> A couple months ago, I found that particular bridge was next to an office building inhabited by some of my old colleagues. A start-up I had been a part of in New York. Where I was the first employee. I had owned equity. They had eventually sold for $350 million.
It is depressing easy to have this happen and even worse how many people are convinced it could never be them.
Are people reading this or just up voting the title? Sounds like someone who screwed up their life, likely by being stubborn, and doing a lot of drugs, which doesn't take knowing how to code to pull off. Reads like a love letter to misery by someone who knew they would never be truly affected by it.
Not a worse place to be homeless, except maybe Portland or Seattle.
Obviously more to this story when someones support network has collapsed to this degree, but at the same time people don't have great support networks anymore =/
I will never stop being dumbfounded by the contrast of people going through this kind of hardship being surrounded by some of the wealthiest people in the world. This exists in other parts of the world as well, of course, but it's particularly troubling that it exists in the tech epicenter.
There's something deeply disturbing about a society that allows this to happen, and yet it's something we've learned to accept and largely ignore for centuries. The promise of technology bringing forth universal prosperity is a lie promoted by those who have something to gain from that narrative. Yet we keep believing these people to this day.
I get an incredible “narcism ick” from this writing. I wonder if other people feel the same way.
It’s so gross contrasted with the theme. The very first paragraphs start with a poor attempt to humble brag his”credentials” as not just a “normal” homeless person.
The self mythologising, the framing of negative things more like the weather than consequences of his choices.
The fact that despite privileged upbringing and working in tech in the valley he has no one willing to offer him a couch.
The most striking for me is the framing of his own grandmothers death as exceptional, proving his lineage is special.
Calling others NPCs, framing of stealing from stores as being the heroic action, even with approval from grandmother.
I feel this is getting redundant. I’d love to hear if anyone disagrees and what their thoughts are.
honest question: are there not enough shelters in SF? Are there not enough jobs? I heard it's dirty and unsafe at places, isn't government hiring street cleaners and police?
What I probably never get: When somebody is capable and reasonable but jobless, why stay homeless in a city with one of the highest rents? Why not move to a cheaper place, get any job, even a bad paid job will pay a nice flat in a small town.
It's always those large very expensive cities that have a huge amount of homelessness.
Don't get me wrong, I do not want to play clever here, it's just a honest question.
OP here. Thank you all for taking the time to read this and beginning some conversations, even if some are harder to read.
I plan on sharing more of the story in future writings. During this particular story, I was on the tail end of a state of a psychosis, which I didn’t know at the time. I just thought what I thought. Truth to be told, I took too many psychedelics in 2024 and one day I woke up, and started experiencing a bunch of delusions that ripped me away from reality.
I had spent the majority of my life living in New York, Vegas directly before San Francisco- I was in Grass Valley.
I arrived in SF last January and didn’t know anyone close enough to reach out to. Plus my delusions were beginning to pick up, dramatically.
I threw away my cash and IDs, got rid of every item I owned, and was paranoid that my phone was tracking me. So I voluntarily got rid of it.
I was navigating all this chapter without a phone.
I obviously got out of the situation. I’m not in jail. I did successfully defend myself, pro se, against the felonies. I eventually got a job. Which connected me with people. I started volunteering on art and back in the homeless shelters. I found more and more jobs. I found a home. I started researching psychosis to try to understand what happened to me.
This was an intense experience. And at this particular moment in time, as many people in here have picked up on- one of my survival mechanisms was believing I was the hero of my own journey. I was isolated. I was lonely. My delusions were based on video games, and books, and movies, and AI, and predictions about the future. Being homeless in San Francisco- where there’s people bent over on fentanyl and an AI sign everywhere, everyplace promoting AI is sort of surreal. Especially if you are in the middle of psychosis. Jail and homelessness will compound that more.
There are many good people trying to help in this situation. Some from the HSA, the old ladies and other volunteers making food at the homeless shelter, the other hurting souls, the DA involved in my case, a wonderful woman from the shelter in Redwood City. My family. My mom. My brother. I will share some of those good stories. And there’ll be more context- as to why it was the way it was.
I suppose anything that splits people is a good thing. And I appreciate the level of insight on both sides that people give in this thread.
This guy really illustrates the problem with mental illness in otherwise functioning adults. Since he is getting emails from his mom, and admits he "comes from a relatively privileged upbringing", my guess is he could get help from his family, but rejected it.
