Doc Stevens

Doc: I ain't no criminal but I have in the past got into trouble for just day to day stuff. Stealin'. Trespassin'. Disorderly. Fightin'. Drivin' while suspended. Just everyday stuff what happens in a man's life when his luck is down.

Tondeleo: That may be day to day things to some people, Doc, but it isn't to me, and is not just "everyday" to most people. How is that "everyday?" I would be devastated if I was in trouble for even ONE of those!

Doc: Well, it's day to day if you're a poor man. Not like each and every day, but meanin' a good person will be put in a situation that it seems like there aint no choice but to take something, to eat or pay a bill. I ain't did it much but have did it before. If you ain't never been poor, you might think you wouldn't ever get into no trouble. But no matter how good you might be, you gonna maybe sleep somewhere you ain't s'posed to be... or fall asleep at the laundromat or something. Poor folks get into more trouble than folks with money.

Tondeleo: Why don't you just go to a Homeless Shelter? I would!

Doc: No, you wouldn't! You ain't never even BEEN to a shelter! Ain't everyplace GOT a men's shelter. This aint England, This is America where a man is s'posed to be able to stand on his own two feet, and if youhave too many shelters, men aint gonna do it.

But even if you are somewhere what's got one, they aint no room in the men's shelter. They's always a waiting list. So where you gonna sleep while you're waitin? You ain't thought about that, had you?

If you could get in, you ain't wanna be there. Who slept in that bed and left crabs [body lice], or scabies or puked in it or took a leak in it 'cause they was drunk? You gonna sleep in that? I aint.

You aint wanna sleep in them places 'cause someone might try to steal your stuff, an' if you wake up and stop it, you're in a fight an' they call the law an you're goin' to jail. Why? Because you is poor an' in that shelter an' someone tried to steal from you an' you was tryin' to protect your property.

See, Tondy here's how it works when you're poor. The courts and law are all made for folks with money. Poor folks don't get a fair shake. Like, if YOU got in trouble, you could post bond and go to work and make money and call the best lawyer you could. You'd have the money or the credit an' could get a loan. A man with a good lawyer ain't goin to jail most the time. That's anywhere you go, it's like that.

If you got money, you'll get non prossed, PBJ'd or dismissed, or community service or suspended sentence. That's cause you got money an' a good lawyer an' they want you out in society spending money.

A poor man ain't no use to society an' ain't got credit, an' aint posted bond, so he loses his job, which means losin' his place to live an' all his stuff,if he is on his own an' stays at a motel. Then, he gets a public defender who gets paid no matter how dumb he is,so he ain't gonna take no interest in gettin' you off. Mostly, that public defender don't even meet you til your court day an then he just makes up somethin' to tell the judge an' you're gonna do time.

If I came in with a suit an' tie an' a lawyer what the judge knows, I ain't doin' time, not for the kind of stuff I ever done. But when I come in wearin' work clothes an' got a public defender, I will be found guilty and do some time.

Most of the trouble I got in was from bein' poor or from bein' around other poor folks. Got in trouble for breakin' up a fight where a dude was strong arm robbin' another dude what was too drunk to defend himself.

Tondeleo: Strong arm robbing? I'm not familiar with that term...

Doc: Strong arm robbin' is robbin' without a weapon. Like this dude come up behind the other dude an' was chokin' him so he'd pass out and he could go through his pockets. I told him to cut it out, it was right outside my motel room, and he kept at it, and then he dropped that guy he was robbin' and came after me. I did put a hurtin' on him. Didn't cut him, but did push his head against my door frame and we went round and round a couple minutes. Someone called the cops. His head looked like a bowl full of plums when they got there, so since I won, they thought I was the bad guy. It weren't no big deal though, once they heard the story from the guy what was gettin' robbed.

I been in trouble for trespassin, for sleepin' in a boat that was covered up for the winter, in a man's back yard an' he saw me gettin' out of it one morning. He called the law an' pressed charges for trespassin' and vagrancy. Cause I didn't have no money. No! I had SPENT it all on food and my motel room which I was locked out of!

