van is packed full of junk --- baskets of stuff, blankets, bottles, anything you might or might not need. Obviously the van is either a rolling trash bin or its owner is really mentally ill. Some mentally ill people known as hoarders will refuse to throw anything away --- no matter how insignificant --- because they cling to the belief that things like egg cartons are incredibly important to their lives.
A few weeks ago, the van showed up with a small 10 foot boat on a trailer attached to it's rear bumper. The boat has some trash in it too.
So this morning, about 6 a.m., I spotted van's owner who was out tending to his vehicle. He's skinny and has a long scraggly beard. He was leaning into the driver's side of the van. I couldn't tell what he was doing, but I got a better glimpse inside of the van. The trash heap inside is so big, it completely covers the passenger seat and is spilling over into the driver's seat. In fact, the guy only has room to get halfway on the driver's seat because of the trash.
So maybe the guy is homeless. But maybe not. Some homeless people live in their vehicles. But how many homeless people have access to a boat?
If I had no permanent residence, I think it would be cool to be a completely self-contained unit by owning a camper van. But unfortunately this guy doesn't have that option. The trash is getting in the way. He's homeless because of his own garbage.
It's hard to tell if the van owner lives in the complex or if he just stays with someone in the complex. Sometimes the van is there, sometimes it's not. The van has one of those camper tops on it and some windows on the sides that were added after it was manufactured. And from the looks of it, the aging van is packed full of junk --- baskets of stuff, blankets, bottles, anything you might or might not need. Obviously the van is either a rolling trash bin or its owner is really mentally ill. Some mentally ill people known as hoarders will refuse to throw anything away --- no matter how insignificant --- because they cling to the belief that things like egg cartons are incredibly important to their lives.
A few weeks ago, the van showed up with a small 10 foot boat on a trailer attached to it's rear bumper. The boat has some trash in it too.
So this morning, about 6 a.m., I spotted van's owner who was out tending to his vehicle. He's skinny and has a long scraggly beard. He was leaning into the driver's side of the van. I couldn't tell what he was doing, but I got a better glimpse inside of the van. The trash heap inside is so big, it completely covers the passenger seat and is spilling over into the driver's seat. In fact, the guy only has room to get halfway on the driver's seat because of the trash.
So maybe the guy is homeless. But maybe not. Some homeless people live in their vehicles. But how many homeless people have access to a boat?
If I had no permanent residence, I think it would be cool to be a completely self-contained unit by owning a camper van. But unfortunately this guy doesn't have that option. The trash is getting in the way. He's homeless because of his own garbage.
posted by john clarke at 6:29 AM
1 Comments:
I'm exactly the same way with old issues of Mojo & Uncut magazines.
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