I pulled up to the corner lot and pulled into one of the few spaces in front of the building. It was a nondescript place–a closed garage door with an unmarked door, next to a corner store selling canned food and liquor. Maybe I had the address wrong. I’d given myself enough time to stop in and say hi before leaving for my flight at nearby LAX, but in a neighborhood like Inglewood, one can’t be too sure. As I picked up my phone, the garage door swung open. There stood my friend, M. in the doorway.
“Morning, amigo,” M. said, waving me in. “I saw you pull up. You learn to watch your space closely here.”
M. and I had been neighbors years ago in Venice Beach, friendly acquaintances in a building full of beach bums and pot-heads. It wasn’t until I had moved out of the apartment when we hit it off–to the point he’s now willing to keep watch over my truck while I’m out of town for the week. We were relaxing in a mutual friend’s place a few years back when M. asked where I had moved. “Into my office,” I said, more cavalier than usual. He chuckled and replied, “I know the feeling.”
We’ve been close ever since.
The “office” M. occupies is actually a carpentry shop, and he’s been living there home-free for about six months longer than me. After a work layoff following the economic downturn in 2008/9, M. took on over $60,000 in credit card debt to sustain his lifestyle. Like me, he started by subleasing his apartment, trying out a few months living in his Volkswagen Westfalia. But he couldn’t hack it. Life on the street, even in the relatively comfortable confines on a VW, took a toll on him.
“Not having a home can fuck with you,” M. says. “I missed having a place to go back to at night.”
M. admits he could have made different decisions to better position him for a comfortable transition into his 40’s, but he’s taking his situation in stride. Three years later and his debts are nearly all paid off, thanks to his transition into a lifestyle of simplicity. M. asked me not to take photos of his place, but the lighting wouldn’t have made for great photos anyway. His is a crammed space, with tools and machinery parts scattered about the space like a one-track yard sale. Crammed in one corner of the space is a small Airstream, where inside M. can sleep, change, and relax. Above his office in the back is another resting nook, nestled above a desk courtesy of a loft space tucked well under the high ceiling. It’s far from glorious but it’s allowed M. to meet his goals.
“I’m starting to save up to buy a place,” M. said.
After three years of living where he works, he’s most definitely earned it.
–TOH
