Disclaimer
All Contents © Copyright Peter C. Hayward 2008-2009 unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.2010
All Contents © Copyright Peter C. Hayward 2008-2009 unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.2010
Guess what showed up in the mail today? The much anticipated “Day 2” letter. It turns out that Peter posted it in a regular red post-box, rather than one of the yellow ones used for express letters. As such, the next-day delivery guarantee was voided. But here it is now. Enjoy.
7:40am – Woke up. It seems I was right – no sprinkler system in that park. Got out my bread for breakfast, and discovered there were ants right throughout my bag. None in the bread or spread, but there were heaps in the peanut butter. Picked then out and had some peanut butter on bread.
8:45am – Asked a few people for chance, no one was interested. Asked a lady putting money into a parking meter. Since she already had her wallet out, she gave me 50c. I think today I might try to get $8.90 for a all-you-can eat place I saw on Collins street yesterday (Gavin: I think this was a dumb thing to do).
9:20am – Someone in the comments referred to what I’m doing as a “camping holiday”, and now that I’m a bit over 30 hours in I can see what they mean. Because I don’t have any kind of substance abuse problem, or the added pressure of trying to find a job and somewhere to live, as long as I have enough money to get food, I can spend the day doing what I like.
As I’ve said many times, I had absolutely no idea what this would be like going in. I heard people say that I’d be gang-raped and murdered within 2 days, and others say I’d be fine as long as I didn’t do anything stupid. So far it’s been pretty much as I predicted, my main issue isn’t going to be food, shelter or safety. It’s going to be boredom.
Some other things that people predicted:
- Every time I pick somewhere to sleep, someone else will miss out.
Blatantly untrue. By far the least accurate prediction (except perhaps the one about me being killed within 48 hours. Check back in 14 hours and we’ll see).
So far I’ve spent both nights in parks. If I wanted to, I could easily spend the rest of the month sleeping in either park, and not put anyone out even slightly. These parks are huge; they could easily sleep one hundred people.
In winter, I suspect this could be quite a different matter, ditto when it’s raining. If it rains during February, I’ll let you know my findings.
- Genuinely homeless people will recognise me as a fraud instantly.
Jury’s still out on this one. I’ve had direct face-to-face interactions with three homeless people so far. One of them stopped and had a chat, the other two were walking and didn’t stop; just gave me a once-over and kept going. This could mean anything from “I can see you’re faking it” to “hey, nice shoes”.
- You gonna die!
Not yet! 26.5 days to go (Gavin: Only 20 from now).
10:15am – Asking people for change as I walk, mostly getting “no”s. A pair of guys walked past: the first said no and kept on walking, but the second guy stopped. As a result, the first guy turned around and fished out a couple of coins as well ($1.10 all up). I wonder if I would have gotten anything if they had been alone.
10:30 – Passed a JB Hi-Fi and noticed that they publish a free magazine. I picked one up and had a read; interesting stuff. Apparently their motto for 2010 is “More for your den in 2010”. Seriously? That’s the best they could come up with?
They had DVD reviews, but being in the business of selling DVDs, they couldn’t really say anything negative. I could see them trying though: “If you’re looking for the ultimate (can’t make this word out) story, this isn’t it, but still a must-have for…”
11:25 – So that feeling of complete freedom has turned into a sort of listlessness and lack of desire to do anything. I think the fact that 99% of people on the street act like I’m personally inconveniencing them doesn’t help. I’m usually a very driven person (Gavin: he’s driven everywhere), but right now I’m walking about a block, sitting down for 30mins to an hour, getting up to ask people for change, getting rejected. Lather, rinse and repeat.
The worst are the people who ignore you. Rejection is okay, but the people who clearly hear you saying hello and ignore you completely are horribly demoralizing. The pest people (aside from the ones who actually give you change) are the ones who look genuinely sorry they can’t help you. They could be lying, I have no way of knowing, but they look like they would help if they could, and that in itself helps.
11:39 – It never rains, but it pours. Saw an older man in a suit standing on the street. So far I’ve received nothing but hostility from men in suits, so I’ve started to avoid them. This guy was standing around, looking like he had nowhere else to be, so I approached him. A quick chat about how life was sure to get better and a joke about how he didn’t want to look like a drug dealer because he only had aspirin in his pockets later, he gave me $4.10 and wished me all the best.
The next lady I spoke to? $5.40. No idea about why the sudden change in fortunes, but we’ll see if it continues.
11:54 – 55c from one of the two ladies who were smoking. For the first time in my life, I’m loving smokers. They’re standing around, probably bored, so even if they say no, they’ll probably be nice about it.
I think the lady sitting next to me is wearing a wig. Pretty sure it’s rude to ask, but I’m dying to know.
