Middle Class Americans Are Secretly Living in Their Cars… This Is Getting Worse

So, what does affordable housing look like in the US? It's pretty much everybody's vehicles now. That's the growing trend. People are moving into their cars because they can't afford the rent and they realize that it's an upward battle that they're not able to fight. >> I've been living in my car with my two cats for several months, and I'm trying to figure out how to get out of that situation, but I don't really know what I can do. If the average price of an apartment is around $1,600 and you need to make three times the rent in order to be approved for an apartment, you have to make $4,800 a month or at least $30 an hour. That's not happening right now. So, I don't really know how I can get an apartment unless I can find a really well-paying job. I've been working a seasonal job that definitely doesn't pay $30 an hour with the hopes that I could save up enough money and then move to a city I'd like to live in and find a land that might take pity on my soul and sign me to a lease even if I don't make the exact amount of income. But I just don't even know if that will actually be possible. I have a friend that can get me a serving job in California, but that's not guaranteed income. And everything I've tried to research says that servers have to have several months worth of income or bank deposits stacked up before they can consider being approved for an apartment. So, I don't really know what to do because California is also a lot harder to overnight park. So, I don't even know if I can go down there and live in my car and work to build up income in order to be approved for an apartment. I don't really have a co-signer. I I don't really know what I can do. So, if anybody has advice, please let me know because I'd like to give my little kitty cats homes. I've been homeless for the last 7 months and trying to hide it. Then I realized how many people are in the same shitty position that I'm in. So, I'm going to tell you how I've been surviving it. Um, I started this morning at 6:00. I woke up at a rest stop where I slept in my car. Thank god it didn't rain last night. I got up. I drove to Planet Fitness. I fixed my hair. I brushed my teeth. halfway charged my portable batteries so that I can run my cooler that pretty much like lives in my car all the time. People always ask me about those batteries. There's a lot more people than I realize that are in the same position or that are just on the road or on the go or whatever and need need resources. We're humans. We're needy, right? So, now I'm at the gas station. I figured out that truck stops and gate gas stations have microwaves. So, I'm going to heat some food up in this gas station and probably change my shirt later on. I do have a hotel reservation. Hopefully, that will work out. I have massel activation and chemical sensitivity, so usually hotels don't work out for me. But, I thought it's a Hilton. It's less fragranced. I thought I would give it a shot. Could really use a place to like stretch out and lay down, charge all my stuff, get things out of my car, unpack so I can see what's in here because it's so crowded and cramped that like I can't even see what the I have in here. So, so that's today. This is 7 months of being homeless and staying alive until I find an Airbnb or a place to live that isn't making me sick. My name is Alexis and I live in this minivan. Today, I'm finally going to give you a tour of the inside. This is Midnight Rain. She's a 2008 Toyota Sienna. And this is my home. I've had her for just a couple of months now. So, just to give you an idea of how I put all of this together, this is a camping cot with an 8 in memory foam mattress on top of it. This is a toy box I got on Amazon, and it houses all of my clothes. And Toby usually sleeps up here. I have his water bowl here so he can reach it. This curtain was also an Amazon find. It was $30 and it fits so perfectly in here. In this corner over here, I have this, which is where I normally sit my tablet so that I can watch TV. And then I have some journals and books. In this corner, I have four of these purple tubs stacked up for storage. I got each of these for $5 at Walmart. They are full of random things. Like this one has sweaters in it. And I think this one has some bathroom stuff in it. I have a cooler here, but the only thing in it right now is bananas. And then the trusty V8 energy that I am addicted to. This is Toby, the love of my life. On the back of the driver's seat, I have an organizer with a lot of stuff that I use all the time, like scissors. There's some bug spray here. This is the dog's bowl and the dog's leash. I have some like poop bags down here. And under the seat here, I have a first aid kit. Please don't mind the rug. I don't know what I was thinking when I got black carpet. And the vacuum I have is just not strong enough to pick up all this little on the floor. And then under the bed, this is dog food and dog sweaters. This one over here is like bathroom stuff that I use all the time, like Q-tips. There's baby wipes in here. And then here is like some snacks and water. I'm hoping to upgrade my water storage soon. So then over here is like