"I think that there should be more shelters available for people like me– people who aren’t addicted to drugs or alcohol"

A conversation with John

“My father used to hit me all the time, sometimes even just for spilling a glass of water. He also used to have sex with my Mom right in front of me. He spent all our money on cigarettes, he even sold food stamps to buy cigarettes and alcohol. Because of that, we never had any food, and sometimes I had to eat dog food. I’m able to speak about this pretty easily, but that’s only because he’s dead now. It sounds horrible, but when he died, I just felt so relieved, he was a true devil.”

“When I was in 10th grade, I got a suspension for drawing satanic pictures. They kicked me out for the rest of the year, and they made me stay by myself in a trailer by my school. I just couldn’t take it, so I dropped out.”

“I used to work in construction. But fifteen years ago I was on the job and I fell from a 3-story balcony. I woke up two weeks later in a hospital with stitches in both of my ankles. After that, I could work in construction any more, and my only option was retail. But, I can get a job in any store either; they say I don’t have the right ‘look,’ because of my piercings and tattoos.”

“I have four children: three girls, one is 20, one’s 15 and the other is 13, and a two year old son. He is living with his mother in a motel down in Georgia. But my oldest daughter, I haven’t seen her since she was two.”

“I love my tattoos, but I also really enjoy computer programming. I know how to install and reinstall Windows and many other programs. With the right software, I can even hack passwords! I learned how to do it all back when I was dating one of my ex-girlfriends – her parents used allow me to come over and mess around with their computer.”

“I also love cars, and I can work well with the breaks! But, I can’t seem to get a job in any auto shop, because the physical activity is bad for my legs and and they think my look is too weird for the job.”

“I’ve never done any drugs, and I don’t even drink alcohol. But one time I actually pretended I was an alcoholic just to be allowed to spend a night at the ‘wet shelter’ on a cold winter night. But they threw me out of there, because the people there figured out I was only pretending to be drunk.”

“I think that there should be more shelters available for people like me – people who aren’t addicted to drugs or alcohol.”