Been homeless a year and I learned this one really quick. Took a day or so. Not just bites, but you actually run a bigger risk of sickness because of dew. That grass gets wet every morning and you are getting wet with it.

In the same way, you can stay at a shelter, but be forced up at 4am on the dot repeatedly. So better to do it while early (they only allow so many), knowing where your stuff is (stolen items are frequent), and if you aren’t up at 4 you have no shot at the necessities for your morning. Mind you, that’s if you outpace someone else who already knows better than you regarding everything you are just learning and beats you to the shelter repeatedly.

Or (and this is actually the one I did for a while), understand that you need to understand that when an officer is requesting you leave in a way that demeans you that you still have rights. One personal story before I end this off with some advice.

I was waiting for a food source on a Saturday, myself and a close friend were sitting on the side of a parking lot expecting food, only for the local security to come up and ask what we were doing.

Mind you, it’s two autistic people just being stupid with impressions and passing the time until we get our meal. As we’re explaining ourselves and why our activities were just joking around between us, in comes in a city police officer on break. My friend immediately clenched up and he later told me that the officer was known for stealing money and making fake tickets.

Dude straight up goes to me and tries to throw me against a pillar before backing off once the head of the local area police shows up to talk to us about being grateful for us not starting problems with her officer. We asked for his name and badge number and received it alongside the threat of an arrest for asking for his information to report his actions.

Fast forward 5 minutes, we hear the city police officer confirming his body cam was off, local area police and chief are both being kind to us and city police runs off. Needless to say we reported that and later found out he got demoted. He’s just downtown Park Police now.

Why did I say this? Because the normal spot I sleep is under a bridge with a heavy blanket since, while that city officer was a rude and unprofessional person, his coworkers actually cared enough to not report me for my spot.

Update: I have a place now. I have been speaking with a fellow church member and am moving in with her to help with rent and utilities. It’s not 100% ideal, but I was asked because of my honest nature and kind heart. I also have a job as a photographer for the local tourism community, but will also be volunteering for various homeless locations I went to over my time on the streets. Something to both give alongside those who gave to me and help those who I was with have hope.

At one point, his car, still parked in the company’s lot, was re-possessed while Ken was at work.

He couldn’t wrestle up the funds to get his car back. He apparently had been hiding from the bank for quite some time.

The Offer Of An Office To Sleep In

Our boss (and our entire team) felt bad for him, not only because he was very far down on his luck but because he just seemed to be having a hard life. Our boss arranged for him to sleep in an empty office.

After a week, Ken vanished completely.

The office where he slept was empty, and he didn’t show up for work. After a week of his absence, my boss had no other choice but to terminate him but didn’t have any way to notify him.

A month after he vanished from the office, Ken arrived to pick up his last paycheck. Big red splotches covered him all over his face and body. I offered to take him across the street for lunch since I suspected he might be hungry.

I always liked Ken and felt really terrible for him and what he was going through.

Sleeping On Grass Resulted In Mosquito and Chiggar Attacks

During our lunch, he told me he had disappeared from the office where he was sleeping because he was struggling with personal problems, making it difficult for him to concentrate on his job. Instead, he decided just to move on.

If he didn’t show up for work, he figured he couldn’t keep sleeping in the office our boss provided.

There was a park within a short walking distance of the office. He had slept there the first night on the grass by a small pond.

Not considering the possibilities, he got completely bit up by mosquitoes and chiggers. That explained all the red welts. Texas is famous for all kinds of bugs and critters.

They are huge, and they will bite anything in their vicinity.

He also stepped on a fire ant mound, and they swarmed him. He was worried about ticks but didn’t see any. Who knows if they bit him or not?

An Encounter With A Snake In The Grass

Besides all the bug and fire ant bites, he encountered a scary snake. Finally, he was run off by a policeman who warned him that he couldn’t sleep in the park. Luckily he just got a warning.

After wandering around, he found a large bush in front of a closeby office park. He managed to sleep there behind one of the bushes, although he got all scratched up by the branches. He said the bush reeked of urine.

He also told me the grass all around the bushes had a strong chemical smell from fertilizer.

Hiding Out In A Construction Zone

Eventually, he found an empty space in a new construction area where he could hide out and sleep inside, away from all grass hazards.

With the last check he got, he said he wanted to go to an area with a homeless shelter. He had been offered other help by team members, but he declined for whatever reason he felt he had to. I was never sure about that.

One of our other team members drove him to the area, which had a large public library and church that allowed homeless people to sleep on the grounds.

Our team took up a collection so that he would have some money and food to tide him over in addition to his last check.

The Takeaway

Homeless people commonly sleep on a hard concrete sidewalk when there are grassy areas everywhere because they probably don’t want to get bit up by an array of bugs, ants, ticks, spiders, mice, rats, raccoons, squirrels, or similar, or risk having any snake encounters (depending on where they live).

They also probably don’t want to risk sprinkler systems, fertilizer toxins, dog or cat urine, or feces.

Depending on the grass area, it might also have a lot of fertilizer (which is also common on some properties and lawns).

Who could ever guess that concrete would be so much better to sleep on than grass?

Best wishes to all.