Drivin' while suspended when I couldn't pay insurance because I had spent my money on a used starter and a alternator which cost me $80 at a junkyard an' then I had a flat tire and had to buy a used tire on a rim for $40. I couldn't pay insurance an' keep my truck on the road. And if I didn't fix my truck I woulda lost my job an' then I woulda lost my room.

So what you gonna do? You're gonna drive and be real careful. And on that one, the first time I got that one, I had fixed a lady's car, to try to get money for insurance an' rent, and the cop what had stopped me before for a tag light out or a brake light out, I ain't remember why, saw me behind the wheel of her car, an' thought I had stole it an' he knew I ain't had no license.

Tondeleo: Wasn't there a little bit more to it than that, Doc?

Doc: Yeah, but that ain't what's the important part. It's about what happens when you're poor what you ain't directly choosin'.

Been in trouble another time for fightin'. I was takin' a late night walk, so I had my cane with me. A crackhead tried to rob me an' I knocked the knife outta his hands with my cane and then I did teach him a lesson - do NOT rob a 200 pound man what carries a cane and already had a bad day! But I didn't start nothin, he did. That was assault and disorderly. Disorderly 'cause the cops let him go and was lockin' ME up. I ain't had no money but maybe $30, an' was stayin' at a motel. To a cop, that means you're no good an' nothin' but trouble. But that ain't true just because a man is poor.

You have to be twice as good if you is poor an' keep your mouth shut twiced as much, cause if you ain't got money, you ain't got no room for mistakes.

Tondeleo: During some of my interviews with Doc Stevens on poverty and the lifestyles of the poor and anonymous : ], he tells me stories that are just beyond my scope of life experience. He told me this one about domestic violence, a man hitting his girlfriend, and why it was good that the man did not at least spend the night in jail. Doc's friend Big Dave was there during the interview, and was in agreement. Here is an edited version of this incident. By the way, these pictures are not from the scene. They are some I found online to illustrate the story. If any of them are yours and you don't want them here, tell me and I'll take them down.

Doc: I don't believe in a man hittin' a woman or kids, 'cept spankin' a kid what is askin' for it if you know what I mean. Mostly the mama ought to do that. But sometimes it happens. No doubt. I don't ever approve of it. I ain't never hit a woman, but I been around plenty of women what would push a man to the limit! But I stay away from big mouth women and women what's pushy.

Big Dave: I HAVE hit a woman before. Didn't want to, but she asked for it. She been drinkin liquor and gettin' mouthy and was shovin' people around. We was in a bar what I was playin' at over to Tennessee, in Kingsport, and she was gettin' loud and the bouncer came over and told me to get her under control or leave. I couldn't do anything with her. I didn't even like her that well. She was a big gal, sort of a horse type. Maybe 225 - 250 pounds. I tried to get her to leave and she started cussin' me and shovin' and she hit me in the face andd without even thinking, I hit her and restrained her and took her back to the motel and left her there. I'm not proud of it, Tondeleo, but it gets rough out here. American women aren't as respectable acting as English women are.

Tondy: We have English women who can get mouthy after a couple of pints...

Doc: Well, here's somethin' what happened with the guy in the room next to me and' can help someone understand some of what goes on in a person's life.

Like a couple years ago I was stayin' in a motel down south for a couple months. The guy in the room next to me had his old lady, his two boys, his girl and his brother all stayin' in the one room. After work, I'd go over to talk for a couple of minutes, bein' neighborly.

His brother worked at a junkyard [auto breakers - Tondeleo] for about $25 a day, so he aint got no money for rentin' his own place. AJ [the guy who was Doc's neighbor], worked at another junkyard for eight bucks an hour. AJ got a car at least. It aint much but it's a car.

