So I met a man...not in that way... | 14.05.2017

So I met a man…not in that way…

14.05.2017

I have a job, a semi-controversial job. I’m the person you avoid at all costs on the street. I’m the reason why you pay attention to where you’re going so that you can spot me and swerve, and not make eye contact…do NOT make eye contact…ooh nooo, you made the lethal mistake, now you’re mine, and yes, yes I’m absolutely going to try and sell you something.

Street sales is fun, different people do it for different reasons. I do it because I get to meet hundreds of interesting different characters every day. I get to talk to them, look at their body language, observe their small quirks, their little idiosyncrasies. It helps with the creativity, adding to an ever-growing amount of ‘material’ to my ‘character library’…and pays well…

Today, was a day like any other, filled with pestering people, laughing with them, with the occasional sale. After a few hours, I was getting tired. I reenergized myself..with pizza and red bull…and took off ready to ‘rock’. I saw a man walking, approached him, asked him if he could spare a moment, to which he responded: “I’m Scottish!” (Side note: I live in holland, so to a dutch sales person this would be a no go) Me being Scottish myself, I immediately responded: “Me too!”. He kept walking, so I asked him where he was from, which stopped him and struck up a conversation with him. 

I found out he lived in holland and did the very subtle “Do you have a dutch bank account?” line, to find out if I could sell him stuff. The usual response is “yes”, and then I’ll proceed to talk and sell. His response was slightly different, he indeed had a bank account but only had 42 cents on it, he admitted to me. I don’t quite remember how the exact conversation proceeded, but I remember convincing him to let me give him money but also convincing him to grab a coffee. He was obviously not in a good place, and I wanted to talk to him. 

I’m not going to talk about what he told me in the cafe, but I can say I was tearing up, as was he. I’ve heard many a story, of sorrow, depression, loss. But this one really hit me. Maybe because he’s Scottish, I don’t know, it just did. It boggles my mind that humanity sees itself so amazing, and yet can allow such grievance to a fellow being.

We sat there for, probably, a good 40 minutes, I was not counting. Eventually, my ‘boss’ came to check up, and get me back to work. I just remember thinking “Screw work, I’m staying here till I know that this man will continue his day with more hope than he started it with.” He had considered suicide the night before. He was well and truly at rock bottom. 

Once he’d finished his coffee we found a cash machine, where I got him some money for food. He told me a bit about his talents in singing and acting. (Sidenote: later on the phone I discovered he does a smashingly good impression of Billy O’connelly, and also is good at comedy, and has written an unpublished book. This guy is a hidden gem.) 

Now. I’ve always wanted to make a documentary about a person quite like the man I met today. I scurried up the courage, and asked: “Can I perhaps, maybe, sort of, make a documentary about you?”. I was expecting him to retreat, or just get a bit awkward. Instead, I was met with enthusiasm, a willingness that one could only dream of. 

This is not a story of “ooh look how great I am”, this is a story of how I ‘bumped’ into an incredible human being. I want to make a documentary about him, and I want it to not suck. If you have any advice my ears are all yours! 

I’m glad to say that he is not suicidal anymore, and is now actually allot more hopeful about the future. It’s incredible what a conversation, a simple coffee, a listen, can do for someone. Please keep that in mind the next time you pass someone on the street, or pass a homeless person. Spare a moment, sit down with them, listen to their story, their not easy to hear, fuck their hard to listen to, but it’s necessary. It’s so fucking important to know what the realities of someone else life can be. In fact, I challenge you, the person reading this, I mean, you read to here, so you listened to me..listen to someone you wouldn’t necessarily listen to normally. Or, go out, find someone living rough, and sit down with them (bring some lunch, that’s always nice). 

I don’t care if you’re a fellow student, a teacher, a nurse, an artist, an entrepreneur, a CEO, or whatever. You remain human, capable of listening, understanding, giving someone your attention. Do it. Do it now, do it tomorrow, do it as often as you can, you can easily brighten up someone's day, it’s not hard, it just means lightning yourself of your perceived status and levelling with someone less fortunate. Easy peasy (;