Originally Posted by
Machka
You know that you could be quite well off and still homeless. I don't understand why people equate the word "homeless" with "poor".
When Rowan and I have been homeless, we've been reasonably comfortable financially. And when I was going to University a few years ago, rent was very high in that city, so many of the students were "homeless" ... they migrated between friends' couches. I did a bit of that then too for a few weeks. It was a good way to save a bit of money.
And what is "homeless" anyway? At what point does a person become defined as "homeless"? There are so many variables.
A person who owns a house might not be considered "homeless" ... but what if that person rents the house out for a year, and goes to travel the world. That person no longer has a "home", and is therefore "homeless", but that person could be bringing in a reasonable sum from the rent, and could dwell in that house again when the year is up.
I guess there's a big difference between someone who is technically "homeless" in that they voluntarily chose to give up their home to go touring, and someone who is "homeless" in the sense they would dearly love a roof over their head but for some reason are unable to find one.
It's the same difference between someone who is unemployed in the sense they are looking for work but can't find work, and someone who is technically unemployed because they left their six-figure job two days ago and don't start their new six-figure job until next week.