Him and Eddie [the brother] rides to work together every day, and the old lady stays there in the room with the youngest boy. The other two is in school, so they's gone all day til about 3 or 4. Then she got to deal with them, and TV and trying to come up with something to put in the microwave.

She's tired of bein' broke an' never havin' any time to herself and puttin' up with the kids whinin.' When AJ an' Eddie comes home from work, they don't walk to walk in on all that. They tend to stop off and play a video game up the liquor store an' they each get a 20 oz as a break from work an' to rest afore goin' home.

When they get there, Lillian's tired and grouchy and the kids are fussin' and whinin' and Lillian's tired of bein' crowded in one room. All them sharin' one toilet, an' Eddie got bad gas and can sit on a toilet til he's got ring around the rosey. He just does that to get away from AJ, Lillian and the kids. When Lillian's on her time of month, and Eddie's on the toilet, and the kids are fightin, and AJ's yellin' for them all to shut up it gets crazy.

Big Dave: You know, that's when AJ shoulda gone to the carry out or somewhere and calmed down and Lillian had fallen asleep. That woulda done it, and Eddie coulda gone with him.

Doc: Yeah, but he ain't got enough money to do that and still pay the rent.

My room is on one side of them, and in the room on the other side is Clifford and Marquita who both does crack and drink and fight alot. They aint like hearin all the drama over at AJ's every night. AJ and Eddie listens to country music kinda loud and Clifford and Marquita is into rap. Loud rap, so they is all of them sick and tired of each other and everything else. But really they is friends. You got to be when you are living that close and need each other to help out sometime, and you don't want to be fightin' your neighbor.

So, one night, AJ and Eddie walk in, an' he had bought two lotto tickets, and had drank a 20 ounce and bought cigarettes for hisself but he aint bought none for Lillian. She's havin' a nicotine fit, and the kids been worse n' usual, hittin, and bitin' each other an' won't calm down.

Lillian's all over AJ like ants on hard candy about not gettin' her cigarettes. He smokes Camels and she smokes Newports. He tells her he had to have some Camels to keep him calm comin' home to her every night an' dealin' with her, the kids and her mouth. Eddie puts his two cents worth in and tells her to shut her big mouth.

Now she's up in AJ's face waggin' her head and lookin' wild eyed, and cussin' at Eddie and tellin' him to shut up an' Eddies tellin' her to make him shut up, the kids are screamin' and cryin' and then Clifford comes over and tells them all to shut up. Lillian tells him to mind his own business, and gets in his face, which gets Marquita out there tellin' Lillian don't talk to her man like that, and comes over to slap Lillian's face and get in a girl fight.

Now all the people is out there watchin' and shoutin' and some wanting to see a fight cause they is bored and others tellin' everyone to be quiet so they can get to sleep.

Clifford don't want the cops around, so he runs over and grabs Marquita's arms and bear hugs her back to the room, She's cussin' and bitin' the air and kickin' and everybody's laughin' and shoutin'. Lillin keeps yellin' and callin Marquita names and cuss words and flickin' her off.

Eddie tells AJ to calm his old lady down like Clifford did HIS old lady. AJ tells Lillian to shut up and go inside. But she won't do that. As he moves in closer she gets in his face and pulls her lips back and is sneering at him and tellin' him he ain't MAN enough to make her be quiet. He ain't MAN enough!

He tells her to shut up, everybody out there is yelling for him to quiet her down and keep his kids quiet and she shoves him! What's he gonna do? Everybody;s laughin' at him, and hollering "Whoooooaaaa!" and he is stressed, broke, embarrased and don't know what to do. You know what he did, Tondy.

He drew back his fist and said "Girl shut your mouth and go inside or I'll bust you in the eye." He was bein' restrained, considering. What did Lillian do? She SPIT on him, and and stuck her tongue out. So, AJ busted in the eye just like he said he would! Made a POP sound! Woulda made you sick to hear it. The whole thing would. The fightin' the arguin, the cussin', the hatred. When people is stressed, there is a lot of that kind of thing. I think the devil hangs out around them situations.

