Pictures and Words

Hey guys – I started my new job today. Got up at 5:30am, started at 7am. It’s 8:30am, and i only just got out. The State library, where I am now, closes at 9pm, and there is literally no possible way I can type up an entry before then. Will try again Saturday.

This computer uses such an old version of Internet Explorer that I can’t even see what I’m typing, so please excuse any typos in this entry.

Hey guys, Peter here – sorry about the lack of updates. Still no internet at my new place, and I’ve just started a new job. Tomorrow after work though, I’ll come into the State Library and type up at least one post, I promise. I expected my internet to be connected last night, but no such luck.

Updates coming soon!

Hey all, Peter here. I had someone contact me and ask why I haven’t been posting/commenting: I simply haven’t had a chance. I’ve spent the last two days going for job interviews and moving house, and except for my iPhone, I don’t have regular internet access. (I’m typing this up at the City Library.)

I hear back tonight about jobs, and I’ll have finished moving in tomorrow, but I won’t be posting my thoughts or commenting until my blog posts for days 22-28 go up. They’re currently in the mail from Gavin to me, but as soon as I get them, I’ll start typing them up.

Some people have commented (I’ve had a chance to read through a few of the comments) that I can’t be trusted to type up my own blog posts without editing them. I don’t completely understand the logic there, but if anyone else is volunteering to type them up, I’ll happily hand the task over. I can scan them in as soon as they arrive, if you like, just to show that I haven’t added or omitted anything, it doesn’t bother me. I was completely honest while writing them, I’ll be completely honest while typing them up.

Thanks for being involved so far, even if it’s just as a reader, but especially if you’ve been participating in the comments or linking to the blog. I’d heard so much, I was extremely wary when I first loaded the comments up, but I’m been overwhelmed by the intelligent level of discourse that’s been going on. It’s fascinating reading; even people who think that I’m Satan incarnate have had interesting and well-written points to make.

Lastly, and I’m going to be pushing this all week, there’s still another few weeks left to donate. We’ve hit over $1800 so far – when I put in my share, we’ll almost be at $2000. I’d love it if we could reach $2800 by the end of March, so if you’ve got any spare change around (2 days off the streets, and I’m still asking for change…) consider clicking through – every cent goes to a worthy cause, StreetSmart Australia cover their administrative costs separately.

(of course, if you think I’m scum and hate everything I’ve done so far, I don’t expect you to donate through my fundraising page, but do consider giving money to them or another charity.)

Up next: Days 22-24

Hi! My name’s Peter, and in a bit over an hour, I’ll be spending a month on the streets of Melbourne.

My bags are packed, I’m ready to go, so I thought I’d list what I’m taking with me.

Essentials:

I’ve spent a lot of time lately on homeless forums, and these are the items that are most commonly recommended that people take with them if they know that they’re going to be spending time on the streets in the immediate future.

• A sleeping bag. One of the most obvious items; I picked up a cheap sleeping bag from the Salvos for $5. A number of people recommended I buy a dodgy second-hand one, so that I wouldn’t stand out/become a target.
• A jacket. Another obvious one – this is a cheap brown jacket that I used to wear when I was part of the stand-up comedy circuit. It’s about 6 or 7 years old, and I think it originally cost less than $20.
• Clothes. As well as the set of clothes that I’m wearing (a shirt that I found somewhere, a pair of my old workman boots, underpants, socks, and a pair of jeans that I bought from Target today for $20. My cousin Gavin has roughed up the jeans so that they’re not obviously brand new) I’m taking along some spare clothes, mainly because I had room in the bag. I’m taking:
  • Another two pairs of socks
  • One set of underpants
  • A pair of black pants that I was going to get rid of
  • Two spare shirts

  That seems like a lot of spare clothes, but they don’t take up much room, and they’re all I’ll have to wear for a month. If my bag gets stolen or lost, I probably won’t be able to afford to replace them. (my priority with any money I receive will be food. If I somehow manage to get a few days worth of food, I might stop by St Vinnies and pick up a cheap set of clothes.)

