07 Oct 5 Views of Homelessness in Pioneer Square, Part 1

I’m the type of person who fast forwards movies when they get too intense, or checks the end of a book to make sure it has a good ending before I go back to reading it. So for any of you out there that are like me, I’ll give you a hint: I made 5 new friends that Thursday in the park, and came away with some very different perspectives from when I started out. You should also know that I’m going to have to break this up into at least 2 posts because I have so much to say about it. Now you can read the rest of my blog post in peace. I mentioned to Philip that there was one guy who had yelled to me as I approached the information booth that he was already falling in love with me – I thought if all else failed, he might be willing to chat. As Philip approached me after walking around for a bit, I felt sure that I was just going to end up reading my book for a while in the square and then going home. But he surprised me by telling me that there was a table of guys that would be willing to let me “get to know them.” (note: not “let me interview them,” but get to know them , which is what I requested this time). I was so nervous, but walked over and sat down with a group of gentlemen seated around the chess tables on the SW corner of O². They went around and introduced themselves: Daniel, Felix, John, and Robert. And then I tried to explain myself to them without sounding too much like an idiot (pretty sure I didn’t succeed). I had so much that I wanted to learn from them, but no idea where to start, because any question that you have about homelessness seems like a weighted question. One guy in the group, John, was so funny and relaxed that it put me almost immediately at ease. He put it out there by saying “ask us anything you want!” And so I did.