Lillian commenced to screaming at the top of her lungs like she was bein' skinned alive and set on fire, and hollerin' for someone to call the cops, and someone did.

OK. The cops get there and most people was back in they's room, ceptin' me, Eddie, AJ, Lillian and folks standin' far enough away but close enough to listen in. AN ambulance comes too, cause the person what called dialed 911. Three cop cars pull in cause the 911 operator heard all the hollerin' and thought it was a riot.

I tell the one cop what happened best I could over Lillian's screamin' how it happened and how she was wrong, AJ was wrong, everybody was wrong. The cops ask AJ, and ask Eddie, and Lillian is just screamin' that she is going to need a makeover. The rescue folks take her in the ambulance to deal with her black eye and to give her time to cool off, which Lillian just don't do, Tondy. They release her after maybe 20 minutes. The kids is screamin bloody murder and everybody's tired an' don't feel like hearin' it.

The cops cuffed AJ and was gonna charge him with assault and battery. They threaten Lillian to shut up or they will lock her up for disturbin' the peace. She spits on AJ there in the cop car.

A lady cop gets Lillian and sits her down on the curb and talks sense to her. If they gotta take AJ to jail, he'll be there til a trial date because he cain't afford to post bail. She asks Lillian if she has anywhere for her and the kids to go and Lillian says no. AJ is all they got for real money. The lady cop asks about Eddie who's been keepin' quiet. He says he don't care, he can sleep on the streets. He ain't wanna live there in the first place. he was just helpin' AJ out.

The cops know that Lillian'll drop charges. They know she is a big mouth trouble maker an' they have also seen her drunk which is worse. She drinks Peach Shnapps and acts like a alligator with a big mouth when she is drink. They know those kids ain't gonna be easy to place in foster care, not around here. They know that if AJ is locked up for more than the weekend he's gonna lose his job and then the whole bunch of them'll be homeless.

So these cops gotta be cops an' they gotta be human, too. They send the ambulance back, and the other cop pulls out leavin' the lady cop and the cop with AJ cuffed in the back of the car. He gives AJ a talk about bein' calm, walkin' away and smokin' a cigarette when Lillian's mouthin' off and the lady cop talks to Lillian about how it's hard for a man to feel like he cain't please his old lady and that he ain't makin' enough money to treat her or the kids good enough. She tells Lillian to lighten up and asks if she can go say she loves AJ and that he can come in and they won't bring it up no more.

The lady cop walks over to the car where AJ is, and tells him she loves him and to come on back in. AJ now ain't got so much drenalin in his blood and he is just tired an' wants to go to bed so he tells the cop he'll be alright. The cop uncuffs him and tells them both to go get some sleep and be good to each other.

Them cops was good human beings, Tondy. They know their people and they know the pressures on poor folk and they know that sometimes people ain't really bad, they just get pushed to the limit and cain't take no more. The cops give Lillian, AJ and Eddie their cards and give me one, too, in case anything starts up again. They tell Lillian that they can lock her up if she acts up again and tell AJ they'll lock him up for aggravated assault if he does it again and everyone goes inside an' tries to sleep. Poor folks have a harder time than folks with money. It's tough out there.

Tondeleo: If you follow this blog, you know that I write it from various interviews and encounters with Doc Stevens, in the USA. He is the kind of American that we don't see on the telly, but that is very common in the rural areas of the States. He is a hard worker, and has a very simple life. He works, plays music, travels and does his best to help his friends and family members. He takes pride in his niece, Marilyn. He is fiercely loyal to his friends.

This series of postings is from interviews with Doc more than a year ago, when I was on assignment in America and was able to get several evenings with him, and also spent my days off with him and his friends. We were talking about poverty in America, and how even a sober, hard working individual can get caught in the cycle of poverty.

