Local workers sleep outside

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

By Henry Sweets

A new Jackson non-profit, People Accepting Jackson’s Abysmal Market for Affordable Housing (PAJAMAH), is snatching up easements under the eaves, sheds and stairwells of Jackson homes so that local workers can live vagrantly in tent-like suits.
The project began as a performance-art satire, by which local food service and hospitality workers wanted to express that they felt “discarded” by their community.

“I mean, all of these rich people are trying to decide who is more important, fireman or teachers, and they forget that they need busboys and bartenders too,” said PAJAMAH founder Awe Skeets. “So when they bought our apartments out from under us and turned them into condos, we slept outside.  The new owners are never around, so no-one noticed.”

Eventually, some teachers, and even policeman began living in the new “sleepsacks,” which resemble a bivy sack but have legs, arms and a short tent-pole attached to a belt buckle. Once policeman joined PAJAMAH, and it became increasingly tricky to prosecute the “offenders,” who all violate an existing town ordinance against vagrancy.
Officials are expecting a new ordinance saying vagrancy is okay if it happens 100 yards from tourists.

“We are just following the natural course of things,” PAJAMAH advocate and idea man Bick Oriole said. “If development harms the environment, we will become the environment. Then people will have to protect us.??

Local builder Wes Ward Hogh said that having a few Jams (the new term for these hardy sleepers) raised the property value of his homes as long as they vacated the premises for the weeks the owners were there.

“I mean, being exploited is better than being homeless,” Hogh said. “These guys can mow lawns and protect valuable art and furniture in these well-appointed homes. It is great to see them accomplishing something.”

Rick Hole, president of Dudes In Cool Kars, at first opposed the process, but then saw the benefits for the local economy. His organization now funds campers, as long as they come from upper-middle to upper class families.

“I don’t care if you are white, black or red, we still don’t like poor people here in Jackson.”

Some critics say the winter will be tough, especially when an estimated 15 percent of the local workforce will be sleeping under the stars.

Skeets said that igloos disguised as Christmas decorations, and “more bomber” suits will help ensure he and fellow Jams’ survival this winter.
PERMALINK:
Local workers sleep outside | Planet JH News Article: Flipside

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