Holding Down the Emmaus Fort

I think we mentioned that Nathaniel is out of town this weekend and Brian is gone until the end of the month, so we I were on our own. We both felt pretty confident about it but, we wish we could say that sentiment was shared among the hustlers. Friday night, when we went out on Street Outreach, we had 4 different hustlers tell us, "Be careful tonight," or "Take care of yourselves," or some other phrase that conveyed their concern for our safety. Each time I walked away kind of confused and said to Roger, "Do people normally say that kind of stuff to you?" Roger said, "No, but that's because one of us is usually with Nathaniel."

We concluded that everyone must see us as being really young and innocent. As one of the hustlers put it, "I have one foot in paradise and one in the grave. You two have both feet in paradise and yet, you choose to come here." We thought that was a really interesting way to describe what he was doing. He has one foot in paradise, probably meaning a family, a nice home, and a nice job. His other foot, the one that wants to be in a neighborhood like Montrose to do drugs and to hustle, is in the grave.

Despite the 'young and innocent' barrier we had to climb last night, we still ended up having good conversations with quite a few men. We even met one new hustler, who has only been on the street for about 4 weeks. He claimed to be very interested in rehab because he desperately wants to be off the streets.

Another interesting conversation last night was with a man that Nathaniel and I had spoken to before at Cousin's, the drag bar. He was telling us that he has to make $100, which is about 50 pounds, each night. He's in 40s, which is considered old for a hustler. This means he has to take less per trick in order to make the amount he needs. He told us when he gets desperate he takes his shirt off. Younger hustlers say that making money is so easy; that's why oftentimes they are hesitant to leave that lifestyle because money is consistent and plentiful. $100 is enough for a hotel room (aprox. $60-70), food (maybe $15), and just enough left over for drugs or alcohol. He told us the other night he made close to $250. One would assume that since he made more than usual that night he would take a night off from hustling, but instead he spent it on alcohol. 

This morning we ran the House of Hospitality. Usually just one or two guys show up, but three showed up today so we were pretty psyched! It was a little difficult because the men always have to be accompanied so in that sense we were out numbered, but everything worked out fine. The new guy that showed up became very chatty after lunch was over and pretty much opened up about a lot of different things.

He told us that is mom had given him weed (Marijuana) at the age of four years old. When he and his sister were fighting or rowdy, (aka being kids) she would tell them to smoke a joint to make them stop. He said he's not angry with his mom and doesn't hold her responsible. He thinks it's a great thing she did, exclaiming, "Weed's the greatest thing ever!" It's no wonder that he's hooked on the drugs he is now if his first drug experience was at the age of four and encouraged by his own mom. Roger and I were both pretty bothered by this. It just seems like such an unfair start to life.