Today I met Luke , age 24 , the first homeless person I had ever had a full conversation with. Luke 2 months ago got laid off from his job as a construction worker, meaning that Luke no longer had an income to afford his housing.
He described being homeless as horrible and disgusting ( how you’d imagine. ) I continued by asking him what he did from day to day , which concluded of ‘walking around’ which he seemed to enjoy due to the nice weather. He did however not know how long he’d continue to live like this and seemed optimistic that soon he’d find a job by travelling on the train to other nearby large areas such as Plymouth , living there also homeless , until he had a monthly income to save from and to afford housing off of.
Luke had manners plenty and pulled up his layer of cardboard enough room for me too sit on , took the blanket I offered ,despite refusing it the first time I had asked. He did look happy and said he had ‘a pillow for the night’ but previously said he ‘didn’t like asking people for things.’ On my walk up to Luke however , was denied change from plenty of passers , whilst also myself getting a few funny looks once I had sat down with him.
Luke was inviting and polite and continued to tell me how he had run out of CV’s after giving them all out so was going to the public library to print out more for his journeys up country in search of a job.
Every morning the jobcentre offers Luke a 50p breakfast and uses his monthly income of £115 for food and clothing and although he appreciated it , did say it didn’t go very far in terms of basic needs.
Lukes friends could no longer help him but had a few that said hello to him and asked how he was as they went by. His parents he did not wish to talk about ,but said that living with them was not a possibility. Another man also passed us , making a joke , asking Luke if he had any change to lend him.
Luke on his cardboard outside a shop , had a beer , and a blanket I had given him and made general conversation. He easily had the skills to work successfully day to day but simply could not get a job.
I am not saying that Luke is a perfect human being , but he is for definite an approachable (and what appeared to be) a very kind and generous person. And when I expressed guilt about not doing anything about what I was seeing , he said he also could relate to those feelings.
This is the story I got from Luke , and I hope for you it has allowed you to see into one of many homeless people lives , seeing you potentially less fear around them , and more understanding. Remembering that no one chooses to live without a home.