It’s no secret that for many of today’s young adults, homeownership is an unfeasible goal. After years of trying to set aside income all while paying off student loans and throwing money into the black hole that is rent, I still wasn’t close to having enough to make a down payment on a house. And that’s exactly why I stopped pinching pennies for some idealized milestone that would never come and started the moving process right into an abandoned RadioShack on the other side of town.
My parents bought the house I grew up in when they were five years younger than me, but the socio-economic conditions for my generation are just different. Why would I measure my life by a yardstick that wasn’t built for the world I now inhabit? And why would I worry about things like “escrow” or “mortgage” when I can squat in this deserted RadioShack in New Mexico?
Plus, there are still tons of cassette players here.
Even if I could afford to buy a house, homeownership comes with a host of responsibilities and headaches. There’s no super when you live in a house. Something goes wrong? That’s on you to fix it. Meanwhile, when the ceiling started to cave in over the barren smartphone and tablet accessory section of my RadioShack, I simply moved my belongings to the other side.
Some people want to buy a home so that they can begin a family in a stable environment. But I’m not worried about that. This desolate RadioShack would be a perfect place to have kids. There are tons of empty shelves to climb on, lots of natural light, and I could even give birth right here on this thin gray carpet – some coyotes clearly already have!
According to I think Fight Club and definitely me, you try to own a house, but then the house ends up owning you. But today, I am completely free because nobody owns this RadioShack. Well, maybe the state? I don’t really know how abandoned property works. Please don’t alert anyone of my presence. One time this guy with a camera came and looked through the window, but I just played dead and honestly, he ran away without calling 911 or anything.
In a way, it’s quite beautiful to live in a place that was once a staple of my youth. I got my first Walkman at a RadioShack; it was a beacon of technological advancement and maturation, and now it’s a dilapidated building where I live off the grid! At the end of the day, a home should be a place where you feel safe and comfortable, and as long as I defer to the authority of the coyotes, I feel safe and comfortable here.
