3-31-2019

 

Unlike the stereotypes placed on homeless, the Reader is a quiet individual, mostly keeping to himself. Caring civilians may give him food, but he has never begged for anything. The Reader has a clean record and does not use drugs or alcohol. However, he is a heavy smoker.

 

What's the hardest part about staying on the streets?

Well, I don't have a roof so that's the challenging part. When it's raining then I have to find a roof. Some people give me stuff like food and usually, they’re connected to the church. Yeah, I've had people yell at me to get a job. They think I'm just lying here, but I'm too old.

 

What do you wish people knew about you?

Homeless is a stereotype. Homeless take discrimination because they’re not important and they’re living on the streets so they take discrimination from other people who judge them. The church is trying to do something and Abode does housing. But they take families, not individuals; that's discrimination. I'm a senior citizen so I have to take discrimination.

 

Are you from around here?

Yeah, I was raised and went to kindergarten in Fremont, but I was born in Indiana. I spent one year in Vietnam but I didn’t join- I was drafted in 1971 and it was a lottery. I was still in high school.

 

Do you want my duty post? Okay, first it was Washington boot camp at AIT Huntsville, Alabama in Redstone Arsenal. Then I went to Oakland and then I went overseas. The training was four months. I was in Saigon and I was in Danang, but mostly Danang, in south Vietnam. Then I came back from overseas and I went to Fort Riley, Kansas. Its a base. I stayed there for two years.

 

After that I came back to Fremont and did janitorial jobs in Hayward for three years. A girl from high school found it for me. I was living in my parents’ house and I was young-not even thirty. I got another job doing the same thing over on Osgood road. It isn't there anymore but it used to be on Osgood. After that? I wrecked my car and put it back together but it cost me a lot of money to do all of that.

 

Do you get any money from the government?

I get a disability insurance but I don't get anything coming from the VA because I have to prove that I had a disability from the military. I didn’t prove it but I probably got my disability from qthe military. It's the way I was treated when I was in the military, and it's a psychological disability. At the end, I got an honorable discharge.

 

What, besides a house, is something you need direly?

What do I need? I need all kinds of things. Yeah, they steal from me but that’s superficial stuff. I lived in Oakland for a while and I got taken advantage of there. I was living in a house-that’s why I don’t want a house now. People will take advantage of me. I lived in Oakland. You don’t understand-it was a bad area in Oakland and it was all a bad experience. I didn’t want to live there, but it took me a while to move out of there. It was a very bad time.

 

I had a car, then my car broke down and I didn't have anyone to fix it. From there on I lived on the streets. I couldn't go back to my parents’ house cause my dad didn't want me to be there. He didn't want me to stay there. He wanted me to be independent and live on my own. The year I lost my car was 1979 and that was life-changing because that’s all I had. I didn't have any other property, I only had my car. I lost my car and everything went downhill.

 

I was supposed to live independently. I had a job and other stuff and I tried to go to college once. I went to Ohlone but only for 6 months. I was on the GI bill so I was trying to do something with that. At the same time, I was working. Doesn’t work out cause I spent most of my time doing work so I quit college.

 

I just have some regrets. Things I could have done in a better way that I didn’t do. I just have some regrets.

 

What are some hobbies you’ like to share?

I’m an avid reader and I like to draw. I’ve also seen some films. It’s name is Call the Midwives and it’s on PBS. I didn’t see all the episodes. Jenny is my favorite character in the series. There's other stuff I like-I like sci-fi too. I also read the newspaper every day.

 

Is there anything you want to change for yourself?

I am trying to make a change. I'm going to church. And a friend gave me this so I'm doing that now (see picture below). They have a church service at the Teen Center every Sunday at 10:30.  I like it. I’ve gone to church before. My mother was very religious and I went to bible school as a kid. My mother was a Christian Scientist. My dad went to church with my mother. They went all the time.

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There is truly nothing different about the Reader than me or you, other than the fact that we live under a roof.

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