obviously where I sleep. This is Salem, but I use her as a neck pillow and she just stays right over here. This area, this is like my little nightstand. So I have a bunch of different chapsticks in here. In here I have ibuprofen, melatonin, stuff like that. These are my window coverings. I just use Velcro like this to hang them up. My Tik Tok fan that has come in handy more than enough times. I use it to charge my phone. Hopefully soon I can buy a jackeri and that'll be fun. I have a candle here cuz I love a good scent. And then toilet paper for when I go to the bathroom. This is my bathroom. And this is my hygiene bag. It's full of like my shower stuff, everything like that. The passenger seat is kind of crazy because I have some blankets up here that I have to put in storage. But normally it would just be like my laundry bag for dirty clothes. Down here I have like my laundry detergent. This is the pet sling. But then I also have like a bunch of cleaning stuff down here. The handheld vacuum. We're still trying to catch a mouse up in here. But this is the van. This is my home. I'm very proud of it. I know it took me a while to do a tour of the inside, but it's always messy in here and I don't like cleaning. So, I finally cleaned it today and it looks good. I hope you guys like it cuz I love it. I've lived in my car for about 9 months now and here are three things that I think are non-negotiables if you're planning on moving into your car. First one is tinted windows. I don't think it's a good idea to move into your car unless you have tinted windows. And I do understand that tinted windows can be very expensive, but I beg you to please find a way to pay for them because it's just not safe without them. Number two is a gym membership. This is where you will shower. This is where you will brush your teeth sometimes, where you will work out for the day. This will make all the difference in your happiness. Please get a gym membership. Preferably a gym that's open 24 hours, 7 days a week. When I'm traveling, I go for a Planet Fitness membership. Not all of them are open 247, but some of them are. And a Planet Fitness membership is only $25 a month. And when I'm not traveling, I just use a local gym. If there is not any gyms open 24/7, any gym will work, although 24/7 is preferred. And number three is window covers. Please get window covers. This is also another safety thing. You don't want anyone to be able to see in your car. You don't want anyone to know that you live in your car. A stranger just came over to me to check that I was okay in the car park and now I can't stop crying because it's like you just forget that you're actually human, you know? Someone treats you like you're human, but he just kept saying, "I know I'm just a stranger, but you'll pull through like you're going to be okay. You have no idea how many people have to sleep in their cars and still show up to work with you the next day. Please just be kind to people because in this economy we're currently in is something like we haven't seen since the Great Depression era and it's a weird economy because we have the technology. So it feels like we're not doing as bad. But when you actually look at the numbers, especially for people with kids mainly. See, I don't have any kids. So, I'm able to actually do pretty good for myself. But be kind to people, especially the people with kids because the inflation is so high. Everything's unaffordable. It's whole family sleeping in minivans right now. That's almost the new normal, believe it or not. So, just remember that. You never know what somebody next to you going through and you never know what you're going to be going through. So, always have gratitude for what you have now. Whether that's a car roof, whether that's a van roof, whether that's a house roof or just a tent roof or, you know, even not even having any roof and just having your health, just please keep it on the forefront of your mind that having gratitude and being kind goes a long way. >> Hey, I'm homeless. I live in my car and I'm going to show you how I get ready for bed when it's cold outside. I think it's supposed to dip down into like the teens tonight, like 19° or something like that. So, first order of business is to warm this car up before I get all snug as a bug in my bed. So, right now, I have the car running with the heater going, and I'll do that for about 10 to 15 minutes. And I've put my privacy curtains up on my front windows. This is what they look like. I don't know if you can see up close, but basically they have little clips that clip in here and then I tie up here in the middle. And here's what my front windshield cover looks like. It's just one of these little doohickeys. And I always put my pillow up here in the front with me while I'm heating up my car so it gets nice and warm because I hate sleeping on an ice cold pillow. Then I put my back window covers on. I have to get out of the car and do that. They're these little like screen type ones. I guess they're like I don't know. They're breathable and they just slide over the glass. Here's a better idea of what they look like. They just slide on here like so. Like that. So, it's all warm and toasty now. So, I'm going to