About Public Sleeping Day

DESCRIPTION:

Public Sleeping Day could be cast as a silly holiday that makes fun of people who fall asleep in public. Or, this day can be used to focus attention on a very serious problem: homelessness or the newspeak of "unhoused." It's the same thing, regardless of what you call it. Since there is no sponsor or event originator, it is really up to you how you want to mark it.

A personal note from Laura:
I lived in Los Angeles until July 2014, when one in 14 people was homeless. The city has the largest homeless population in the United States, partly because it is warm and partly because of the high cost of housing.

Like a lot of people, I got hit hard by the Great Recession and lost everything. I broke up with my fiancé, left my job for an opportunity overseas, and then had to return when the market crashed. It was so bad that three times between November 2008 and April 2010, I found myself within three days of being homeless. It terrified me, and I was even looking at ways to convert the backseat of my car into a bed. For me, a new freelance job came in just in time, and I avoided it, but thousands of others didn't. I wasn't alarmist. Except for one person I knew well, everyone lost their job between 2008 and 2010. Several friends lost their homes and businesses, and we did everything right. We went to college, got degrees, and built companies, families, and careers—yet we still lost everything.

Last week I walked down to my local Vons and saw a young woman about 32 sleeping in her Mustang convertible in the parking lot. The grocery store parking lots are a favorite place for those with cars and no homes to park in Los Angeles. That was last week, in February 2014.

Rather than making this a silly holiday, I suggest that people take the chance to use this day to look around. You'll see them, the homeless, who must sleep during the day because it's too dangerous at night. They're under overpasses, trees in the park, behind dumpsters, and on the beach. They're everywhere, and it is one of the saddest commentaries in our society. We're the richest country in the world, yet millions of our citizens live on the streets. Let's make Public Sleeping Day count by seeking ways to end homelessness in the United States.