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Hotel Honda: The Story of Bruce Richall

by Rhonda J Mangus | October 22, 2008 at 05:00 am

536 views | 1 Recommendation | 6 comments

"I never thought it would ever come down to this, but here I am - homeless" (Bruce Richall, IT consultant).

I really liked my job and wanted to keep it. I joined in February, and having worked for many years as an IT contractor - with its inherent instability - this position offered the potential of a full-time position. It could become a "secure" job.

But when security guards made simple, routine rounds though the cubes and offices, people would look up from their desks.

There would be a sigh of relief as the guards kept going.

But it didn't happen this time. On a Friday, my manager came to my desk. Usually he came by to ask me if I could put in some overtime. But, just by the look on his face, I could tell. This wasn't an overtime request. This is it, I said to myself.

Sure enough, I was told that my last day would be the end of the month.

Though I didn't show it outwardly, I was devastated.

I would have another month before leaving so that I could start yet another job search. I immediately contacted my agency to let them know that the assignment would be ending.

My last day at the bank was bitter-sweet. There was a cake and a card. We joked but inside I was truly frightened. I asked myself what would happen to me now, in such a difficult job market? Would I become homeless?

At the end of my last day, my manager came downstairs with me. We had a cigarette and talked.

"Bruce, if I can get you back here, you know I will," he said. His words were kind and well-intentioned.

My life today has changed dramatically since my brief tenure with the bank.

Now I'm facing a very uncertain future.

I had to move from my apartment, put my belongings in storage and find a homeless shelter.

I now sleep in the back of my car, while I wait for a bed to become available at the shelter. I call it The Hotel Honda.

I keep a good suit and a dress shirt in the back of the car for interviews. I tell recruiters that I'm working.

This is not the life I imagined for myself when I graduated from university. I never thought it would ever come down to this, but here I am - homeless.

What galls me the most is that about one third of my income is taxed. I'm taxed on what I earn and taxed on what I spend.

Now that I'm in need there is nowhere to turn.

Nobody is helping me except for my contributions to my unemployment account.

Yet our leaders have found a way to bail out the very institutions that have put myself, and others, at risk.

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Nathan Scott (not verified)

at 09:01 on October 22nd, 2008

There was a time when America was so poor we could not afford soup kitchens. People without jobs or families starved to death. Free Markets have made us wealthy enough that someone down on their luck can still get by. You may have to take a job at a lower pay, and more hours, but there are opportunities to make it by. Reexamine the skills you have learned, and look at what employers need. Take a few online classes, and cut back on spending once you have that job and build a savings for future ups and downs. In the long term you will be far happier that you worked yourself out of tough times through hard work an ingenuity, rather than have the government string you along with welfare at the poverty line for 5 or 10 years.

Carl Jones (not verified)

at 10:24 on October 22nd, 2008

Free markets have not made us wealthier; they have made a few people very wealthy, and a lot of people poorer. The fact that now we have soup kitchens (they've actually been around since the Great Depression) should be a testament about how unfair the economy is that we actually need this type of "last resort" system, which by the way, is not available to everyone who needs it. Everyone needs help at some point; in addition to being unemployed and homeless this person is probably very depressed because of the circumstances he finds himself in. Instead of the useless "self-made-man" approach and using our bootstraps to pull ourselves out of misery, let's work to create a better system where people won't have to go through what this guy -and hundreds of thousands of others like him- are going through. If you're a Christian, read your bible and lend someone a hand when they need it. Who knows when you'll need it.

Nathan Scott (not verified)

at 15:38 on October 22nd, 2008

You can't be serious with such a blatantly wrong statement. Who was made poorer? Poverty is down drastically since the 1900's. Life expectancy and productivity are up. Our country is so wealthy, the number one health problem is OVER-eating. The "useless" approach you talk about is how mankind has survived and prospered over the last million years. The bible is a crutch for the weak of mind.

Bruce Richall (not verified)

at 12:26 on October 26th, 2008

Free markets have worked for the few, not the many.

I'd sure like to know where the jobs are?

Since a private university education was out of reach, I attended a competitive state university. A graduating high school senior in the top 10% of his/her class could not be guaranteed a seat in the incoming Freshman class.

My parents did not send me to Choate, I went to a public high school where I already began to gather scholarships, worked after school jobs

bought my first car and saved for college. I took out student loans and worked my way through college too. They were paid off long ago.

Nobody handed me an education, I earned it.

Ronald Reagan saw it fit to eliminate the interest deduction on my student loan. He also saw it fit to lead us into more debt and deficits and break up labor unions.

The war on the middle class was well underway.

Following my graduation from the state university, I sent on to earn a two year degree in computer science.

Do you honestly think that someone with no job and living in a shelter can afford to take classes too?

Perhaps you missed the point of my BBC essay? I HAVE paid into this system, that tax money is mine, not for the goverment to bail out reckless and irresponsible high flyers who don't give a flying f*ck about the rest of us.

Where are the thousands upon thousands of dollars that I've paid into the system over the years? I'll tell you where they are. They're in the wallet of a greedy bank Vice-President and a blood thirsty executive at Halliburton who thinks of dead Iraqi civilians are nothing more than collateral damage.

Capitalists turn Socialist real fast when their bank goes belly-up.

Rhonda J Mangus

at 18:22 on October 27th, 2008

Bruce, thank you for stopping by and setting the record straight. I hope things turn around for you very shortly. I would appreciate it if you would keep us posted.

Rhonda J Mangus

at 15:27 on October 22nd, 2008

Hi Nathan and Carl! Thanks to you both for stopping by and commenting. Your advice is very interesting and conflicting. What do our readers think? I'd like to know!