America is not like the U.K. in that there is not massive public transport, they don't have the dole as we know it, and many Americans have too much of a sense of independence to accept public assistance. I have discovered that for many Americans, there is a lag time between applying for public assistance and actually receiving it. During that time, which may be more than a month, people are on their own, and have to live by their wits. It is surprising, really.

I got several hours recorded on this topic and am posting them as I get the opportunity to transcribe them and post them. I have no idea how many postings this will produce, since the cycle of poverty and the ripple effects of it are a major part of the lives of America's working poor. I have learnt that these people tend to be caring, friendly, once you earn their trust and have the same needs, wants and hurts as anyone else. Just on different levels.

Doc and his friends are a hard working and hard playing lot. None of them are lazy, but they are not always the most efficient or savvy individuals. Now, on with the interview.

Doc: Here's a thing about bein' poor, Tondy. I figured it out. When you is close to the edge, you aint got no room for ANY mistakes. One bad move and you are done. Like a man with money can lose a $20 bill and he still got a place to live that night. It don't mean nothing. But if I am new in town, and all I got is $50, and the room for the night is $50, and I lose a twenty, I am not only homeless that night, but I can't get to my guitar or tools, if they is locked in the room, til I pay that night's rent and the next one. All 'cause of losing a $20 bill!

Aint no room for mistakes, if you're poor. I ain't no troublemaker. But If I am new in town and aint no one know me, and someone hits me and I hit him back, guess who goes to jail? Me, cause I am the new guy, and aint got no family or roots there. Everything matters when you're poor. You cant pay a traffic ticket. You lose your license. So then what you gonna do? you still got to get to work, so that means you still got to drive. In a small town, that same cop is gonna see you an' pull you over again.

One time, I was in jail for a couple days, and had a court date in another county for driving on suspended. Suspended why? Because I could not pay the traffic fine earlier. But I was driving on suspended because I was fixin' a lady's car, for some rent money and was test driving it and a cop pulled me over cause he knew I didn't belong in that car! Thought I'd stole it! He knew the lady! But he didn't know me as a person. He just knew my license was suspended.

So here I am in jail in another county, and my court date comes up and I didn't make it to the courthouse! I was in jail! They revoked my license! But I still gotta drive to go to work, but the boss man was gonna fire me for missing three days of work. Then, I couldn't pay my insurance.

Three days off work can mean a lot to a person's life if they ain't got much to begin with. Now what if I had a ol' lady an' kids what I was tryin' to feed at that time? They woulda been put out on the streets with no food, no clothes, no nothin! At checkout time on Friday evening, they are told they gotta go! Now where they gonna go? Specially in the winter! Lotsa families live under that pressure day after day.

When I showed up for court, and the cops what stopped me didn't show up, I COULD have probly got off. But I done what they said I done, and told the Judge that yeah I done it. He gave me a $90 fine, court costs and 24 hours community service. When I showed up for community service the lady there told me I had to first pay the $90 plus court costs before doin' community service. But I ain't had $90. I ain't had but bucks. And I had to take off a day of work just to get there to be turned away.

Folks what got money, even middle class people ain't never been in that position, so they just say to get over it. But you cain't get over it when it is your life and you aint got nothing, and your family aint got nothing and your friends aint got nothing and you caint go to the bank and get the money pout it on a credit card. When you close to the edge like a lot of us is, you aint got room to get a ticket, you aint got room to get fined, you aint got room to miss a day's work. You caint afford none of that. When you fall into a ditch it is hard to get out.

Folks with money pays car insurance 6 months at a time. Rich folks pay a year at a time. Folks without money get charged more for insurance and we pay it every 30 days or we get reported to DMV, and our tags are suspended! So we got to drive without insurance, so we can have food and a roof, hope we don't get stopped for a tag light out, and hope the person with us aint got no drugs in the car.

If they got drugs in the car, the car gets impounded and if it's lot of drugs, or if the cop SAYS it's a lot of drugs or he plants a lot of drugs in the car, everyone in the car is goin' to jail.