hop in the back. Yay! Now I lock my car so nobody can get me. And now I just wrap up in my Mellin low tempmp sleeping bag. Actually just I use it as a blanket and cover myself and kind of tuck it under. And even though it's going to be frigid, I'm going to be super cozy and comfortable. It's a process, but it's worth it. This is my nighttime routine whenever I am car camping. I'm parked at a gas station right now. I just went in and washed my face and changed into my pajamas. Now, we're going to brush my teeth. I would normally brush my teeth in there, but I didn't want to use the gas station water. Actually, where is my toothbrush? Okay, I found it. I really need to throw away all the trash in my car because since I'm in my car all the time, I end up with like empty water bottles in here. So, I usually just use a gas station trash can and take that Alani. I spilled all my shells on the ground. That's a tomorrow problem. I definitely need to make my bed, but I don't know if I should make it here cuz I'm at a gas station and I don't want these people to know that I'm sleeping in my car so that they don't like follow me and steal me. I may just sleep with all the clothes back there. >> I made it to where we're sleeping and now I just always make sure that the doors are locked. I usually like triple check. I'm actually going to back in instead. Then I climb back there. Okay, this is the bed. I actually think I like all the clothes on top because it makes it less noticeable that I'm under all the clothes. Okay, good night. Let's hope I don't get stolen. Reading this comment actually broke my heart. And there's a reason. It's because it says in 20 years at least 30% of Americans will be living in cars and RVs full-time. Well, let me help you out because uh right now private equity has bought up the overwhelming majority of RV parks in the United States. They've also bought up all of the mobile home lots and then they have extorted the long-term citizens, especially the senior citizens in the mobile homes they could still afford in the mobile home units. It's just been it's been heartbreaking to recognize that even what used to be. So, first of all, I grew up in a trailer park, okay? I grew up in a trailer park and I was poor poor and poor people could afford to live there back then. That's the only place poor people could afford to live. Okay? And knowing now that private equity has got their hooks into RV parks and mobile home parks have have have made it that even an unrealizable dream for the American middle class to take mobile homes out of reach of the working class of America. That's what's happening in real time right now. It is horrifying. And there's not a good way to do this. There's no good way to fix this except to get in there and let them all bankrupt themselves, not bail them out and rebuild. We have to demand more. We have to. We have to. But this cars maybe, but I promise you, they'll find a way to monetize the lots we can park those onto. There's simply going to be nothing left. Nothing left for you, nothing left for my children, nothing left for any of us unless we act. And it starts by voting out all the incumbents, both sides of the aisle. left, right, up, down. You take money from a corporation or another country out. That's where it starts and that's what we've covered. Also, for those of you that don't know, I have a vlog channel called She Prepares that I kind of go over my lifestyle and what I personally do to prepare on a daily basis for just everything that's happening in the world. So, if that interests you, go down to the link below, but it is called She Prepares. And I hope to see you over there for those that are interested. Take care. A few weeks ago, I got the impression that someone was living in their car on my street. I had mentioned it to one of my roommates saying that I thought that and he said, "No, no, no. I don't think that's what's happening. I think he's fixing up that car. I see him sometimes out there with guys and it seems like they're fixing up the car, so I don't I don't think he's living there." And I thought, "Oh, okay." So, I disregarded it. On Friday night, I was getting home really late and I passed by his car and I saw that he was in there. So, I thought, you know what? I'm just going to check on him. I'd rather be safe than sorry. I'd rather check on him and be wrong than not at all. So, I parked my car, walked over, and introduced myself. And I didn't want to bring up the situation because it was so obvious that it doesn't need to be brought up. I said, "Hi, I'm Mariah. I live in the area. How are you? What's your name?" I said, "I just got some groceries. I have this extra box of crackers if you want this." And he was like, "Yeah, that's awesome. Thank you so much." And then I said, "I'm going to make myself a meal really quick. Would you want some? I I can bring it out to you." And he was like, "Yeah, that's amazing. I'm about to work a graveyard shift, so um I have to leave soon." And I said, "Okay, well, I'll be really quick." And so I went made the meal super quick and brought it out to him. I brought him like snacks, like apples, macro bars, other things that I had around. You can see in the previous video