He is an adult, and is not sick enough to warrant involuntary intervention, so he is free to choose to reject care. Also, he mentions using psychedelics (to self medicate? Or just cause he wanted the experience?) So this could be 100% self-inflicted for all we know, although I'd put my money on self-medication.
Mentally ill people (depending on the type of illness) can be really hard to be around for long periods (source: father and brother who are bipolar.) It is no surprise he would have trouble finding a friend to let him crash. His narcissism and superiority-complex are just part of the package.
I will also note that it was infuriating that he got access to a women-only shelter when he said "I identify as a woman".
17 comments
[ 3.7 ms ] story [ 41.9 ms ] threadIt is depressing easy to have this happen and even worse how many people are convinced it could never be them.
What happened to the author's equity?
Obviously more to this story when someones support network has collapsed to this degree, but at the same time people don't have great support networks anymore =/
There's something deeply disturbing about a society that allows this to happen, and yet it's something we've learned to accept and largely ignore for centuries. The promise of technology bringing forth universal prosperity is a lie promoted by those who have something to gain from that narrative. Yet we keep believing these people to this day.
It’s so gross contrasted with the theme. The very first paragraphs start with a poor attempt to humble brag his”credentials” as not just a “normal” homeless person.
The self mythologising, the framing of negative things more like the weather than consequences of his choices.
The fact that despite privileged upbringing and working in tech in the valley he has no one willing to offer him a couch.
The most striking for me is the framing of his own grandmothers death as exceptional, proving his lineage is special.
Calling others NPCs, framing of stealing from stores as being the heroic action, even with approval from grandmother.
I feel this is getting redundant. I’d love to hear if anyone disagrees and what their thoughts are.
Don't get me wrong, I do not want to play clever here, it's just a honest question.
But the US is a f*cking dystopia at this point.
How come the richest country of the world - the model of capitalism - allows so many of their citizens go homeless?
It's mindblowing.
For those older folks, an NPC is a character in an adventure that is scripted or run by the Dungeon Master.
I plan on sharing more of the story in future writings. During this particular story, I was on the tail end of a state of a psychosis, which I didn’t know at the time. I just thought what I thought. Truth to be told, I took too many psychedelics in 2024 and one day I woke up, and started experiencing a bunch of delusions that ripped me away from reality.
I had spent the majority of my life living in New York, Vegas directly before San Francisco- I was in Grass Valley.
I arrived in SF last January and didn’t know anyone close enough to reach out to. Plus my delusions were beginning to pick up, dramatically.
I threw away my cash and IDs, got rid of every item I owned, and was paranoid that my phone was tracking me. So I voluntarily got rid of it.
I was navigating all this chapter without a phone.
I obviously got out of the situation. I’m not in jail. I did successfully defend myself, pro se, against the felonies. I eventually got a job. Which connected me with people. I started volunteering on art and back in the homeless shelters. I found more and more jobs. I found a home. I started researching psychosis to try to understand what happened to me.
This was an intense experience. And at this particular moment in time, as many people in here have picked up on- one of my survival mechanisms was believing I was the hero of my own journey. I was isolated. I was lonely. My delusions were based on video games, and books, and movies, and AI, and predictions about the future. Being homeless in San Francisco- where there’s people bent over on fentanyl and an AI sign everywhere, everyplace promoting AI is sort of surreal. Especially if you are in the middle of psychosis. Jail and homelessness will compound that more.
There are many good people trying to help in this situation. Some from the HSA, the old ladies and other volunteers making food at the homeless shelter, the other hurting souls, the DA involved in my case, a wonderful woman from the shelter in Redwood City. My family. My mom. My brother. I will share some of those good stories. And there’ll be more context- as to why it was the way it was.
I suppose anything that splits people is a good thing. And I appreciate the level of insight on both sides that people give in this thread.
He is an adult, and is not sick enough to warrant involuntary intervention, so he is free to choose to reject care. Also, he mentions using psychedelics (to self medicate? Or just cause he wanted the experience?) So this could be 100% self-inflicted for all we know, although I'd put my money on self-medication.
Mentally ill people (depending on the type of illness) can be really hard to be around for long periods (source: father and brother who are bipolar.) It is no surprise he would have trouble finding a friend to let him crash. His narcissism and superiority-complex are just part of the package.
I will also note that it was infuriating that he got access to a women-only shelter when he said "I identify as a woman".