Listening to "The Well-Dressed Ape" by Hannah Holmes, I learn of a different way of having shelter and housing and a different way of having a place at work.
For a quick vision of how life might be if humans were not as territorial as the crows, imagine that you do not have any formal right to your customary abode. Nor does anyone else on your block. When you all leave work at the end of the day there will be a mad rush for the various shelters. Naturally, the majority of humans will want the most comfortable and safe ones. At the door of a high-rise with a doorman, a horde of primates will battle for first entrance. Cars will scream out into the suburbs to collide in the driveways of the plushest estates. You could spend hours searching for an acceptable shelter that's not already claimed. Once inside with the door barred, you'll still have to contend with the mess left by whoever won this shelter the night before. And, of course, the same will apply to your foraging area where you earn your bread during the day. The first human into the corner office will grab a big paycheck that day; latecomers will pick recyclables out of the garbage and take home pennies. This is not an efficient way to live. Most humans prefer to settle for territories that are imperfect but reliable. Many other animals feel likewise.
Holmes, Hannah. The Well-Dressed Ape: A Natural History of Myself (Kindle Locations 2016-2025). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Imperfect but reliable...I often think that reliability is a valuable characteristic. We can work with gravity that is steady. More today and less tomorrow and then more again might be much harder. I think that anything reliable may be somewhat imperfect, simply because of that steadiness, that unchanging nature. There are times when we might request the sun to stay up a little longer, for the miles per gallon to be a little greater, for the price of coffee to be a little lower.
But reliability in being paid, in our bank's status and procedures, in law enforcement, in having a bedtime and get-up time, in many areas of daily life, is valuable in itself. Having a mailing address means you can get in touch with me. I have noticed that my friends who have given up their regular, home telephone line, their "landline" may be more difficult to contact. I certainly don't like the idea of scrambling every evening for a place to stay the night and not having a place where I live.
