One of streedocking’s anxiety-producing possibilities is The Knock — being rousted by law enforcement.
On last year’s coastal sojourn I learned of several cities/towns that are at least tolerant of folks like me sleeping in vehicles on their streets. This trip I’m trying a few other places that word of mouth reports say are lenient. But I would still be wary until I had been there long enough to assess the vibe. Experience lessens fear.
I had been in last night’s town a few days and was feeling comfortable. Okay, no problem. But when I awoke this morning there were flashing lights outside. Uh-oh. I hurried to dress and stow some loose items incase I was about to be run off.
The view through the perforated vinyl covering my back windows, plus a bit of fog
Now that I was more awake I looked out the window again. Hmmm. It was just red lights, no blue ones. Oh and those are big trucks. Ah-ha! Ambulances. EMTs were working on someone collapsed on the sidewalk. I hope they were okay.
There was no going back to sleep now, so I headed off to my scenic daytime spot. And I might change towns rather than press my luck here.
See how these resonate:
ReplyDeleteThe red lights are a warning. It's not good to stay in one spot too long. They may be lenient, but they don' t want folks getting so comfortable they become a problem. This is an intuitive and/or karmic event keeping you alert & safe.
Perspective #2: Overcoming baseless fears can sometimes be accomplished by encountering a similar occurrence that lacks the threats i.e., redlights but no blue ones. You're not doing anything wrong, they are tolerant, you're helping support the local economy. The incident had nothing to do w you; you're fine.
I've felt both ways.
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