21

Well I’m all settled in at a new home with a new job and I can’t express how well everything worked out, I really have my parents to thank because I would’ve been homeless otherwise and pawned my stuff (laptop, skiis etc). The Econolodge I stayed at was in one of the worst neighborhoods in SLC but I suppose I shouldn’t have expected anything different considering I picked the cheapest room on Hotels.com and it had a 2.2 star rating.

The number of homeless people in SLC is pretty astonishing to me, you don’t see them downtown but in the neighborhood I was in they were everywhere. I don’t think a single guest was here to ski or on any sort of vacation, everyone was either homeless and had enough coin to get a room or was living at the hotel. When I took a shower the other day I was giving my conditioner time to do it’s work and realized there was a used heroin needle on the top ledge of the molded shower tub. I left it there for a day but ultimately decided to touch it and throw it away, I didn’t want the owners thinking it was me and take my deposit.

During 3 nights/4 days at the Econolodge I saw a few fights break out, probably about 20 people smoking foil in broad daylight and countless people shooting up on the street. Two nights ago I was doing my homework and at about 8:30PM I started hearing “Juan Something in room 210 – This is the SLC Police, come out with your hands up!” I was staying in room 110 which was directly below so the cops were all standing right outside my door yelling at the room above me, this went on for several hours and they just kept repeating the same line. Eventually I got tired and decided to go to sleep, I turned off the lights and all the sudden I had SLC Swat smashing on my door “SLC SWAT- Open the door immediately!” I was in my boxers and opened the door to 3 armed swat members and about 50 other police officers standing around the parking lot all with spot lights on the building.

The officers let me know that there was a potentially armed man upstairs that they had been chasing for a number of crimes, I quickly put on my clothes and was escorted my a Swat officer with a bullet proof shield to a room adjacent to where I had been staying. The Econolodge was quite the experience and I can’t stay I’ll ever willingly stay in one again but the experience was certainly worthwhile.

I’m very grateful to sleep in a safe warm place tonight and everyone I have met in my new spot has been super friendly. Getting fired, although stupid and avoidable, turned out to be a blessing in disguise as I’m now making more money, with better lodging and a significantly better food situation (plus I have a gym and outdoor heated pool which I’m pretty excited about).