  The plan at the moment is whenever I/if I ever manage to have a shower, I’ll wash the underpants that I’m wearing at the time, and change into the other pair. If there’s somewhere obvious to wash them, I’ll work out a similar system for pants and shirts. By the end of the month, I expect all these clothes to be pretty smelly, and will probably never wear them again.

• Duct tape. This was recommended by a number of different people, both here and on the homeless forums. I had some left over from when I used to do a lot of filming, but I don’t think it originally cost more than $5.
• A cheap mobile phone + charger. When I originally planned this out, I wasn’t going to take a phone at all. Everyone, absolutely everyone who heard about this informed me was a terrible idea, so I’ve picked up a cheap phone ($29 at Cash Converters) and a SIM card for $30 that came with $30 worth of credit. Unless I get into serious trouble, I won’t be making any phone-calls during the month, but I will be texting my sister twice a day (for safety – if she misses two text messages in a row, she’ll know that something’s happened, and the last place that I was safe. My text messages won’t be interesting or informative in any way) and I’ll be texting my cousin Gavin every Friday to let him know where the Sunday meet-ups will be. I’m hoping that I won’t have to charge it more than once or twice a week.
• Map of Melbourne. I picked up a map of Melbourne (if you’re ever looking, I used to work in a map store; the UBD Suburban maps are the best by far) and have marked the particularly dangerous areas that people have recommended I stay away from. This is what I’ll be using to navigate, until I get the hang of where things are. $8.95
• A box of matches. I have no idea if I’ll have any use for these (especially considering Victoria’s in a total fire ban at the moment) but several people recommended that I take some, and they were only 45 cents.
• A knife and fork. For eatin’ with.
• A back-pack and belt. For storing most of the above in. (I’m using the belt to keep the jacket and sleeping bag together, everything else is going in the back pack.) I’m using my old school back-pack; it’s falling to bits, and will most likely be thrown out when the month is over.

“Luxury” items:

The above items are what I could reasonably expect to have with me if I were genuinely homeless. These items are not; they’re either for my long-term health, or for keeping this blog up to date. I’m also taking a $40 Coles voucher – if I lose any of the following items, I’m going to replace them with that. If I lose anything on the “essentials” list, I won’t be using the Coles voucher.

It took me a long time to decide what to take that I wouldn’t reasonably expect to have if I were genuinely homeless, but at the same time wouldn’t make life any easier for me. The following list is what I settled on:

• Pens, paper and envelopes. These are the items that will most “distort” the experience (I suspect that most homeless people don’t sit and write for an hour or two each day) but they also allow me to update people on what happens to me (almost) as it happens. I’ve had a few people ask why I don’t just go in and use an internet cafe every day; I settled on the “letter-writing” system for two reasons;
  1. If I go onto this website to update, I’ll inevitably end up looking at stats, reading comments, checking emails…I’m attempting to feel as much of a disconnect from my normal social circle as possible. My sister won’t be replying to my texts, and my cousin won’t be replying to any of my letters. I’m always going to be aware that my support network is there, that’s inevitable. But other than out-going messages, I won’t have any interaction with them.
  2. I don’t want to be tethered to libraries or internet cafes. If I want to spend two days walking to and from the airport, I want to be able to without having to first look up libraries or internet cafes. As long as I pass a post-box, I’ll know that my letters will get through, and I have the freedom to go anywhere else that I want to go. (depending, of course, on whether I have enough money/food to get me there and back.)
• Sunscreen, toothbrushes, and floss. These aren’t going to make my life on the streets any easier, these are purely for the sake of my long-term health.

I still had some room in the bag, so on a whim I grabbed two hand-puppets. (I collect hand-puppets.) I’m not sure what category to put those in; they’re definitely not essentials, but if they go, I definitely won’t be replacing them. If I end up doing any busking during the month, it will probably be with my puppets.