I’ve got enough for the “All-You-Can-Eat” Chinese place. Trying to decide whether to have it later when I’ll be hungrier, or go now while I’m close.
Phone’s down to 2 bars. Looks like I’ll have to charge it once every two days. Haven’t been able to refill my water bottle since finishing the water this morning, which is most annoying.
12:40 – Decided to wait until 1 and grab the all-you-can-eat then. I found a toilet in which to refill my water bottle. While I was writing, a guy sat next to me and started counting his change. I don’t normally ask people while I’m writing, but I’m not going to pass up an opportunity like that. He gave me 50c and asked me what I was writing. “Diary” I said (Gavin: which it is, in a way), “It helps to pass the time”.
It’s true’ without pen and paper, I think my head would quickly be bursting with thoughts. It also really helps to pass some (but not much) of the time.
1:26 – Okay, spending $8.90 on “All you can eat” was a bad idea (Gavin: Ha! I knew it!). Blegh, I thought I’d be able to get through at least two or three plates, make it worth my while, but compared to what 9 bucks will get be at the supermarket, this was a complete waste of cash. After one plate of food I was flagging, and halfway through the second I just couldn’t eat any more.
On the plus side, I had a nice variety of food: some beef, some chicken, some vegetables, some tofu and lots of rice. Maybe the variety makes it worth doing? (I won’t be doing it again)
Two guys sat next to me while having a conversation. One had an interesting theory that compared sending his daughter to school, with the Sims. He said that in the Sims you can get a Sim ready to go to work, but you can’t control them once they’re there. Similarly, he can make sure his daughter is well-rested and has used the toilet, but once he drops her off, he can only hope she behaves herself.
While I was eating, a guy came and asked me for change. Surprised, I said no and he moved onto the next guy. I think that from now on, whenever I see a homeless person asking for money, I’ll give them some. Things aren’t as tight as I was worried they would be.
About an hour before lunch, a guy collecting money on the streets for sick kids asked me to contribute. Everyone else has noticed the sleeping bag and realised not to ask. I stopped and had a chat, told him I was looking for money myself, and we wished each other luck and went our separate ways.
1:40 – I was looking for the outdoor food court I had slept in yesterday, but noticed that I was right near the riverbank, so went down there instead. Fell asleep in the shade near an old woman doing the same, while her husband (I presume) sat and sketched the river.
6:40pm – Woke up. I feel like I should be doing (and blogging about) something more interesting than just sleeping all the time, but I’m so tired. I wonder why. Do I not sleep as well outside? Is it because I’m eating less? Am I ill and simply not aware of it? Is it all the walking? Does my brain get sick of being left alone and just switch off?
Apparently there’s a Rosies van outside Flinders Street station at nights. I might wander up and grab a cup of tea. Of course, I might just fall asleep instead.
9pm – Didn’t fall asleep. Just lay on the grass, thinking for a couple of hours. As I said yesterday, I suspect I’ll quickly want to do anything other than sit by myself thinking, so I might as well enjoy it while it’s still a novelty.
After a few hours of sitting on the grassing, thinking about who I am and what I want to be, and whether what I’m doing here is morally okay or not, I got up and wandered over to Federation Square. In Federation Square, there’s a giant TV which plays the same 10 or so adds over and over again. Apparently it’s also a free wi-fi hotspot, which is quite cool. Lots of people on laptops taking advantage.
I settled down there, had some bread, and watched two cute German girls, the adds, and anything else that passed by until about midnight, when I drifted off to sleep.
Day 2
Money: $11.10
Sleep: 7.5 hours (Something unintelligible) Gardens, 5 hours Birrarung Mann (I’m not sure of this. Peter’s handwriting is completely abhorrent).
Food: 9 slices of bread with spreads, 1.5 plates of Chinese food.
Strangest Thought: Hitler standing at the plate, ready to bat, playing baseball with kittens being catapulted instead of baseballs being thrown.
Up Next: Day 3
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I like your running commentary Gavin. Very funny. Keep it coming.
The more I’ve read, the more I’m really not liking the idea of people giving you money not knowing any better. But as I say, I do understand why you’re doing it; it’s just making me cringe; especially reading that you got some big bucks from kind folk. I can only hope that actual homeless people get that treatment sometimes.
Anyway, in saying all that, was just going to make a light-hearted comment about the all-you-can-eat place. Maybe not, but you could have smuggled some food away in your bag? Perhaps that’s what homeless people actually consider doing if they ever get enough money and decide to spend it at these restaurants.
Other than my concerns though, you do sound like a cool witty bloke and I actually find I’m enjoying reading your journal, even if others may not agree.
