Lisa the van lady.
I met Lisa, a 61-year-old woman from Florida currently residing in Southern California. I don’t know much about Lisa, but I'll be writing about what I do know. I asked her if I could, and she permitted me.
It’s a quiet Saturday night, and I find myself sitting on the comfy faux leather couch at Panera Bread. The seat next to me is unoccupied for now. An older lady walks up to me and politely asks if she can sit in the comfy seat next to me, and of course, I say yes. I move my bag, and she takes a seat. Instantly, she begins saying that it’s "kismet" and that "the universe has brought this night together." I have no clue what "kismet" means, so she tells me to Google it. It means destiny; fate. I'm sitting there chuckling; I thought it was amusing. I enjoy people with weirdness and randomness.
We get into a conversation about the basics of what you ask anyone when you first meet them: where are you from, what do you do for work, and why are you here at Panera at 6 pm? The way I see it is I'm here to write, and because I live in a van, I need WiFi, and Panera is where I go. So naturally, I am curious about why other people are there—whether it's to get out of the house, get food, or just really like Panera bread.
It takes some back and forth before she can come out clean and tell me she is also living in a van parked right outside. I am immediately intrigued, not that I wasn't before, but it's not very common to meet a 61-year-old lady who seems completely normal living in a van. There are only a few scenarios I see for people to be in a van: either by circumstance and you're down on luck, and you now live in a van or your car, or you choose this, you've chosen a path that gives ultimate freedom but you pay with a lot of other things. There is an immense amount of sacrifice you make by this privileged choice. Living in a van by choice is a privilege, and no one can dispute that.
After learning that she is living in a van, I bug her as to why, what brought her to this decision or outcome. Was it by choice or circumstance? She tells me she is a retired flight attendant for United Airlines, and some bad luck fell her way. She begins telling me about her family drama with her mother and sister and how her mother called her back to Florida because Lisa's sister was attempting to steal some real estate from her mother and so on. So Lisa, getting involved, ended up with the short end of the stick. She claims (and I say claims because I'm only the listener; I do not know whether any of this is true or false; I'm just taking it as it is) that her sister started a smear campaign against her, and there were people spreading rumors that she was a criminal, alcoholic, drug addict, and sex addict. Lisa, to me, does not seem to be any of those. As a matter of fact, looking at Lisa at first glance, she seems like a perfectly normal 61-year-old white lady that lives in Encinitas. They aren't a rare sighting here.
I ask her who is spreading this false information, and she tells me she can't tell me. I even ask for her last name, something she also can't share with me. At this point, I am confused. She goes on to tell me that everywhere she goes, they are spreading lies, making her life terrible. I am puzzled but can't help but laugh because of how odd this situation I've been put in. It is obvious to me she is living in a van by a very odd circumstance. She tells me she has accepted it and has made the best of it. She has traveled all over California, New Mexico, and even went as far up as Idaho and camped on the Salmon River. She says she had the white picket fence, the mortgage, the car payment. I know that is no easy transition to go from a normal comfortable life to living in a van and not a $200k Sprinter; this was a small Dodge Transit van half the size of mine. She refuses to show me the inside of it and goes on to tell me the only thing in there was a metal cot from Walmart, a few layers of memory foam, and a bucket to poop in. It was a no-build van. She begins complaining and sounding quite miserable about the van. I offer her help and that I would be glad to assist in building it out. It is all very odd to me. She is a sweet woman, but I leave that seat confused, asking myself questions. Those questions i dont expect any answers to them and thats okay.