Here’s a photo taken this afternoon, when I’d just finished packing everything up and getting changed into my “street clothes”:

I’ve not shaved for the past week or so, in an attempt to look more scruffy, and my hair does the “scruffy” look naturally. (I was moving my hand when that photo was taken. My hand does not normally look like that.)

A common question I’ve been asked: What specifically would make you give up?

I can think of four things off the top of my head that would make me immediately abandon the project. I’ve arranged them from what I think is least likely to happen to what I think is most likely to happen:

• If I genuinely can’t find somewhere to sleep. I can’t honestly imagine this happening – if worst comes to worst, I’ll sleep in a park during the day, and stay out of trouble somewhere quiet at night. Technically, sleeping in public is illegal, so it’s possible that I’ll be hassled enough by the police or there will be too much competition from genuinely homeless people for available sleeping places (remember, my aim is not to make someone else miss out because of my actions.) If this happens, I’ll call it quits.
• If I couldn’t get enough money to survive on. I’ve said many times that I don’t plan on using homeless services, and while I do have a Coles gift card, that’s only for non-essential use. (if I run out of sunscreen, toothbrushes, floss, pens or paper.) If this happens, I think it will even further highlight the problem I’m trying to draw attention to.
• If I get seriously attacked or beaten up. A friend of mine asked “what if you get pushed over, will you give up then?” No. Unless I need professional medical attention, I’m going to keep going, but if I’m attacked in such a way that I can’t deal with it myself (open wounds, broken bones, serious injuries of any kind) I’m going to call an ambulance, go to hospital, and walk away from February having learned that no, I can’t look after myself on the streets.
• If my presence on the streets seriously puts someone more needy at a disadvantage. This is the most common criticism that I’ve received for my plans for February; people predicting that just by being there, I’m taking away someone else’s sleeping spot, someone else’s spare change. I don’t necessarily believe that this is the case (see my last post for details) but I’m prepared for the possibility that I’m completely wrong. If I am, I’ll immediately abandon what I’m doing. I’m not doing this to take from other people.

Those aren’t the only conditions under which I’ll abandon this, but they’re the four that immediately spring to mind. If I get fined into oblivion by the police (it’s possible to be fined for $12 000 for public begging) I’ll probably stop, just out of financial necessity, but my research has suggested that they typically just move you along, or give you an $80 fine for a first offense. Similarly, as I mentioned above, sleeping in public is illegal, so I could be looking at fines for that as well.

The other thing that could conceivably make me stop is mental anguish. I’ve had several people predict that I won’t last more than two or three weeks, simply because the mental strain of not knowing where I’ll sleep or when my next meal will be, of having to constantly look over my shoulder will be too much. I’ve also had people tell me that simply being aware that I can stop any time I like will be enough to prevent it from getting to me at all. I have absolutely no idea where on the scale I’ll fall, but it’s something I’ll be trying to monitor in my blog posts.

My personal prediction is that none of the above will occur, and in 28 days I’ll be a little worse for wear, but essentially unharmed. In a month’s time, we’ll see just how wrong I am.

Gavin and I are heading off now; Gavin will be dropping me off in the city, filming me walking off into the distance, and then preparing to go home. I’m going to try to find somewhere safe to sleep (probably not in the CBD) and then head back into the city in the morning, attempt to get money from the morning commuters* and (if successful) buy something to eat.

*I’ve been warned that commuters are the worst people to get money from, a theory which I want to test for myself.

After that, I’ll wander around for a while, find somewhere to sit, and write up my first letter. Gavin plans to be back home by Wednesday night, at which point the post should be waiting for him, so you can expect the next post to go up then.

This is the last time you’ll be directly hearing from me about this, but if you can spare any money at all, seriously consider donating to StreetSmart Australia. Link is below.

Wish me luck!

