While you dear reader might be quite familiar with the joys of home ownership, many of the readers of this blog think they have found the good life living full-time in a Recreational Vehicle (RV). Allow me a few minutes of your time so I might dispel your assumptions that everyone in fixed housing lives in a homeless shelter.
Allow me to admit up front that, like my RVing friends, a few of us in fixed housing do live in shelters that barely provide safe shelter against nature’s worst. I further admit that every place that I have lived there has been at least one hovel that differs significantly from the general character of the community. Merely walking by such an edifice one can clearly see those who live there are doing their level best at maintenance within their limited means. Furthermore with a practiced eye one might see that a few of my neighbors have not fully attained the good life. But let me assure you, dear reader, that many of my neighbors live in fixed residences that would rival the poshest of Class A Recreational Vehicles.
First of all allow me to assure you, dear reader, that we of the fixed housing ilk do have space to store those family heirlooms and mementos of days gone by. Like my RVing friends many of my neighbors rent a small closet, even a room or three, at a facility to store those things which we cannot possibly dream of putting to the curb. Those of us in fixed housing might also have an attic or basement or even a spare bedroom to store those boxes that we have not opened since the beginning of this millennium, and we may have an inherited a box from a parent or grandparent that even has remained sealed since the prior century. In fact, dear reader, those of us in fixed housing have accumulated far more than my RVing friends. Those scraps and leftovers from various projects are in no danger of being booted to the curb anytime soon regardless of how unlikely we are to use those perfectly good parts in some yet to be determined future or how much we might spend for storage.
Second, my RVing friends seem to think that no one visits those of us who live in fixed housing. They boast of connections they make with neighbors while sitting under their awnings. They do not understand how we of the fixed housing caste might meet anyone now that air-conditioning and automated garage door openers have minimized opportunities for us to connect with others. Let me assure you, dear reader, that many people do not merely stop by my home to chat but regularly come inside. For instance every Tuesday the lawn man and I chat about the merits of fertilizer or insecticide treatments. On Thursdays the cleaning lady and I often have heated conversations about residue on various surfaces. Here in Florida every month the bug company sends a technician. Although our conversation is limited due to their being suited and masked. And should I need someone with whom I might chat at any hour of the day or night I need merely forget the code for our security system or front gate and the security company will call me pronto!
Third my RVing friends boast how their homes on wheels have all the creature comforts they regularly need. Those of us in fixed housing also have those items. We also have appliances we rarely use. For instance, RVers might go to a laundromat once a week or so and spend a couple of hours and have several machines running at once to do all of their laundry, my neighbors and I have a dedicated space in our homes and have invested deeply to equip that space with machines that we can use anytime the need arises. While for most of us fixed housing types this room goes unused much of the week and those machines often cause many headaches with arcane discussions with service technicians, I have been known to run a load or two several days each week. Some weeks I might spend the equivalent of a whole day or more in that room using my washer and dryer. I assure you my RVing friends those accessories might not be used every day, but they are not forgotten and are often the center of vociferous household discussions.
Fourth, just like my RVing friends, Amazon does deliver to fixed housing. And we also receive packages via UPS and FedEx. While RVers might boast of a mail service that discards junk mail for them and will scan urgent items so they might read them on-line, the US Postal Service comes directly to my door and I can sort my mail for myself as I pass a garbage bin.
Finally instead of sitting outside as my RVing friends might in the evening watching the stars above emerge through a gradually darkening sky while breathing the crisp evening air, I can safely sit inside tucked away from the brown smog that envelops our city.
The author of the above satire has lived in 17 fixed housing units in 15 different cities spread across 9 states and now lives full-time in a travel trailer.