I moved into the Green Shutter Hotel in downtown Hayward five years ago. Before that, I had been living in a tent near Don Castro Lake by Grove Way and Hwy 580. The sheriff was beginning to roust me out and my budget was able to support some rent, so I moved. It has been a step up in the world. I am still learning about how to function at this level, above a tent but below an apartment. You have a lot of freedom but also you get regulated by peer pressure. So I have been learning how to interact with people of various personality types and ethnicities. The better I get along, the more time outside the hotel I can manage. I would like to get a job and move to an apartment. But, for now, my job involves being a part of the society here.

This type of living situation, the old hotel in a downtown area, is in the lower middle-class. You have some police protection, which is part of being in the middle class. But, you are a pawn in some economic schemes, which is part of being in the lower class. You don’t always get all of your mail. And, income that can be applied for in your name is not shared with you. The police are rough but they usually just get rid of the passerby and don’t hurt the residents.

People are free to drug themselves but any organized operation gets shut down. You can see how the various substances move through the area and you can interact with people who have used them. But, it never settles into a pattern.

Sex is part of the operation here. People come over from the bars and want to carouse around in the hallways and then go to one or another room which hosts them. Individuals here have the freedom to do sex acts and it becomes a skill insofar as how to “escort” the town. Some women lose out in the game and get pregnant. They become “welfare moms.” Other women are able to manage the opportunities and become socially active and single.

Thievery does go on, and parolees stay here, too. The parolees oftentimes shack up with a woman and don’t let their name get on the lease. They usually find a female mental patient and act as her conservator.  They shack up and it gets wild and crazy. The thievery is due to a lack of identity about what belongs to you or to someone else. If it is not bolted down, it is fair game. I have seen parts of the building get stolen, such as the numbers on a door or the lever that stops a door and you operate with your foot. These items are traded for drugs, probably.