Wednesday: Day 1

Hi! My name’s Peter, and in a little over 6 hours, I’ll be living on the streets of Melbourne for a month.

This will be my second-last post. I’ll be updating again in a few hours, with details about what I’m taking, where I’m going first, and the “rules” that I’ve set myself for the month. After that, my cousin Gavin will be updating the site, typing up the letters that I send him. He has to drive back from Melbourne up to Brisbane, which will take a few days, so my first letter will probably arrive the same time as he does. After that, you can expect an update each weekday until the end of the month.

During the month, I won’t be contactable by email or phone. Any email enquiries (including media enquiries) should go to homelesspeter@gmail.com, which my cousin will be monitoring and replying to. If you want to talk to me personally during the month, I’ll be at a set location each Sunday. Details will be posted on the website every Friday night, so check back in on Saturday morning if you want to come and say hi. If you want to email me privately, you can email peter@thechainsawblokes.com, but I won’t read it until early March.

If you have the ability, please consider donating to StreetSmart Australia. I’ll be talking about them later in the post, but you can click through to their website and check out what they do for yourself.

This endeavour has received a mostly positive reaction, but some people have had issues. Some valid concerns have been raised, and I’m going to address the two main ones here. (if I had more time, I’d talk about more of them, but I’ve got to be on the streets in a few hours, and I’ve still got a fair bit to do.)

[There are] plenty of other ways to promote homeless issues without making it about you – which is ultimately what people are going to follow. Plus, you added the donations as an afterthought, it seems…
But no matter what I think, you can bet your bum I’ll be reading your blogs…

This is the second-most common criticism I’ve received – that this project is going to “help me more than the homeless”.

Honestly, I don’t think so. I may receive some exposure, briefly, but that’s not what this is about. Originally I was going to do this just for the experience – it wasn’t until someone suggested using it to raise money/awareness for the homeless situation in Australia that I settled on blogging about it as I went. I’ve quoted this statistic a lot, but that’s because it never fails to amaze me – 29% of homeless Australians who seek services are turned down. Twenty-nine percent. That’s appalling.

If there’s a better way to raise money and awareness, it’s not obvious, or else someone else would have done it. As this commenter said – he may not agree with what I’m doing, but he’ll be reading the blog. There has been a fair amount of media attention, and that’s simply because this is an interesting “stunt”. I haven’t even started yet and I’ve already received nearly $400 in donations. It’s my sincere hope that that number will grow throughout the month, because something like this attracts people’s interest. If people are paying attention, if they’re aware of how bad the situation is, they’re much more likely to donate.

I’ve had some people say that “awareness” is a buzz word that doesn’t mean anything in the long run. I don’t necessarily agree, but I’m specifically asking people to donate to StreetSmart Australia, an organisation that not only directly tackles the issue by offering support to people living on the street, but is also dedicated to facilitating sustainable long-term change. There’s going to be a donation box at the beginning of every post, the first thing you see when you load the page. Even if awareness is useless, I’ve never heard anyone claim the same about money.

As well as that, at the end of the month, I’m planning on volunteering, and blogging about that. Possibly my most optimistic goal is to inspire others to volunteer, but even if only one or two do, that’s one or two more than there would have been otherwise.

Lastly, this project is “about me” only because I’m the one doing it. If I’d thought it would attract more attention, I would have done this anonymously, but by having a face to put to the project, I’ve been able to do radio and newspaper interviews for publicity. I’m not claiming to be the face of homelessness in Australia or an authority on the subject. I’m just a regular guy, and that’s why how the next month affects me will be interesting to watch.

This project is not intended or designed to further my career in any way. My dream, my main goal in life is to be a television writer. Writers aren’t chosen based on stunts or publicity, they’re chosen for quality of writing. I’m nowhere near good enough to write professionally at the moment. If I ever do get good enough, that’s what I’ll be hired for. No one hires a TV writer because he lived on the streets for a month.

