OPINION: Homelessness is boring
Derek Roberts says that despite all the talk about homelessness, there is one thing that is rarely talked about: how excruciatingly boring it is to be homeless.
In 2008, Vancouverite Derek Roberts became homeless.
He lost his job, ran out of Employment Insurance money, got kicked out of a friend's house, and had no place to go.
He joined the nearly 2,600 people living without homes in Metro Vancouver that year.
There are great challenges and dangers to people who are homeless. Things like suicide, drug overdose, and infections. However, in this audio essay, Derek says one of the big challenges for him was something far more banal: boredom.
What struck me most about the experience is how long the days were, and how hard they were to fill. There was always a sense of "what next" that permeated my thoughts. A restless anxiety that made it nearly impossible to focus on the moment. It was always earlier in the day than I thought it was. There was no escaping the banality of it all.- Derek Roberts
Click the play button above to listen to the item.