I met a guy at the gym who was living out of a big GM four-door enclosed truck with a golden retriever. The gym was 24 hour access and he’d come in and use the facilities and then sleep in the truck in the parking lot. Don’t think he was a vet, but he said he was an RN. The truck was registered and therefore insured. I don’t know how he handled the cops who would certainly cruise through the otherwise empty lot at night. The truck was there all by its lonesome the few times I drove past the gym after hours.
Something struck me as not quite right as an RN should be able to find work in Florida unless there was a problem that prevents hiring; drug use or alcohol, for example.
It seems a precarious life and just one step above being out on the street. I wondered where he got the money for gas, license, insurance and the like. I wonder how many are that close to the edge who really don’t want to be. (Most homeless are that way because of a mental issue. Once I sat waiting for a light and watched a homeless guy viciously try to kill with his fists somebody he could see but who was not, in fact, there. I pity the person who happens to accidently occupy the space he thinks has his enemy in it. It would have been funny, if not so scary.)
I read somewhere, that many of the homeless are indeed, mentally-ill. Don’t know if that’s true or not... some articles:
There is a small population of military retiree “terminal rats” who do nothing more than live at military air terminals and USOs during operating hours between space a flights - occasionally team up to share a room on base between flights. Aka, Space A Bums.