RUT #2 Marcus Christensen

Last Thursday, Professor Cutri talked about the student who slept outside as a homeless person, and that idea wouldn't let me alone. I always wanted to do something like that, for the sake of feeling what someone may have gone through, but didn't want to take that person's idea. I was over at my Auntie's house on Friday watching my cousins's 3 kids when she told me of a tough time where she lived in California during school and had to sleep in car for about 2 weeks. I thought that that'd be an something along the same lines and also hearing a statistic that hundreds of thousands of Americans sleep in cars.

I share a 1992 Buick LeSabre with my sister that has no heater, no radio, and works half the time. I parked outside on 700 N 500 E on Friday and Saturday evening. I left my phone or any electronics inside my apartment, and only kept a pair of jeans, socks, a coat, no pillow, and a random small blanket I found in the closet (who knows how long that's been in there for) and went to "bed" around 12 midnight.

Things I realized on the first night. Utah nights are just as cold inside a car, as outside. Holy moly! It took me a good long while to go to sleep. The back of a car is NOT comfortable, and being 6'3, it's even harder. I was always wary of people looking in on me because I parked on a somewhat busier street, and some people in fact did. Whether they thought I was sleeping or "kanoodling" is another matter, but I became very self-conscious and embarrassed (but I remembered that this is what some people MUST do). I woke up probably 4 or 5 times. 1 time in particular was most difficult. The air was so cold that my breath had caused a frost on the inside so I couldn't really see the outside, but it was then that for some reason, I felt so "alone". I didn't expect to feel that way. I'm not married, so I sleep alone all the time! But it was a different "alone". I can't really explain it, but I became very melancholy.

I crept out of the car around 7, and proceeded with my day on Saturday. That following night I did it again. Was anything different? Not really. The only thing that came quicker was that weird melancholy feeling. I did go to sleep sooner than Friday night, but it was just as cold and uncomfortable as before.

Some things I took away from this, was of course the simple blessings we take for granted, an apartment, a bed, a pillow, heat that circulates 24/7. Even a roommate (who you may or may not even like) being there to talk to. I remember thinking of my cousin, and how she had to do this for real, and it made me realize the different outlooks people have, whether more positive or more negative. It definitely was an eye-opener to a real world problem that has helped me better understand and better helped me appreciate what some have, and what some don't.