that he said he leaves his dog in the car. He has a pretty bigsized dog. I think it's a Doberman. She's She's so beautiful. He says he can't bring her to work, so he leaves her in the car the whole night while he works this graveyard shift. So, I offered to watch her for the night. I brought her water. I brought her a little bit of food that I had that was dog safe and let her sleep with me in my bed. Sweet girl cried the whole night. the whole night until 6:00 a.m. I had my birthday party the next day and I was like, I am not getting any sleep. I tried to massage her. I tried to console her, but she just cried the whole night. And I felt so bad because it's not like I could give her back to him because he's working a graveyard shift and it's not like she has a home to go to. I just dealt with it. I was so tired in the morning when I brought her out to him, just absolutely delirious that I didn't think to offer anything else in that moment. But once I had left, I thought, "Oh, I should have offered gift cards. Okay, later after my birthday party, I'm going to go get him gift cards for grocery stores, for pet stores. I'm going to get some pet toys and some dog food. Like, make sure that he's really set up." I reached out to shelters, seeing who would be able to take him and his dog. like I was trying to set him up for success. >> I shared yesterday that I have moved into my Subaru because I refuse to sign another lease and give tens of thousands of dollars to millionaire property management companies that I hate. Capitalism. So, here are some answers to questions that you guys had about how I'm doing this. Question was, where do I shower? Um, I know a lot of people get gym memberships. I haven't done that yet because I haven't needed to do that. I'm in a little bit of a special situation where my family lives pretty close by where I'm at. They're like 40 minutes away and they live on a boat now and so I have access to like the marina showers. I just need their key fob and so I've gone over there a few times and taken a shower. Also, because this is Washington, there's tons of options for free public showers. For example, I'm going to show you where I'm at right now. This is the shower at the state park that I'm at right now. So, this is where I've taken a shower for the last week. And the reason why I've stayed here as long as I have is because of this right there. That's a pavilion that I can work in. There's plugins all along the back. And then over there, free Wi-Fi. Like free like really good Wi-Fi. I also have a 5G signal here. View of the beach. They also have water spiggot with um free portable water. So, this is a really nice state park. Not all state parks are like this. This one is funded by BP because there's a plant right by here. So, I've been here for a little bit, but there's other options. I'll probably just get a gym membership once I leave this area. But for now, this works. Next question was, how do I work? Just have this guy. It's just an inverter that I plug in when I'm driving around. I have my laptop charged or I go to a place where I can charge it. And then I either connect to free Wi-Fi. There's at libraries, state parks sometimes. Sometimes I just connect to my phone, but I do have a Subaru that has the option of adding Wi-Fi. I think it's like I don't know if it's Starlink or if it's just Wi-Fi through AT&T. I need to look into it because once I leave this area, I'm probably going to need to get that. Starlink is probably going to be the best option if I want to be out where there's no cell service and still be able to work. How do I cook? Let me show you. I usually cook right here in the back of my car. I've got a very simple setup. I'm probably gonna get a Coleman twoburner just so that I have a bigger space and more burners to cook. But right now, I'm literally just using my camping stove, my um Jet Boil or the generic version of it. I use that to boil water for making coffee in the morning, things like that. if I'm cooking something else. Like for example, for lunch today I cooked hot dogs and I cooked them in here and just held it over the fire. And then I've also got just a lot of stuff that um is like instant stuff like mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, you know those mac same size mac and cheese things. So that's what I've been eating. Lots of tacos too. I like carnitas and then I have all the fixings to make myself tacos. So, it's just easy quick meals like that until I get to the point where I have, you know, propane burner and can cook. And then as far as where I keep the food, I have an Igloo overland cooler that fits perfectly right here. It is just the right height where I can pop this open right here and I can still open it up really deep, actually. I can fit a lot of stuff in here. There's a bunch of meat that's under this down here in the ice. And then I've got this little um tray that I keep like veggies and stuff that I don't want sitting down in the water. And I can usually keep 3 days worth of food in here. And the ice stays usually for about 3 days as well. Next question was, don't I feel unsafe like as a single solo woman sleeping out by myself? And no, I don't. Y'all, I sleep with these back