Countless people around the country are fighting to make ends meet today, even if they have an education, a job, and a social support system. So, you may never truly know the extent of someone’s struggles unless they tell you firsthand.
This 21-year-old man, for instance, suspects that his girlfriend, who’s 19, is hiding something major from him. And he’s really not sure how to broach the topic.
To paint the picture, they’ve been dating for just over two months, and according to him, their relationship has become quite serious. In fact, they’ve been seeing each other about five or six times each week.
Despite that, various strange habits and inconsistencies in his girlfriend’s life have led him to suspect that she may be homeless and keeping it a secret from him.
The most glaring red flag is how she’s refused to share her address. Apparently, she won’t even tell him the general direction that she lives in relation to his place.
“And she is always out. Literally always at some cafe, besides allegedly being home from 3:00 a.m. when the last one closes until 9:00 a.m.,” he added.
When they’re together, his girlfriend constantly carries a very heavy backpack around with her as well. To him, it seems like there’s not just one outfit in there, either. Rather, the backpack is so stuffed that it appears to be filled with enough clothes for a week-long trip.
Other conversations that gave him pause involved naps. His girlfriend has supposedly admitted to knowing about multiple “good spots” to lie down and nap in the sun.
Plus, more recently, she took a trip to the city where she used to live and claimed she was going to grab some of her belongings out of a storage unit.
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“She was running late on the way back, and asked to keep the five or six bags at my place for the night because her storage locker was closed,” he recalled.
“It was never clear to me why she couldn’t just store them at her place.”
Additionally, his girlfriend is supposedly living with her mother. Yet, to him, it doesn’t seem like her mom works, and he knows that his girlfriend isn’t earning enough at her job to afford housing.
Last but not least, he knows for a fact that his girlfriend loves cooking. Nonetheless, she only eats out at restaurants unless he lets her use his kitchen to prepare food.
All of this has led him to believe his girlfriend might not actually have a place to call home, and he doesn’t know how to talk to her about it.
“She’s probably afraid I’d leave her if I knew, which is not the case at all. I want to help her,” he noted.
How do you suggest he start this conversation? What would you do in his shoes?
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By Katharina Buczek
Katharina Buczek graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Digital Arts. Specializing in... More about Katharina Buczek