If I got a car or a truck, I can just sleep in that til I get on my feet. My boss thinks I get there early for work and just snooze till he gets there. No. I drive off at quittin' time and try to make some money playin' music or fixin' someone's car, and then I circle back to the shop and park in the parking lot or out back for the night. That's the best I can do when I am new in town. And I'm a lucky one, Tondy. I aint a drunk. I aint a druggie. I got a trade. I can talk ok. I can play guitar an' sing. An' I believe in the Lord. You aint gotta be a choirboy for him to give you a helpin' hand from time to time.

A man's gotta keep tryin, and not give up. When he falls down, he gotta get up as soon as he can, and learn whatever he can and keep tryin' and keep his attitude good.

Tondeleo: This is part three of a series of interviews I did with Doc Stevens more than a year ago, and never typed up. We're talking about how a sober, hard working man can be in poverty, and how hard it is when a person is in a new area, with no family support.

"Doc, you've talked about living in the streets, and the other night you talked about how you survive if you're new in an area, and you have found a job, but you haven't got paid yet. And you are staying in a room or motel that you rent by the week. You said if you don't pay the rent by checkout time on Friday, they will lock you out of your room, with all your possessions in it, until you pay in full. You said that you sometimes will steal to get the money you need. Can you tell me some more about that?"

Doc: Right. Well, what you said is right. Most folks know that stealing aint right. I aint like stealin' an' I ain't like gettin' caught or goin' to jail. But I have stole before. I have tookin' things what ain't mine, and sold them to pay rent or buy food.

I aint a drunk and I aint a druggie. I am the first male in my family bloodline to not give over to alcohol. The very first one. All of the rest of 'em did. Not their whole lives, but they all have lost jobs and been in trouble for drinkin.' I ain't gonna lie, cause I have drank before to keep warm. And I aint no thief but I have tooken things what ain't no one want, or was 'bandoned to get something to eat. Nothing too big, cause I aint wantin' to go to jail, specially in a town where the law aint know me.

I ain't a shoplifter neither. Shoplifting is low. Them people need that stuff to sell so they can pay their bills.

Tondeleo: "How can you know if somebody doesn't want what you think is ok to take because you've seen it sitting untouched for a while? That sounds a little strange to those of us who don't do things like that..."

Doc: Well... Dumpster ["Dumpster" is the Yank word for "skip" - Tondeleo] divin' ain't strictly stealin' and I will go through dumpsters behind stores for food an' things to sell. Panerro Bread throws out stuff on Thursdays what is still good enough to eat. So'd most grocery stores. In Winter it's better cause the food stays cold and fresh longer.

Toys R Us throws out toys an' bikes sometimes what I can sell. They could call it stealin' but I have had a sheriff pull up one time when I was in the dumpster, an' he knew who I was an' just tole me not to get hurt or fall asleep in the dumpster. I go either about 5 in the morning or about midnight. I take a shoulder bag for what I can carry and if it's big stuff, I hide it in the woods til I can get it home.

Tondeleo: What kinds of things would one find in a dumpster? I can't imagine going through the rubbish like that.

Doc: People in America throw away anything they ain't feel like keeping. Radios, computers what's a couple years old, drills, saws, clothes what's takin' up too much room. You name it. Stereos and TV's too.

Behind a store you can find whatever they sell inside and aint want to deal with. Like things what people returned, or been on the shelf too long, or got some fingerprints on 'em from bein' on display. I got computers, tools, all kinds of electric stuff, and things what's perfectly good. I can sell 'em cheap and help people out and help myself at the same time. Aint nothin' wrong with that.

Oh yeah, Tondy, you wanna take a cane with you to pull stuff out with, what might have other things piled on it, and to help pull yourself out with if it is a deep dumpster. And for protection from somebody tryin' to rob you. You ain't gonna get in trouble for carryin' a cane, but you can protect yourself with it real good.

Tondeleo: Back to stealing. I can tell you're avoiding me a little bit here, Doc.