windows open most nights. I have these covered and the front window covered, but I sleep with u my back windows open with just a mesh screen and I have never felt unsafe. Do I sleep with a really big knife next to me? Absolutely. Like right next to my head. Try me. Like I dare you. But no, I'm not afraid. I honestly feel safer being out, you know, at a park or out on BLM land out by a creek listening to the rushing water, the rain falling on the roof. Like, I am much happier and feel more safe and secure when I'm in the car. Next question is, why don't I just get a van or a trailer? And the reason for that is because number one, far more expensive to insure it is more expensive. Uh the gas is more expensive. This thing gets great gas mileage. It's small. I can take it off-roading because it's all-wheel drive. I can fit into small spaces that bigger vehicles cannot. Whenever I'm, you know, out on BLM land. And also, it's more difficult to stealth camp. Like, if I want to sleep in a city and just put all my window coverings up, nobody knows that I'm in here. Nobody's going to think that somebody is living in this vehicle. But if you have a huge rig, you know, a big van, you're more likely to be questioned and it's more difficult to find parking. And there's just a million reasons. So, for right now, this is good. He asked, "What do I do for mail?" I already had um a mailbox near where my parents live. That was where I was getting mail to because I was kind of bouncing around and was at a couple different places and wasn't sure where I was going to land. So, I already have a mailbox there. Like, that's where all of my mail is sent to anyways. So, yes, I still get mail there and have no problem. I just go by, you know, once every week, sometimes every two weeks, um, if I don't have anything being shipped there. So, that's that. And then, of course, I was asked multiple times, where do I sleep? I have no problem sleeping in a Walmart parking lot if I need to, or sleeping in a Pilot or whatever, but I really prefer to be out like in the middle of nowhere. Yes, during the week whenever I need to have cell service, at least until I get Starlink, I have to be in a more populated area. But luckily, uh there are apps like I Overlander where people will post great locations where you can camp overnight for free. Has really helped me out whenever I'm in like a new area that I'm not super familiar with. I have found actually found this location because of I Overlander. So, if you are somebody that's living in a vehicle or, you know, wanting to find great camping spots or even places to take a shower, to find Wi-Fi, all of that is marked on those maps. And it's been really helpful. I'm transitioning from living in home to living in my car. What am I going to do come winter? So, Washington, Pacific Northwest in general, really doesn't get that cold. It's only about a month and a half where it gets down to like near freezing, but generally speaking, it stays between 50 and 70°. uh the majority of the year. There's a possibility I will go down to California for a couple of months uh and spend some time with uh friends that are down there during the coldest of months here. But I honestly think that I would do just fine with a heated blanket and maybe a heater if I need it, but I doubt it. I want to say that like the West Coast, especially the Pacific Northwest, this is the best place to do something like this. They are very friendly to people living in their vehicles. It is common here. These don't mess with you. Most people have no problem with it. This is a very, you know, camper friendly, outdoor recreation friendly uh area. And so I I think it's going to be good. I've loved it so far. >> I'm going to show you guys my nighttime routine as a homeless person living in my car. But right now, I just ordered PJs for my dinner. I ordered a kids meal spaghetti with fries on the side and a small little drink. And this was only $8.99, I think. And I feel like I got a lot of food for it. Like, let me see if I can open it. There's the spaghetti. I feel like that's a lot of food. And then here are the fries. They look good. Mhm. They're good. Okay, so let's try the spaghetti. He that up. It's good. So, I forgot to mention this, but the reason another reason why I got that hotel room last night was because I actually got the night before that I got a knock on my door and it was one of the security guards letting me know like, "Hey, you can't park here. You can't stay here. This is private property. You need to go." When I tell you that was literally one of the scariest things I've ever had to experience. Like I thought I was in trouble. Like I thought I was going to get arrested. Mind you, this was at 3:00 in the morning. So I had to find another place to to sleep to park at 3:00 in the morning without looking sketchy. I don't know. It was scary. Like I'm you have you guys have no idea how grateful I am for you guys and like the people that sent me money through Venmo. Like if you hadn't sent me money through Venmo, I wouldn't have been able to afford um that hotel room last night. So thank you so much for that. Bye. Done. So, this is all the laundry that I have to do. It's this and this basket. I don't get paid until next Wednesday. So, I'm gonna have to wait until Wednesday to do all my laundry. I'm just going to change real quick in my storage unit. Don't tell anybody. >> Ready? One, two, three. That I have to do. It's this and this basket. But I don't get paid until next Wednesday, so I'm going to have to wait until Wednesday to do all my laundry. I'm just going to change real quick in my storage unit. Don't tell anybody. Ready? 