The Life In Decatur

I am not trying to call anyone out.  They are trying to run a business.  Perhaps you recognize the packaging and maybe want to do something about it but in the picture is a bag (one of two) full of cake.  I watched the guy throw it in the dumpster as they were closing up for the night. Let me be the first to say that cake in large amounts is not good for you.  This is good cake from a great bakery.  Rich creamy frosting.  Soft cake.  Good ingredients.  They just didn't sell a lot that day and they are left with two bags of cake. The question to be asked is, what do we do with all this cake?  Seriously, I am asking. A bad diet can make other health issues even worse.  Future blog posts will talk about the aging homeless population and how many people are dealing with health issues, both mental and physical and I cannot stress enough that cake, in large amounts, is not good for you.  I want to believe that we, as a society, can ...

Let's talk about money... Money is an uncomfortable subject for many. No sugar coating here, most of the people who are asking you for money on the street are not so much scamming you, but embellishing a story. There is good and bad to what I am about to share with you.  Most of it is stuff you already suspected.  Still, keep in mind that the people who ask you for money are a small part of the homeless community...a very small part. The key to doing this project, is that I blend in and people tend not to notice or bother me.  The people who ask for money when I have been around have not noticed me watching them and seeing what they are doing with it. No, I have not found a welfare queen who begs for money on one corner and hops into a Cadillac on the next corner. How to... The key from what I have seen is to either be very specific or very vague about the amount you need and why. "Hey, I just need $.55 to get on the bus."  There is a specific ask in that sent...

It has been a while since I have done and there have been some changes, but there are still certain truths and inevitable realities to this world.  The thing you need is somewhere it just depends on what you are willing to do to get it.  Tonight I am going dumpster diving. I remember a decade ago when I did this the first time.  There was a young man who was trying to give me advice because it was obvious I was new.  He was a wealth of information and told me lots of things I will never forget and that I wish I had never heard.  Food is the key for many and he was telling me where I could get it.  He was telling me about local shelters and when they "feed".  I tend to lock on to certain words and the way they are said. The way he said "feed" was so animal-like. "This place feeds at 5 p.m." "You get good feed at such and such a place" He even told me about a local pastor who would trade oral sex for a place to sleep and some food. In any ...

Starting tomorrow, I will be living on the streets of Decatur, homeless for the next 30 days, taking an in-depth look at homelessness in this area, and revisiting places nearly a decade after having done this before. I will not mention any names, though I should mention names.  It's not that their business would be hurt or that even a basic understanding of the world would allow you to figure out who and what I am talking about, but I will not mention any names. Suffice it to say that there is a coffee shop chain that throws out three or five sandwiches every other night or so.  Outside this particular coffee shop are people who have not eaten all day. Those sandwiches have to go in the trash. These are the things that I will never understand.  The people who work at this particular coffee shop are good people and they would love to, at the end of the day, hand those sandwiches out to people who are right outside of the door who have not eaten all day.  Thos...