Doc: Ok. I aint like talkin' about stealin'. But like in the city, at a liberry, hospital or a college, I have tooken bikes what have been left chained up in a public place where the owners 'bandoned them. You see that all the time. Chained up, the chain is rusty and that bike has been there for weeks. I will take one of them and not feel bad at all for doin' it. It's doin my part to clean up the city when the locals won't do it.

I have took a hack saw blade and cut a few minutes at a time till I could get the bike. One time I cut the frame on the bike right there in front of the seat, where the hardened chain went through, and then welded it back up at the body shop where I had just got a job. I cleaned up that bike and sold it for 30 bucks for a room that night. I done that more than once, now that I remember it. But I aint did nothin' wrong. It had been there a long time, I could tell by the dirt the way it was on it, and around the bottom of the tires, and on the rims, all the dirt was old and at the bottom. So it aint really stealin. More like recyclin'. And eatin' and keeping me off the streets. Uh... and givin' someone else a chance to own a bike pretty cheap. Maybe twenty bucks or even ten if it ain't too good.

I have tooken parts of abandoned cars and sold them. I have found things what has sat outside too long and sold them too. Or when somebody moves and leaves things in their shed. I have tooken things what was left, like a lawnmower before someone else took it. I needed the money.

Mostly when I go to another place to live, I aint got much money an' sometimes I have to move cause I aint got no money at all. I got to sell somethin', play my guitar or do some work for somebody and get paid before I can even get a room for the night. In the winter that's hard. That's why in the winter I try to stay down south.

If I can get 50 or 60 dollars the first day in town, that' money's goin' for a motel room and some food. But I know I am homeless by checkout time the next day, so I got to get all my stuff out and try to hustle some money somehow, so I got a place to sleep that night. If it's warm weather, it aint so bad. A man can find a place to sleep in a lot of places. A unlocked car behind a body shop or garage is a good one. You just have to be able to wake up when the sun comes up and get your stuff and get outta there. Boats is a good place for a poor man to sleep. People leave 'em on their back yards and they don't pay no attention to them for a month or two at a time.

You can sleep in new houses bein' built, too. I done that plenty. I don't go to no 'bandoned houses. Too many crackheads and drunks. A crackhead will kill you for $5 which you might not even have. I don't hang out in alleys. Don't sleep in no dumpsters, none of that. I aint no bum or mental case. I am a hard workin' man, but when you first hit a new place and aint got nothin' you got to find a place to put your stuff, and to sleep and get food til you get a job and a couple paychecks. Then you can do all right.

Tondeleo: In the previous post,which is from an old interview with Doc, he tells about how he got laid off his job at the plant in North Carolina, and couldn't pay his rent. He had a truck with a bad transmission that he was capable of fixing, if he'd had the $175 for a used transmission, and a place to work on it. When he could no longer pay the rent, he had to sell the truck, because it had to be moved. He only got $400 out of it, due to its having a bad transmission.

With that money, he took a bus to Orangeburg, South Carolina, where he had a friend who helped him find a job at an auto body shop. Since Doc was poor, and desperate for work, the shop owner only offered to pay him $8 an hour, with no taxes, social security or other taxes taken out, and no benefits whatsoever.

Doc said this is common for employers of small businesses when they know that a person is broke and needs a job immediately. Of course, the bus ticket cost Doc about $50, and he spent $!39 for a room for a week at a bad motel, and spent some money on groceries and necessities. So he went busking to get "walking around money" and so he could eat.

So, what happens next, Doc?

Doc: Well, like I said, I'm down there with no transportation, and the body shop is maybe five, maybe six miles away. That means I got to hitchike which I aint like doing, or walk to work. I got to leave extra early for both, cause I don't know how long it will take me to get to work. If I get there late, the boss'll think I'm lazy and might fire me. I got to allow more than a hour for gettin' to work. Better early than late.