1 2 3. And for those of you asking why I don't just sleep in my storage unit overnight, um because it's illegal. I can't do that. That's literally trespassing. Don't forget to floss your teeth. And for my skin care, I use regular old Sarabi. And then lastly, my active. Okay, let's go. Don't just love it when you get toothpaste on your shirt, you guys. I think I up while I was setting up my privacy curtains. Like I feel like somebody saw me while I was setting up my priv privacy curtains. Since I can't go to my old spot because I was caught and they told me to leave, I found this new spot, but it's not like as discreet as my old one. So, I feel like somebody saw my hand while I was setting up my priv privacy curtains. I don't know. I'm a little bit nervous. Please pray for me that everything goes right and that they didn't save me. I don't know. I guess I'll let you guys know in the morning. >> Um, so there's no third spaces anywhere. There's nowhere you can go to just relax. There's nowhere you can go to sleep. There's nowhere you can go to piss there. It's just it's a constant struggle to have any kind of not even just privacy, just being left alone. Just not having these property owners, private police force that they hire to just roam around like a bunch of dorks and pull up to you while you're literally doing nothing wrong. You're sleeping. You're doing an essential human body function. Something that every single person who has ever lived has had to do. Okay? And it's like illegal. It's legal. Okay? Let me take let me take it a step further. Um gas right now, everyone knows that. Everyone knows about the gas situation right now. But I'll tell you, and I've seen other people talking about this online, too. They are doing something to the gas. the the gas that's coming to us, the fuel that's coming to us is not the same as it used to be. I drive a hybrid vehicle. I drive a 2024 hybrid vehicle. Okay, I was sitting in this parking lot a couple of hours ago. I had 184 miles to E in my tank. I moved from this spot less than a mile away to another parking lot and I went from 184 to 177 miles. So then I turned my car off. I turned it back on, moved to just a different spot in the parking lot, and I had my car running for probably 30 minutes. I was on the phone with someone, probably 30 minutes. I went from 177 to 168 miles. 9 miles of gas from sitting idle for 30 minutes. Now, that might sound normal to your car, but that's not normal to my car. I filled up gas in my car four times this week. I filled up my car four times this week. Again, I drive a hybrid. I'm used to filling up my car like once every like seven days. I've been to the gas station almost every single day this week. I don't know what the is going on, but something's not right. Okay, my car is in repo and I live in it. So, I don't have any other I don't I don't have any other choice. I can't just give it back. This is where I live. Okay, at least not until I figure something else out. I get a call from Toyota this morning. Enough. I get a call from Toyota this morning letting me know that my car is about to go into what's called charge off status. If you don't know what charge off status means, that basically means that they're considering it an unpayable debt and that it when it when charge off status gets approved, you have one of two options. You either give the car back or you pay off the full car, which for this would be $31,000. Obviously, I don't have either of those options. So, I just said, "Well, thank you so much. which I'll give you a call back when I decide which one I'm going to do. Okay. Now, mind you, I didn't get to that point for at least an hour. We talked on the phone for a long time. I'm talking to this lady. I'm explaining to her my entire situation from from front to back. Like, I'm practically taking it on a day-by-day basis, giving this lady so much detail just to see if there's anything that she can do to help me given my extrrenuous circumstances. She says, "Not only do I believe you, but I want you to know that I'm hearing stories like yours every single day. And the reason that we don't have any way to help you is because we have never seen this many people in this position in the entire time that I've been doing this. And she sounded like an old lady. So I'm pretty sure that she's been doing this for a long time. She said, "Never in the entire time that I've been doing this has this many people been in your situation." Every single day I'm talking to people in this situation. So we literally don't have safety nets for you because we've never seen this before. Things are really, really, really right now. I'm on food stamps. This is the second time in my life that I've been on food stamps. The first time was in 2019 for just a really