Let's assume, to make this even more challenging, that no resources meant no form of identification, in addition to no credit cards or access to any kind of electronic transfer of funds.
Here's what I would do to eat:
I used to have an acquaintance - this is true, let's call him Alan - who would pride himself on going into diners, waiting until a patron left the table, then quickly sitting down and gobbling up anything that was left on the plate...
I know, it's a little hard to stomach, but it beats starving to death, and I'm pretty sure it's not breaking the law (since the food was already paid for, and the patron left it, uneaten, on the table). I should also point out that Alan seemed pretty healthy, and never got sick from his diner poaching, at least as far as I knew...
Let's move on to sleeping. That's far easier. If the weather is warm, hey, you can find a nice quiet place in some park to sleep. (I once did this when I was a teenager - long story.) Deserted beaches would work well for this, too.
But let's say it's freezing cold outside? In that case, I'd recommend catching some zzzzs on a subway car - if you live in a city with all-night train service. Or maybe cuddling up with a good book deep in the stacks of your biggest public library, that you were able to quietly sneak into...
Of course, you could also easily solve both your food and sleeping problems by making friends with some nice person - but that assumes, for your safety's sake, that you are an excellent judge of human nature.
So ... what would you do if you were in such a predicament?
Starting June 28, Michael Weston, a CIA Operative on USA Network's new TV series, Burn Notice, will show us how he deals with a similar situation.
I haven't seen any of it, yet, but I certainly intend to.
Hey, you should, too ... USA Network's Burn Notice ... you never know ...
Think about what happened to Frank Converse in Coronet Blue...
8 comments:
This is very interesting Paul. I would probably use my womanly ways to beg on the street. I would definetly go to the park to sleep(My friend and I as teens called it breaking night. We only did it once). The train is definetly the spot if freezing outside, or maybe grand central.
Ha, yeah, "womanly ways to beg on the street" (good line) would definitely work...
Grand Central has had such good food for the past few years, you could practically live there (and then buy the food with what you get from begging)...
And there, of course, have long been rumors of whole communities of people who live somewhere in the tracks...
I believe those rumors, they had a whole law and order where they supposedly were under grand cemtral.
Thanks for posing this interesting question, and using it as a springboard into Burn Notice. I don't know much about the show, and definitely didn't know that it would deal with the main character having to find creative ways to eat, sleep, and otherwise survive. However, I was already planning to watch it because I have been a fan of the lead actor, Jeffrey Donovan, ever since I first saw him on his previous USA Network show, the short-lived Touching Evil. Now I have another reason to watch!
Funny, I was just thinking how the sleeping in the park thing wasn't safe if you're a woman. And my morals would probably prevent me from making a "friend" to take care of me, since he probably wouldn't want to be just friends for very long.
I used to read about edible wild plants, but those are mostly for salads and desserts. I think I still wouldn't get enough to eat that way. And I'm no good at fishing even with equipment, so I don't think that I could live by catching fish without equipment.
I visited Pittsburg for a month or two, and there seemed to be dead deer all over the place. Maybe if you found one right after it died it wouldn't be too bad.
I wonder if this series will appear on Canadian pay tv at some point.
Paul, I thought there was a documentary about the people who live in the tunnels called Dark Days.
dawn - yeah, there definitely are people living there ... and, in some fiction, whole societies that go back almost a hundred years ... but there are really people, and they would probably be ok with sharing food and letting you sleep ... (but you probably won't want to try your womanly ways with them ... :)
emily - my pleasure - I like Jeffrey Donovan's acting, too - but I'm looking forward more to Gabrielle Anwar's...
anon - yeah, you're right about the park - unless you could find some really deserted part that no one would likely wander into ... but, about friends, all you would need to do is make friends with, I don't know, someone over 80, and you should be ok ... (though when I get to be over 80, I expect I'll still be untrustworthy ...) the deer should work for food, though - high protein ...
matt - yeah, I think they've been a few documentaries about the GC Tunnel people ... and, also, Beauty and the Beast (the tv show from a few decades ago) .... you might able to see the show on the Web (I don't know if the USA network put their shows online)...
Read my take on Burn Notice at http://mytvmusings.com/2007/06/26/burn-notice-premiere/
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