Meet the American Nomads of Walmart’s Plentiful Parking Lots
November 9th, 2013This was my dad’s cunning plan: At 80-years-old, and in poor health, set off with his cat and a .357 magnum—for Arizona.
If he had gone through with it, he would probably be dead by now.
He held off, waiting for his arthritis pain to improve. It didn’t improve, but rather worsened until he couldn’t move at all. I happened to call and he happened to answer and he said something like, “This is it. I’m on my way out.” As in dying, not headed to Arizona.
Despite infuriating my sister to the point where she didn’t want to know him anymore, she took him to the emergency room, stayed with him through a couple of weeks in the hospital and then took him into her own home—where he is continuing to drive her nuts. (There’s a lot more. You don’t want to know and I don’t want to tell you, but those who have experienced eldercare nightmares will be nodding heads in grim understanding.)
My sister is a sort of dog rescue lady, and she has a no-dogs-on-the-furniture rule. To make a long story short, see the picture below:
Crusty and Friends
To all daughters who rescued your elderly fathers from certain death in a Walmart parking lot or other grim circumstances, I salute you. May your mental health recover, someday.
Via: Wired:
If you’ve ever tried to sleep in your car on a long trip without planning ahead, you may have run into the law at some point. Each U.S. city has a different policy and tolerance for car-sleeping and it’s hard to find a legit spot if you don’t know where exactly you’ll be stopping.
What you can count on is one of Walmart’s over 3,000 stores being nearby. The company’s policy of allowing overnight stays in their parking lots is intended to boost sales, but has the tangential effect of creating a subculture around its locations (though they’re still at the mercy of local laws).
The two separate Walmart parking lots in Flagstaff, Arizona are specifically known for their long-term residents, and this past summer photographer Nolan Conway spent several days making a series of portraits of both the overnighters and the people who call these asphalt grids a temporary home.
“Flagstaff is the one place in Arizona where it’s not too hot in the summer and a lot of people who live in their cars or RVs stay there,” he says.
My sister and I call it SDBOP. Slow Death By Old People.
My elderly father absolutely refused to go into assisted living, so I took care of him for the last couple years of his life as his mental health deteriorated from vascular dementia. Never a dull moment with him, though. Not with episodes like having a cop wake me up in my bed at 2:00 am because my father had been pounding on the neighbor’s door claiming that an armed intruder was holding me hostage inside.
I can’t believe you posted this Kevin. I think it is very mean spirited of you. And Pookie, Slow Death By Old People? WTF?
I guess you all hate the man, but I don’t know him and he never has harmed me, and I really dislike how you are making this man into a monster and making fun of him because he is old and demented.
Your Kevin sister, has a large heart and spirit I am sure to take your father in. But this seems very mean spirited of you to post a picture of your father in his late life misery. Oh well, its your web site. But I feel saddened that you would expose your father to ridicule in his old age. It makes me sad that you do so. Very sad.
@Eileen WTF do you mean by WTF? Yeah, you know ALL about my sister’s and my life. Why should I censor my comments so that complete strangers like you don’t get offended? Busybodies (and they’re almost all ultra-yakky middle-aged women who don’t know when to shut their traps) have been an added burden to SDBOP these last 10 years and counting.
I am so sorry Kevin and Pookie that I did not ask Kevin to erase my comment of 11-Nov-2013. I fell asleep at the computer after I wrote it and woke up and saw that my comment “was awaiting moderation,” and just felt sick wishing I had never sent it. But alas, I did not follow through. I do apologize.
I was hoping my comment was lost in the back pages but alas it was not. I do know not your family circumstances Pookie, and I know you don’t hate your father Kevin, and I am sorry to have offended either one of you. I can only say that in retrospect, I wrote my comment re WTF SDBOP persons because Iforget that I am still grieving for a parent that I cared for over ten years, and this post angered me. Believe it or not, I would probably find humor in all of the above (excluding my comment)if I weren’t still missing my loved ones (not all of them old people) so much. I wish you no harm. Please accept my apology. E
Meant to say do NOT know
I’m so numb from the situation, I didn’t take any offense at all. If someone wanted to believe that I was somehow the bad guy in this situation… I don’t even care.
Kevin, Thanks so much for NOT taking offense. How could you possibly be the bad guy? You are a father with all those kids! And I am I admit, Chatty Cathy. And I will in the future, try not to drink wine to excess and then post a comment.
Tonight I had the best cry out I’ve had in about four years writing my post. So it is all good for me:-)