roomer

"And if roomers built their own shelters – me and Joyce living in a kitchenette, for instance. . . . How would we keep the other roomers out in case of a raid?"

When officials realized that low incomes would often cause a family to double up or take in roomers, it was easy to overlook the public health issue.

“This frightened me, given how the situation is now,” said one Spanish-speaking respondent, when asked to explain why she did not report three of the four roomers living in her residence.

A roomer down the hall began a patient, continuing cough against the quiet night.

She told me she had only one other roomer, a quiet gentleman who worked nights and whom I should probably never see.