People Living in Their Cars

Have you seen this story about a woman in Santa Barbara who is living in her Honda with her two dogs? I know that people living in their cars is nothing new, and it's a sad fact that many people have been forced to live in their cars if they were even lucky enough to have a car. However, it seems to be a growing epidemic in California right now because of layoffs and the lack of low income housing.

This, like most issues lately, has two sides for me. On one hand, I'm thinking, God, you have a CAR. A Honda, no less. Why not freaking drive a few hundred miles and settle down somewhere that doesn't cost half a million dollars a year to live in? Or sell the car and figure something else out? She found a job that pays $8 an hour, and she draws a little bit from Social Security "to help make ends meet" says the article. I guess I wish they would tell me what ends are being met if she's living in a car? Her dog food expenses? Get rid of the damn dogs! Her credit card bills or something? Screw that, they can wait, the filthy scavengers. There HAS to be a better way that living in your car. There just has to be.

Another part of me is more sympathetic to what she's going through. I mean, what kind of city has no affordable housing? When we get to a point that $8 an hour plus social security is still not enough to even afford a tiny low income apartment, there's an issue. Someone should be building some affordable housing, or bussing people in from a nearby area that has it anyway. Thinking of hundreds of women sleeping in their cars every night because that's all they can afford is just heart wrenching, and I'm sure they never thought they would be in that kind of situation.

I guess it's easy for me to sit back and judge and say "Move away, make something happen for yourself." The truth of their situation, however, is hard for me to grasp. I'm sure that making big changes and taking the risk of moving to an unknown city and hoping to make your life better is a very scary thing. It sounds easy enough, but so does losing weight, and I've been struggling with that for years now. Taking action on something is definitely not as easy as talking about it. I can't judge these women living in parking lots, but I sure do hope that their situation improves. My heart truly goes out to them.