"The police chased me out of the beach parking lot. Now Walmart. I’m running out of places to sleep, and to be." "Isn’t that negation of our existence? We are here and we are you and we are yours." A searing and essential piece of writing. - ThreadSky

brian-goldstone.bsky.social • 94 days ago

"The police chased me out of the beach parking lot. Now Walmart. I’m running out of places to sleep, and to be."

"Isn’t that negation of our existence? We are here and we are you and we are yours."

A searing and essential piece of writing.

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brian-goldstone.bsky.social•94 days ago

"This is part of your rejection, this fear that it could be you. You deny that reality because it is too horrific to contemplate, therefore you must deny us. And the moneyed reject us because they know they create us."

thesusanito.bsky.social•93 days ago

https://www.gofundme.com/f/donate-to-empower-patrick-fealeys-future

cdimond.bsky.social•93 days ago

Brian, you are a great writer, your piece touched me deeply. I have a dear friend that has a similar condition that lives with me.

nazishmunch.bsky.social•93 days ago

This is a heart wrenching and a terribly painful story. I was also homeless for a while when I first arrived in Paris. The tragedy of homelessness is compounded by that of risk of abuse and rape in the case of women who find themselves in this situation.

edgarallandoh.bsky.social•93 days ago

And the availability of cheap street drugs. Chase me through town for a week and make it nearly impossible to sleep. Now something that will help me pass out? Fine. Bam.

estherclark.bsky.social•93 days ago

Yes, something that will remove the misery for a few minutes.

realchefshannon.bsky.social•87 days ago

I enjoyed this piece of writing, however I did cringe each time he came in contact with the cops and started his defense with “I used to write for (XYZ publication).” So, if he used to roof houses or sweep floors it would be okay to harass him?

evamc.bsky.social•93 days ago

Kudos to you and Esquire for publishing this. Time to buy a subscription to support this kind of writing.

badsciencedebunked.bsky.social•93 days ago

Very moving. 😢

semisweetwilliam.bsky.social•93 days ago

Looking outward from his own predicament, he makes this sensitive observation:

“They take it out on themselves, on each other, when the problem is the predators and the politicians who enabled them to suck most of the wealth out of the common economy.”

xaviermobius.bsky.social•93 days ago

That’s a powerful thought

camille2024.bsky.social•93 days ago

Do you know if his go fund me is legit?

realperrygrossman.bsky.social•94 days ago

It is a travesty that people like Fealey get so little support. And Trump is only going to make things worse.

emmet987.bsky.social•93 days ago

Charles Dickens wrote about the exact same issue over a century ago in “Bleak House”, one of my favorite classic novels.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1023

mktsutherland.bsky.social•92 days ago

📌

pat0615.bsky.social•94 days ago

Marissa Matthews started a GoFundMe page for Patrick. It's verified and legit. My best holiday gift.

fuckcancer56.bsky.social•92 days ago

NVM, I found it. Thank you!

pat0615.bsky.social•92 days ago

It's heartwarming during these wicked times. The esquire magazine article touched Marissa. Good job eff

fuckcancer56.bsky.social•91 days ago

The thing is, I grew up in the same part of Rhode Island and am an ex-reporter. I remember his byline from the Narragansett Times. He’s a beautiful writer. I hope he can now have some piece of mind and peace of heart. Thanks so much for sharing. ☮️

pat0615.bsky.social•91 days ago

Oh that's so nice. I haven't looked in a bit but they raised way more than originally asked. Americans are good. Housing, etc but especially his teeth. So glad for him and his doggie. 💔

fuckcancer56.bsky.social•92 days ago

Do you have the GFM address?

viewfromargus.bsky.social•92 days ago

One of the things we do in America when we read a painful story of a person in need is to want to help that individual, that family experiencing hunger, etc. But we rarely turn that same energy into seeking systemic solutions to what caused the person's pain to begin with.

watchingthewheels.bsky.social•82 days ago

Exactly, though a major reason systemic solutions aren't pursued is it affects covert interests; a majority of people I hear bemoaning homelessness have created/live in gentrified areas that've pushed lower classes out. In the last 15 yrs there's been a huge turnover of old neighborhoods by this.

kimoco.bsky.social•91 days ago

As an individual, I cannot solve all the problems that cause people to be without a permanent place to live. But we can help some directly. I bought a sandwich for a homeless young guy yesterday. It did solve his hunger for the moment.

cornholio4u.bsky.social•93 days ago

When I was homeless, I parked in church lots overnight.
Only one church ever evicted me. It was a Spanish language Christian church near my current apartment

sfree.bsky.social•93 days ago

For the postscript:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/11/28/metro/homeless-former-journalist-patrick-fealey-rhode-island/

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