Law Student Goes 'Homeless by Choice,' Touts Value of Gym Club Membership
A Cardozo law student lived as a homeless person for nine weeks because he felt he didn’t have any challenges.
The 2L, who called himself “David,” told Above the Law that he didn’t intend to disrespect or marginalize anybody facing a real problem. “I simply wanted to create a challenge in my own life,” he said.
In an article called “Homeless by Choice,” the Yeshiva Observer published a Q-and-A interview with the student. David explained his decision to go homeless this way: “So I’m in my second year at Cardozo and I already had an internship of my dream job. … I didn’t have romantic problems, and no financial problems, and my apartment was great, and the weather was great, and just everything was so good; yet I wasn’t satisfied, my life just felt meaningless.” He goes on to say he decided to give himself a problem and make survival more difficult.
David told the Observer he was actually outside about six hours at night. His health club opened at 6 a.m. and his school library was open until midnight. He napped a lot in a lounge at the library. He showered at the health club and stored clothes at lockers there. “If your average homeless person spent 30 to 40 dollars a month on a gym membership, they could shave and shower, keep warm for most of the day, maybe stay fit and like they’d have a good opportunity to look at jobs,” he told the Observer.
He also saw an upside in homelessness. “It saves time,” David told the Observer. “You know, all the little ways we waste time in our homes, watching TV or cleaning. I feel like there’s a substantial amount of time I’m saving by not having a place.”
Gawker and the Globe and Mail also picked up the story.