When a man's new in town an' the boss knows you NEED that job, a lot of times he'll take advantage of your situation. Threaten to fire you, try to cut your pay, yell at you or anything he can to make you scared that you'll lose the job and then lose your room and your stuff. Some time the other workers get jealous of you if you work hard and keep your mouth shut. Some of 'em don't like anyone what aint local. They can give you a hard time. I usually can get along with most anybody, cause that is a survival tool, too, Tondy. Gettin' along.

Pretty much on that first job when you get in town, you gotta take what gets disheds out, til you get on your feet. But you need transportation to do that. Til then, you are stuck and the boss knows it and you do. You might get a boss what is a real Christian, but I aint had but two or three. Most of them is just regular and try to make a buck however they can.

So I go to work leavin' early so I can hitch a ride and take my tool box with me, and my shoulder bag. It's a lot for a man to carry. They got my body hammers, dollies, dent puller, DA [orbital sander], air file, primer gun and finish gun with me. If you aint got these basics, you aint gonna get hired no where. You gotta have tools.

Another thing. People don't wanna pick up someone what's hitchhikin' and carryin a bag or toolbox. They think you might have a gun in there and is gonna rob 'em and steal their car. The first few days, you just as well count on hitchhikin only for showin' your face to the people what drives by. After three or four days, they recognise you and then someone might pick you up or tell you to hop in the back of their pickup truck.

Now if you ever leave your tools in your room, they might get tooken, cause of the crack heads, thieves and drunks what stays at cheap motels. Plus me bein' from outta town, an' they seen me carryin' in my stuff. When I take my stuff to work, they might get tooken there, too, if the boss decides to fire me after I left for the day. Or someone may just break in the shop and steal stuff. Other employees might steal your stuff.

I ain't got no wheels, so I gotta keep my stuff with me all the time to keep an eye on 'em. I still got my guitars and little amp in my room what I'm worried about. That kind of worry is part of bein' poor and workin' hard. Bein' robbed, cheated and tooken from is regular when you're a stranger and broke.

"Bein' robbed, cheated and tooken from is regular when you're a stranger and broke."

If I had a van or a truck with a tool box on the back, I could drive to work in 10 minutes, an' keep my tools in the box, an' my guitars in the cab, locked up. And also I could play music somewhere an' pick up a couple of bucks after work. But without a truck or car, I cain't do nothin but work my 8 hours, an' that ties me up about 11 hours due to hitchin a ride or walkin. So I am more broke an' get less sleep than if I had my own wheels.

When I get back to the room, it's like 7:30 an' I have to walk down to the Gas N Go for some little cans of soup and veggies, and Vienna sausage for meat, them little hot dogs. And it costs more than it would at the Bi Lo, but I caint get there with all my tools, and still be able to carry anything, and I caint really hitch hike there, after 7:30 and then hitch hike back with groceries. It's too much. So, I pay too much for too little food, and wonder what I will do till payday. And that's just the second day in Orangeburg, Tondy. It's that way for any man what is poor and tryin' to start his life over.

I'm luckier than most 'cause I got a trade, I got tools of the trade an' I got 2 guitars an' I can sing. It's just about tryin' to last long enough to get goin' again, and get some wheels. Then it will be easier. But I will need enough for wheels, tags, insurance, fixin' whatever I can afford, cause all I'll be able to afford will be maybe $500, an' anything what costs only $500, will need a lot of work, and probably tires or a muffler or windshield. You cain't get nothing but a junker for $500.

I got to do that while payin' $139 a week, and always bein' a week away from bein' homeless, an' if I caint pay my rent, they will lock the motel room door on me an' I won't be able to get to my tools or guitars til they is paid in full. And that is every week. Even if you is sober, and got a trade, and a job, it's hard being poor.

You do the math, Tondy. I am tellin' you how it is, an' I ain't even talkin' about supportin' an old lady an' kids. Most men gots an old lady an' two or three kids, and tryin' to do all I'm doin.' Life ain't no good when you are in that kind of setup.