Meeting Basic Needs

Between the two of them, Sam and Gabe have been homeless for more than a decade. As such, they have a lot of experience trying to meet their basic needs.

A few tips if you find yourself homeless:
1.) Always bring water - two bottle minimum.
2.) Ask people who walk by about places to eat. Eventually someone will know.
3.) You can usually find clothing and hygiene in the same place. Don't stock up too much. Focus on season appropriate pants/shorts. Two to three extra shirts is nice, but extra socks and underwear are key.



Getting money is hard. Service organizations give out many resources, but sometimes you just need cash. There are very few ways to make money without breaking the law if you don't have a job. Donating plasma is a solid option. Some people also sell hand-rolled cigarettes, two for 25 cents, 10 for $1.00.

Past that, we get into grayer areas. There is day labor, such as sign spinning. Usually $50 for 10 hours under the table. One can also sell foodstamps. $200 worth of food stamps can get $100 in cash. One might get a better rate making deals in the grocery store. But this is often awkward, and you can get caught. Selling foodstamps is against the law.

The youth differentiate between begging, panhandling, and "spanging." Begging involves pleading for money. Panhandling involves some kind of deception or con (like having a story about needing to go someplace and collecting money for a bus ticket). Finally, spanging is asking for spare change (hence the name SPare chANGE).

Finally, one can acquire money through stealing and selling what was stolen to a fence, selling drugs, or selling one's body. These activities are highly illegal.

Hearing these stories being told illuminates the cultural aspect of homeless life. The youth usually agree on things like the cost of cigarettes, have similar accounts of prostitution, and have specialized vocabulary. Perhaps it is a point for Ernest Bormann and his idea of converging themes. According to Bormann, there are many ways of understanding the world, and those understandings that resonate with people the best have a way of spreading throughout a community. As I sit and listen to the accounts of struggles and successes, I hear common sense making laced throughout.

It is, of course, possible that it isn't the stories that move but the storytellers. Maybe Sam and Gabe are drawn together by their common stories, and other youth with other stories have clustered elsewhere.

Whatever the reason, the effect is somewhat surreal. Listening to them nonchalantly, objectively discussing the realities of street life is disorienting. They have localized knowledge, and traffic with ease in a common set of tales, symbols, and analogies with which I have little or no familiarity.

Before you scoff because someone doesn't know the basics about something, consider the fact that they may have mastery of a domain you don't even know exists.