brief stint, like 5 months or something. And uh back then I could make it last like 3 weeks out of the month. There was always like one week out of the month where I was out of it. Now it it doesn't even last me a week and a half. It doesn't even last me a week and a half. and I get the max benefits in my state. I get the maximum amount. That's what they told me last time when I asked them, "Well, can can you just increase it?" They said, "You're already getting the maximum." The maximum is lasting me a week and a half. Imagine what the maximum it imagine how long the maximum is lasting someone with a kid or two kids. Even if they're getting a little bit more, even if they're getting a little bit more, the proportionate like the buying power of that little bit more is the same. So that means all the families out there that are on food stamps, it's lasting them like a week and a half. Okay, insurance is insanely high. My car is $515 a month. Insurance is $250 a month. Okay, look. I'm an artist and this account is primarily dedicated to my art and I want to keep it that way. I didn't want to upload this, but the truth is you just ha you have to hear it from people who are on the ground experiencing this. Okay? And don't even don't even bring up the job market to me right now. So, I got a job in uh February. Let me tell you what the job market is like right now. I got a job in February. Two weeks into working that job, I got a sitdown. I was asked to have a sit down with the boss and I was like, "Okay, I'm assuming that this is going to be like feedback or, you know, tips, whatever, because I've been a hiring manager before." So, I kind of anticipated, you know, like a twoe follow-up, whatever. She sits me down and asks me if this is a good fit. I said, "Oh, okay." So, that was very different direction than what I thought. So, I was like, "Oh, okay. Um, is there anything that I did wrong?" And she said, "I just feel like by now you should be running the front totally independently." I said, "Now look, normally you want to be like kind of political with your boss in a situation and like say the right thing, but I just went off the handle. I was like, um, I was a manager. I was a hiring manager for 2 years. To tell someone that they should be completely independent within two weeks is like unheard of. Every single job has a 60 to 90day training period. That is how long it takes someone who's never done something in a totally new place where they're they hardly even know people's names yet. Okay? It's going to take people two months. I got that talk within two weeks. That's what that's what bosses are like now. Okay? You can't find a job anywhere. I I have been applying for jobs every single day for two weeks and it's like nothing nothing. I call these places and they're not even hiring. They have their listings up and they're not even firing. Why do companies do that? I feel like they started doing that postco and that just doesn't make any sense. That doesn't make any sense. They just keep the listing open. the So they're they're having you waste all your time because of course these things take 45 minutes to fill out. So you're doing 45 minutes of unpaid labor and then you know what they'll send you an email after and say, "Hey, we got your application. We're actually not hiring for this position and we delete all old applications after 60 days. So if you haven't heard from us within 60 days, just go ahead and apply again." Apply again for what? a position that's just constantly open. If I haven't heard from you for 60 days, you just told me you're not hiring. Are are we are we on planet Earth right now? What's going on? So, there's no third spaces. There's nowhere you can sleep without these mall cops, these dweeb cops pulling up on you, harassing you practically for falling asleep. Okay? For falling asleep. That's illegal. Sleeping in public is illegal. Okay? There's no third spaces. The gas is getting throtted down. The gas is insanely high. There's no jobs. The debt collectors are telling people, "Hey guys, there's more of you than ever. We don't know what the to do. Food is extremely expensive. Insurance is extremely expensive. Everything's extremely expensive. Wages aren't going up. Bosses are becoming more hostile. Police are becoming more hostile. That's what it's like. If you're wondering what it's like to be homeless right now in 2026, that's what it's like. It feels like there are no options. >> So, vehicle living is not just an aesthetic way of life anymore or a nomadic choice. It is about survival. There are so many people that are living in their cars and their vans. And this situation is affecting people of all ages. It's affecting our youth, middle-aged workers, people that are retired and should be living in a stable condition. So, keep all of this in mind. If you have it on your heart to donate to a local shelter and if you have it within your capability, I recommend doing so. Um, help others that need help around you and let's hope that this trend doesn't continue to be a trend in 2026. Let's hope that there are some solutions that do end up taking place. Thank you for watching. Please leave any comments down below. As always, take care of yourselves.