The Housing Gap
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There’s a calculation that I’ve begun to do whenever I find myself visiting an events hall, or a posh1) set of offices, or the home of someone over 40. I take in2) the number and size of the rooms and work out how many of the legion3) poor and peripatetic4) young people I know could live in the extra space. Often, I find myself making small talk with people in expensive jackets while instinctually trying to gauge5) where I’d put dividing walls, loft beds and electric heaters, guessing how many wasted square feet could be used to shelter and nurture friends, comrades and strangers who were abandoned at the crunchy6) end of the credit crisis.It’s easy when you get the hang of7) it. The second floor of the RSA8), for example, could comfortably house ten you ng families. The ladies’ loos9) at Thomson Reuters10) could sleep 16 single people if you knocked out some of the sinks. My own father’s bachelor pad11) could squeeze in eight bodies at substantially higher than the living standards most impoverished Londo n renters enjoy. I’m serious. There’s only so much space to go around12) and with millions of young, poor and precariously employedpeople struggling to hang on to accommodation.Housing isn’t a particularly sexy subject to write about—unless you’re one of the people to whom it matters. People who don’t know what it’s like not to be able to afford a safe, comfortable place to live, can’t grasp how it feels to be unable to control your living space. Last night, I stood in a mould-stainedtower-block bedroom not much larger than a club toilet cubicle13) and tried to work out if I could bear to make this my home.无论何时,当我发现自己置身于会展大厅、豪华时尚的办公室或是年过40的人的宅邸时,都会在心里盘算一番。
我细心观察房间的数目和大小,并据此测算出在这富余的空间里,有多少我认识的那些一贫如洗又居无定所的年轻人可以住进来。
我发现,当我和那些身着昂贵夹克衫的人们闲谈时,我常常会不自觉地估测,在哪儿我可以安插分隔墙,哪儿可以放置高架床,哪儿可以安放电暖气;同时还会猜测有多少浪费掉的空间可以用来当做朋友、伙伴和那些被信贷危机害得一无所有的陌生人的栖身之所。
一旦掌握了其中的窍门,估算起来就很简单。
比如说,英国RSA 保险公司大楼的二层可以供十个年轻的家庭舒舒服服地居住。
在汤森路透集团的女卫生间里,如果敲掉一些水槽的话,可以睡得下16个人。
我老爸的单身公寓可以挤得下八个人,即便是这种居住状况,与大多数穷困的伦敦租户们的住宿条件相比,还是要强多了。
我是认真的,没开玩笑。
社会中有这么多可供分配的空间,但千千万万的年轻人、穷人和没有稳定工作的人却在为拥有一间住房而苦苦挣扎。
住房问题并不是一个特别具有吸引力的写作话题——除非你与它息息相关。
那些不知道无法负担起一处安全、舒适的住所是何种滋味的人,不会理解无力掌控自己的生活空间是一种什么样的感受。
昨晚,在霉迹斑斑的公寓楼里,我站在那与酒吧卫生间的小隔间差不多大小的卧室中,努力尝试着看自己能否忍受将这里当成自己的家。
I’m currently without secure accommodation for the fourth time this year, and trying desperately to find another hovel14) within commuting distance of my job. It’s draining, and it’s debilitating, and it’s a daily experience for millions of people with the misfortune to be low earners, or immigrants, or under 30. In21st-century Britain, the middle-aged rich control the property and the power, and there’s no room for the young, the poor and the difficult. There’s quite literally no room.For the p ast few months, I’ve been sleeping on friends’ sofas, meeting copy deadlines on intercity coaches, attempting to scrape together the money for a deposit while house-hunting. Sometimes I have torely on the kindness of strangers to make sure I’ve had somewh ere to plug in my laptop. I’ve been insecurely housed for three years now. In 2008, when I started to write about politics, I was living in Turnpike Lane15) with between five and seven other unemployed and precariously employed young people, crammed into a dirty, run-down house meant for three.I wrote because I wanted to escape. I wrote because when I was writing, I could block out16) the sound of the rats in the walls. I wrote because when I was writing, I didn’t have to watch my disabled partner, slipping into a haze of drugs and depression. I wrote so furiously and obsessively that it got me a job, and then a better job; I began to earn real money, although not enough to stop us all becoming homeless again.这已经是我今年第四次失去安定的住所了,现在我正迫切地寻找另一处能让我坐公交车上下班的简陋住所。
找房子让人感到精疲力竭、心力交瘁,然而这正是数百万不幸成为低收入者、移民或者30岁以下的人每天都要经历的事情。
在21世纪的英国,中年的富人们控制着财富和权力,对于年轻人、穷人和生活困难的人来说,没有可以立足的空间。
事实就是这样,没有空间。
在过去的几个月里,我在朋友的沙发上睡觉,在城际客车上赶稿,努力攒足租房时要交的保证金。
有时候,我甚至需要依赖陌生人的友善来确保自己有个地方插笔记本电脑的电源插头。
像这样居无定所的日子我已过了三年了。
2008年,当我开始写政论文章时,我住在登碧里巷一所肮脏、破旧的房子里,那所房子原本只是供三个人住的,但我和其他五到七个失业或没有稳定工作的年轻人硬是挤了进去。
我写作是因为我想要借此逃避;我写作是因为这能让我对墙壁里老鼠的声音充耳不闻;我写作是因为这个时候,我不必眼睁睁地看着我那身有残疾的室友又陷入毒品和抑郁的泥沼。
我拼尽全力地写,着了魔似地写,最终我凭写作得到了一份工作,随后又有了一份更好的工作;我开始真正地挣钱了,然而,这些钱并不足以保证像我这样的人不再陷入无家可归的困境。
I’ve blogged about a lot of things t his summer, but I’ve not yet been able to write about my living situation. I’ve felt ashamed. Like many young people, I’ve felt that not being able to house myself securely means that I’ve somehow failed as an adult. Living in shit houses for a while has always been part of the adventure of being young and fancy-free17) but, today, more and more of us find ourselves unable to progress from that stage to the point where we can afford central heating and a bed that’s not made out of packing crates.As the recession has clamped down18) on our futures, many of us are failing to make the transition to real adulthood, in a world where maturity and respectable citizenship are defined more than ever by property ownership. The quarter of young adults who still live with their parents learn to internalise19) the special contempt that British culture reserves for those who can’t afford their own space.This weekend, I have to move out of my temporary accommodation and I have no idea where I’ll go. I’ll probably be OK eventually; with my expensive education and nice writing job, there’s every chance that in 20 years, I’ll be installed in a flat inKensington20) with a study, a coffee machine and a Shar Pei named Olivia. With this prospect in mind, I’m afraid I have to work harder, complain less and polish my CV to parade21) gloss22), so that I can be one of the lucky ones who gets to escape the rats and the rot and the rage. What can I do otherwise?今年夏天,我在博客上谈论了很多事情,但是我对自己的住宿状况只字未提。