Get rid of your phone. An honestly homeless person wouldn’t have access to a mobile phone in the way you do. They don’t have a house to send the bills to, nor the money to pay for a prepaid. You can pay for yours at the end of the month when you go home. You still have a home to go to.
I have had those close to me who all they could afford was the roof over their heads (and barely that as it was). They couldn’t even keep a landline or use the lights in their house because of how much it would cost.
What you’re on really is a camping trip, and as exciting of an adventure it is, I’m really disappointed you’re trying to turn it into some sort of “let’s play homeless” game.
“An honestly homeless person wouldn’t have access to a mobile phone in the way you do.
Sarah, a bit of research would really help your arguments. Some homeless people (in particular people who are homeless because of substance abuse) DO have mobile phones.
by the way, I just noticed some incredibly generous person just donated $250. It wasn’t me (nor anyone in my family) in case you are wondering.
Hi Sarah, welcome back. I’m going try and play nice today
That is so COOL! I hope that helps assuage your missgivings rdfreak.
I’m a different Sarah to any others who have posted…this is the first post I’ve commented on.
By the way, Peter’s Mother, I didn’t say ALL homeless people don’t have a mobile phone. The majority don’t, and those who do can barely afford to keep them. Peter has the privilege of doing whatever he wants with his phone while he is pretending to be homeless and can foot the bill when he gets home.
Sarah, I wish you would read what I write, but I wish you would read what you write even more.
I do not agree with what Peter is doing, and told him this, but I want him to be safe. Just because I don’t agree with what he is doing doesn’t mean I feel the need to bitch and moan at him, or his family, when he isn’t even going to read any of the comments until he has finished anyway.
Homeless people can have mobile phones. True, not all of them, but many do. Why should he ditch his phone? I had a homeless relative who owned a mobile phone, a bicycle and a collection of books. Oh wait, so he should of ditched all of that because he had nowhere to live?
I spent my entire childhood living down the road from a homeless men’s shelter. Many of the men that used the shelter over the years owned cars, or televisions, and a couple of them had old laptops etc. So they should have ditched all of those because they were homeless? Being homeless does not necessarily mean you have no possessions – and yes, I realise that a lot of people don’t have time to pack before they become homeless – but really, being homeless means you have no home to live in, not that you are incapable of owning anything other then a sleeping bag and the clothes you’re wearing like some people are trying to make out.
I find it offensive that some people are trying to stereotype what a homeless person is and isn’t like, what they do and don’t have access to, because as I have spoken to many homeless men my entire life, I know that they are all ages, all education levels and all have different amounts/types of possessions.
The aimless wandering thing is a bit bizarre, frankly. I work in a library, and a lot of homeless people spend the whole day in it. Complaining about boredom but arbitrarily ruling out using a library as Peter has is weirdly artificial.
(Other?) Sarah – mobile phones are commonly given to homeless people by charities. Some keep them, some don’t. But it is most definitely a camping trip.
Be fair. Imagine the comments if Peter started using the library as well. No matter what he does, because people know it is an artificial situation, they are going to jump on everything he does or doesn’t do which doesn’t fit into the stereotype of ‘homeless person’. He doesn’t have a degree in homelessness so he is doing what he thinks is closest to the real thing and no doubt learning more about it along the way.
Hi Sarah, thanks for commenting. Peter’s mobile is a safety thing more than a convenience; he uses it to text his sister daily so that his family knows that he is still alive, and so that if he does go missing we know his last approximate location. Peter has admitted many times that this “project” (I don’t like using that word, as it trivializes the experiences of many homeless people) can in no way replicate the true experience of being genuinely homeless.
Peter is putting (some aspects) of his safety above getting the most genuine experience. This is, possibly, one of the few sensible things he has done.
Can someone please post if my comments are showing up. They aren’t on my computer and I keep getting a message that I have already posted that comment.
just checking to see if my posts are showing up
That is showing, Well Duh. I think there must have been a glitch earlier – maybe overload.
Hitler standing at the plate, ready to bat, playing baseball with kittens being catapulted instead of baseballs being thrown.
That is so painfully unfunny. And pretty predictable, hardly strange.
It is also an observation of the strangest thought that Peter had. I don’t think he intended it to be funny or unpredictable. Perhaps he should try harder to have stranger thoughts.
Natalia: Really? Out of this whole circus of moral ambiguity, you choose to critiscise Peter for the un-strangeness and predictability of his thoughts?
Why the hell not? It’s not like anything else I say is being listened to. I just keep getting told how horrible I am.
And besides, making a joke about Hitler isn’t funny. Just ask my poor father who had to live under his rule for five years of his life. Not. Fun.
Where did he make a joke?
Note, you have already mentioned his comment was ‘painfully unfunny’, you just forgot to make it personal by bringing your father’s experiences into the debate.