This isn’t one of the main questions I’ve received, but it’s a good point that I quickly wanted to address:

I’m curious as to how you intend to determine the monetary value of any services you do end up recieving – you’re not only talking goods here, you’re talking time, and administration costs, and licences, and insurance.

I’ve decided that throughout the month, I won’t be using any homeless services. There’s one exception – Rosie’s Coffee Vans. A lady who works with them has personally told me that I’d be welcome to come along; they’re not exclusively intended for the homeless, anyone who wants a cup of tea or coffee can have one.

If I’m in such dire straits that have to rely on homeless services (food van, shelter) then I’m going to call it quits. I’m trying to highlight what it’s like to live as one of the 29%, and why we really need to reduce that percentage. I don’t want to cause anyone to be turned away, whether it’s while I’m there or hours after I leave.

At the end of the month, I’ll donate $10 for every cup of tea or coffee I’ve received from Rosie’s. I don’t know if that will cover time, admin costs, licences or insurance, but I think that’s a reasonable amount. If you disagree, please leave a comment or email me – I won’t get to read it until March (I’m not going on this website at all during the month) but I might be able to adjust my donation accordingly.

The other main criticism I’ve received:

You say that you won’t be doing anything to harm legitimately homeless people, but I beg to differ. The money you’re begging for, the places you’re finding to sleep in – there are people who will genuinely need that $2 that someone just decided to give to you. There are people who will genuinely need that park bench that you’re now taking up.

I have two answers to this question.

1. If you’re right, and every $2 I take is taken directly out of the hands of another homeless person, every bench I sleep on means that someone else doesn’t get to sleep there:

   It’s my belief that the good I’ll do from this project ($388 raised so far, and hopefully that number will be much higher by the end of the month) will greatly outweigh the temporary harm I’m causing to individual homeless people. That’s where I stand, morally. I’ve discussed this with a lot of people, and I don’t think that what I’m doing is an evil or wicked deed. As well as that, in a month’s time, I’ll be giving the amount of money that I’ve received during the month directly back to people living on the streets, and donating another equivalent amount to StreetSmart Australia.

   I’m aware that this doesn’t factor in the sleeping spots that I’ll be stealing, or the fact that the money I’m taking might not go back to the same person who would have received it otherwise, but there’s nothing I can do about that. Some people have suggested taking money along, or having organised food-drops, but a large part of the experience is going to be how people treat me when I’m dirty and smelly and asking for money. If I organised places to sleep and took money with me, I’d just spend 28 days wandering the streets of Melbourne, essentially living life as normal.

2. It’s my opinion, however, that it’s not a nil-sum game. Every $2 that a passer-by gives me isn’t necessarily $2 that someone else would have received. I’m hoping to sleep in 28 different places during the month; at most, I’d be stealing someone’s preferred sleeping-place for one night, but I don’t think that every potential sleeping-spot is somewhere that someone else would definitely be using.It’s possible that I’m alone in this experience, but while I’ve had plenty of people on the streets asked me for money, I’ve never had two in a row. (and if I did, I wouldn’t leave the second one empty-handed because I’d already given to the first.) I don’t think that people have a set budget that they give to the needy every day, and if one person takes it, the others get nothing. Again, it’s possible that I’m completely wrong about this:

   If the homeless community is so busy in Melbourne that one extra person on the streets for 28 days causes irreparable damage, then it’s a situation that needs attention. As I said above, I think that this is the best way to draw attention to the issue.

So that’s my opinion; I don’t think it’s a one-to-one situation. Every dollar that I receive isn’t a dollar from someone else’s hand, every place I sleep isn’t someone else wandering the streets for the night. If I’m wrong, I suspect that I’ll find out very quickly this coming month, and I’ll be reporting my findings every step of the way. But my intention is not to harm anyone, so if I discover that my actions are, I’ll be pulling out of the project early.

Up next: What I’m taking, where I’m going, what I’ll be doing when I get there.