Chapter 8 Check-in Supplies
"you're good too."
Zhang Ailun smiled and said, "I am going to get the relief meal now, because I received a tip that I know which street the Baal relief meal truck will appear on today. Do you want to go with me?"
"Yeah."
Simone readily agreed, and took out a toothbrush and a water cup, "Wait for me for three minutes, okay?"
"of course."
Zhang Ailun agreed readily.
About three minutes later, Simone finished washing, put on her coat, put on a knitted hat, pushed her bicycle and carried her backpack to the main road. It can be seen that she is not a person who likes to procrastinate.
Perhaps it was because of the inherent nervelessness of the original race that she quickly put aside the previous unpleasantness and asked curiously: "Alan, how did you find this place?"
"Dominic brought me here. He is my good friend." Zhang Ailun replied.
"Oh." Simone relaxed a lot. "So you're going to live here from now on? Welcome to join Lori Louis 19!"
He ceremoniously extended his fist in welcome.
"Thank you." Zhang Ailun also raised his hand and bumped fists with her.
"Were you running and exercising before? Dominic usually doesn't get up until noon, why don't you choose to sleep a little longer?" Simone asked again.
She had been here for so long, but this was the first time she saw a homeless person so energetic.
Most homeless people look like they are neither full nor starving every day.
Only when receiving subsidies and shopping vouchers will they show the joy of getting something for free.
Most of them are numbly pushing small carts bought from supermarkets for free, carrying large and small bags, wandering aimlessly on the streets.
Compared with the physical suffering, what troubles the homeless more is the mental torture. If they cannot keep their bottom line, many people will become mentally abnormal over time.
Zhang Ailun smiled and said, "Maybe it's because I just came here and I'm used to going to bed early and getting up early. It's hard to change even if I change the environment. But you get up early too, Simone. I only saw you along the way. You're really a very hardworking girl."
"Of course, because I still have to go to work."
Simone is happy to hear people praise her. She said: "I found a decent part-time job on the street, working in an Indian restaurant, cleaning and serving food. Of course, sometimes I can't avoid sexual harassment in the workplace."
"How did you find a job without a house?" Zhang Ailun was a little curious.
"The reasons are a bit complicated. I lived in my friend's house for a while and asked them to help me fill out the information. I dealt with the random checks of the community union and the consultations of the employer I applied to, so that the company thought I had a stable residence, and thus I got a part-time job," said Simone.
"But the community always conducts random inspections from time to time. I can't always bother my friends, so I found a rental company on the street and asked them to rent the 'non-existent house' to me. They only issued a rental certificate, but in fact the house is not habitable at all. I only need to pay a small amount of rent every week and let them help me deal with it. This is also a solution."
Most of the non-existent houses are unfinished buildings or motels that have collapsed due to years of disrepair, but their certificates have not expired. You can say it is legal, but you can also say it is illegal.
The main selling point is cheap rent, and even hundreds of people can be registered on one floor. It is called a rental company, but in fact it is more like a certificate and qualification agency. As long as the address information can be found on the Internet, you can find a job.
The same benefit is that you only need to check out of the house quickly during the days you receive relief benefits and become homeless, and then you can receive subsidies and shopping vouchers again as a homeless person.
Simone spread her hands. "But sometimes unexpected situations occur. Mail sent by the workplace is always lost, or even thrown away as trash by the employees of the rental department. I lost my previous jobs that way, and I almost got blacklisted as a dishonest person, and I could never find a job again."
Is this what it means when there are policies from the top and countermeasures from the bottom?
Zhang Ailun was a little surprised.
He has to be a local old bannerman.
"Now that you have a stable job, you shouldn't be living on the streets anymore."
Allen Zhang asked.
"Then I have to mention my ex! My life was about to get back on track, but because he didn't want to break up with me, he went to my workplace and caused trouble. I lost my job and was listed as a temporary dishonest person. I hated him so much!"
Simone was a little annoyed. "The Indian restaurant I work at now is not very formal, and the wages are much lower, only $ per hour. It is only cents higher than the minimum wage stipulated by California law!"
Simone said helplessly: "Honestly, you have no idea how hungry those Indians look at me. They always find all kinds of excuses to take advantage of me. It's disgusting. Sometimes I think, if they stare at my butt again, I will smash the plate in his face! Slam the door and leave!"
"If I were you, I would definitely punch them in the face and make them afraid to do disgusting things again." Zhang Ailun said seriously.
"I'd love to do that! But I prefer money to being taken advantage of."
Simone shrugged and spread her hands helplessly. "I need money. This is life. Bro, welcome to the West Coast, welcome to Los Santos! Everyone here likes to smoke."
"I know what you mean."
Zhang Ailun laughed, "Yo! West Coast we sell music and coco."
"Wo~"
Simone smiled, and the first thing she said was that she was from the West Coast. After all, the most important thing about gangsta rap is music and Coco, and she also recognized him for his musical attainments.
The two of them talked as they walked, and their relationship quickly became much more familiar.
The other party officially became Zhang Ailun’s third friend on the West Coast.
Communication between people is very simple!
Apart from some street trash and extremists, there are simply not that many racists.
As long as you have enough confidence, it will be easy to be popular.
The premise is that both parties are in an equal status and class, and have similar topics to talk about.
You, a homeless man, can't possibly be arm in arm with the Governor of California, right?
……
A few minutes later.
We arrived at the Baal Relief Meal Truck and managed to catch up with the first group.
Zhang Ailan lined up to get two meals from the Bali Relief Meal Truck: a double cheeseburger, Pepsi, and cream ice cream cake.
Damn, these three meals a day are better than what I had before.
More importantly, it’s free.
You know what, this thing is sometimes just good enough to provide basic welfare for homeless people.
This little cake must cost at least ten dollars, right?
There are strawberries on top, and it’s full of industrial cream when you take a bite.
Different from the policy of 'it is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish' implemented in my hometown, as long as you are willing to go to work, you can live a normal life decently.
The Americans cannot stop the emergence of homeless people, but they also need the existence of homeless people. They are too lazy to provide you with any jobs. They also take the approach of "providing basic needs". They are more effective than blocking, and sometimes they are so poor that all they have left are the national debt and money.
During election periods when voting is required, the hearts of the homeless can be firmly tied down by paying a cheap subsidy of $600-1000 per person per month.
I will eat your food and not smash your pot, and I will vote for you wholeheartedly!
Under the policy of 'clearing the door', if you have no money you will have to wander. Many people on the streets are single mothers with two or three children who are homeless because they cannot afford the rent. Often the more developed the city, the more homeless people there are, because the welfare benefits are indeed in place.
Many homeless people from other states travel thousands of miles just to get a relief meal, but then find themselves trapped and unable to leave Skid Row.
Anyway, it is the capital that pays the money, not the congressmen. If the major companies skimp on a little to offset taxes, it would be enough to feed millions of homeless people. Yet there are still people who embezzle.
When it comes to voting, a homeless person is still a person. If you are of no use, just let him die.
Who cares about you.
(End of this chapter)
