My sister and I were talking about the depression that comes with joblessness. Having felt it, I know what she means. You wake up in the morning and it takes all the energy that you have to crawl to the couch and lie there for the rest of the day.
However, it really is no comparison to being homeless. Please think of this. Imagine yourself without a home.
As I keep saying, I am very lucky. But when you are homeless when you wake up you aren't looking for a couch to crash in for the day. You are looking for a bathroom. And you spend the rest of your day keeping within reach of other bathrooms. And they are all public.
Imagine going days without showering, brushing your teeth in a public rest room while other people are crapping in stalls a few feet from you, being exhausted and wanting to nap but all you have is a car (or nothing) and it is either too cold or too hot and you have to wait till it's time to pull over somewhere for the night.
If it's raining, you can't go out because if you get wet you can't dry off and curl up in a robe with a cup of hot tea. You sit there, in whatever shelter you can find, doing nothing, staying as dry as you can.
So it is not depression that you feel, it is feeling barely human. Being jobless is depressing. Being homeless is dehumanizing. I feel very sorry for those without jobs. However, those without homes are in a much different category. We try to give animals homes and shelter. What a sad indictment of this country that we do such a poor job soing the same for humans.
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