Locked Out
Today I was locked out of my house. I was watering some plants and did not bring my wallet, and I couldn't get back inside. My wallet bundles my keys, my money, and my identification, so I was in a bit of a pickle.
There was not much to do except wait it out. I knew others would return to the house sometime, and they would let me in, but in the meantime I was stuck.
My first thought was that this was going to be good practice for when I am homeless. But that is not really true. It is true that I will likely have my ID and money and possessions stolen at some point, but it is false that spending one day locked out of the house is anything like being homeless for even the medium term. I did not have food but knew I would not starve, so I did not try going to a soup kitchen for food. I knew I would be back in my own room, so I did not worry about where to stash whatever belongings I could collect.
At the same time, it was jarring to be suddenly without money or many possessions. As I went through the day I came up with lists of liabilities and assets.
Liabilities:
- Bad shoes. I was wearing shoes that I treat as outdoor slippers. They were falling apart, but at least I could walk on the sidewalk.
- No keys.
- No bicycle, since that was locked up with a key.
- No computer.
- No sun hat.
- No money, so I could not go to the store to buy something to eat or to entertain myself with.
- No food.
- No phone.
- No mask, so I could not go indoors without abandoning COVID precautions.
- Nobody to contact to let me in. (This was not quite true, but it was true enough.)
Assets:
- Some shoes.
- Water if I really needed it. (After all, I had been watering plants.)
- A beautiful sunny day. It would have been quite different had I experienced this in February.
- Access to little free libraries full of books.
- An MP3 player with some battery power left.
- No other obligations I was missing for the day, although I had thwarted plans.
- The knowledge that this situation was temporary.
- Some flyers and elastics.
- A front porch to sit on, if I wanted to.
- Nearby parks with benches.
- My health.
- I could walk and stay out in the sun.
- I had already gone to the bathroom that morning, so would not need to go again for several hours.
Waiting at the front porch for my housemates to return and let me in was proving stressful, so I went to the park. Along the way I picked up a couple of books at a little free library. I read a book for a while and then went back home only to discover I was still locked out.
I was worried about sunburning my head, but then I had the bright (?) idea of fashioning a hat out of old flyers. The hat was not staying on my head so I secured it with an elastic. It later turned out that the hat was conical like a KKK hood (oops) but it did keep the sun off my head.
I then walked to a more distant park and sat down and read some more. Eventually I made my way back home. The MP3 player had run out of battery by that time and my bad shoes had degraded further, so I hoped I would not have to take a third trip. Fortunately my housemates had come home and I was able to get back inside.
Reading that makes my day sound like a nothingburger, and maybe it was. It did not feel like a nothingburger at the time. It felt like the latest indignity in a string of indignities. It was a stark reminder of what like feels like when resources are not available. I suppose that should motivate me towards financial security, so I don't have to face such deprivation in the future, but it really doesn't. At this point I think such deprivation is inevitable for me.