I Live In a Trailer Park

When I was 16 about to finish the 10th grade my parents decided that our house was in need of a substantial remodelling. My parents owned two trailers on the other side of town which had been rented. When the contract with the tenants had expired my parents decided without informing me or my siblings that we would be moving into the trailers for six to nine months while the remodelling took place. Obviously we objected, particularly myself as I had a stereotypical view of what it was like in a trailer park. Evidently though there wasn’t a point in arguing as they had made this decision months in advance and a snappy 16year old girl wasn’t going to change anything. Anyway shortly after summer break started we moved into the trailers. I will admit now that the trailer park was actually rather well kept; the communal pool was scrubbed clean, the lawns were mowed (well mostly) and it was rather clean. At the time though I was quick to point out the flaws however; some people did look rather rough, there were some badly kept trailers (about a quarter) and it wasn’t exactly private. My biggest bane of all though was the fact I didn’t have my own room. Me and my brother were in the smaller trailer while my Mom and Dad and two younger brothers were in the larger trailer a few rows down the drive. While my family wasn’t exactly rich we did stand out immediately; my parents cars were only Fords but they were less than 3 years old, we were migrating between the two trailers for meals and we went to a catholic school and wore uniforms. We didn’t exactly blend in and as it was summer break I tried to spend as much time as possible away from the place, usually with friends during the day and I sometimes slept over with them. However when school came back this wasn’t possible thanks to my parents so I spent most afternoons in the trailer park. Inevitably I eventually had to meet people especially when I was helping Mom in the communal laundry. To my surprise they weren’t all poor old people (although at least half of them were). There were plenty of families with kids all ages. I got to know a girl the same age as me and we still keep in touch. I also met plenty of decent guys aged between 17 and 30, sure they were a bit rough but they were good people (though my dad probably wouldn’t agree). One of my younger brothers also found someone in the same grade at our school and they became friends. I did get teased at school by a few girls when it came out that I was living in a trailer park. I didn’t get on with them well to begin with so it wasn’t a big deal. Inevitably there were a few sour experiences, including stolen laundry, some fights that we witnessed, police visits and arrests (not us, the neighbours of course), and alcohol and drugs were a problem as well as some peeping toms. Our family did end up staying there longer than the minimum 6 months expected due to delays in the remodelling (no surprises there for many reading this I’m sure). Six months turned into 9months before the house even began to resemble being liveable and by the time we moved back home 11th grade was nearly over! Overall I think it was a good experience for me, it broke stereotypes and I made plenty of friends.