- [Interviewer] Mike. We're here in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
You're homeless.
- Yes.
- [Interviewer] Tell me about it.
- It's, you know, I did it myself.
I had three good years of sobriety.
And then I screwed up.
I got very, very ill from a severe reaction
to an allergy medicine.
And as I recovered, the doctor told me
it was going to take seven months.
And at the end of that seven months
I regressed in my old behavior.
And I've been that way for about six or seven months now
and it's just kicking my ass.
And I'm struggling to come out,
but like you can tell with the way I'm dressed,
hell, I can't even apply for a job
with the way I look, you know.
I had something lined up last week
but then I found out I had no money
to go buy a pair of clean pants
and a clean shirt and stuff like that.
And so there is just no sense in pursuing it.
In the last year,
I've gotten a passport,
got my driver's license back,
I've got a certified food manager certificate, you know.
So I'm trying to build things.
But you know you get trapped in the cycle
and I'm an alcoholic and I'm battling that too.
And it's just rough, you know.
- [Interviewer] People don't understand how
addiction and alcoholism just takes your life away.
- Oh no, I've been battling with alcohol
since the middle of high school.
First drink I ever took I knew I was in love with it.
- [Interviewer] Me too.
- (laughs)
You know, it was like, God, this is nice!
- [Interviewer] Yeah, I know.
- And you know, I grew up during the seventies,
so drinking and drugging was just the normal thing.
And I was just at the library
reading an article in Rolling Stone about
oh, who was it...
Some rock star, and about how
the seventies were just like that for him and me
and so many other people.
- [Interviewer] So tell me about homelessness
in Minnesota, in Minneapolis.
- Well, once you're in the cycle, you're stuck.
It's very, very difficult to get out.
- [Interviewer] Now the shelters probably kick you out
during the day?
- Oh yeah, you got to move out at six am.
- [Interviewer] And how cold is it?
- It's...
It's April and it's still snowing right now as we speak.
- [Interviewer] But they kick you out in the cold weather.
- Oh yeah.
- [Interviewer] With no resources to go look for work.
- No, very typical. Very typical.
- [Interviewer] And then nothing opens up till nine.
- Oh yeah, nine, ten, the library isn't open until ten.
So I go over, like I said,
I go over to the church. I go to the Basilica.
They weren't open this morning
but generally they're open by six am.
That's when they boot your ass out.
- [Interviewer] Right, but if they're not open
like this morning you're stuck out in the cold.
- Oh yeah, so I went to Midwestern College
and I sat in a chair for two, three hours
until it was about 9:30,
and then I got up and I went to the library.
- [Interviewer] That's no way to live.
- God no, I'm not happy about it.
I don't want to make it a lifestyle.
Some people do.
I'm trying to crawl my way out.
I have the capability of doing it,
I'm just having a real hard time doing it.
- [Interviewer] Well we don't make it easy,
we don't make it easy for you to get your life back.
- No, it's very very difficult.
- [Interviewer] Now when do you get lined up,
when do you have to go back in to the shelter?
When do they start lining you up?
- About 7:30, 8 o'clock.
- [Interviewer] 7:30, that's crazy!
- Oh yeah, it's nuts.
- [Interviewer] I mean it's also cold.
So from 6 to 7:30, you're outside.
- Yeah. And right now I'm trying to scrape up
another dollar for a pint.
And hopefully I'll pass the breathalyzer.
- [Interviewer] Oh they breathalyze you to get in?
- Oh yeah, yeah.
- [Interviewer] Holy guacamole.
- Well it depends on how you appear.
- [Interviewer] Right right right. No I get it.
Well, first off homelessness is...
- I don't try to drink so much that I go in
(groans)
- [Interviewer] No I know, I get it, homelessness sucks.
Who wants to be out here sober.
But what happens to the people
that don't pass the breathalyzer?
- They tell them to go outside
and walk around for a couple hours.
- [Interviewer] And then they allow them to come back?
- They might.
- [Interviewer] Or pass out in a snow bank and die.
- You could.
It's Minnesota, you know, it's not California.
It's not summer yet.
- [Interviewer] Oh I know it's not California.
So if you had three wishes what would they be?
- To get a job.
To find a place that was safe and secure to live.
And peace for humanity, I don't know.
I'd like to repay society for,
I worked for Hennepin county for over twenty years.
I've been a responsible citizen for most of my life.
I'd like to give back.
But I'm not in the position to do that, you know.
- [Interviewer] Well thank you very much for talking to me.
- Sure. Very nice to meet you.
Yeah I hope this does some good.
I try to be honest.
- [Interviewer] You were great.
- I'm tearing up.
But I try to be honest,
I try to be forthcoming.
I try to be polite to people on the street.
I go oh, nice shoes, nice haircut, blah blah blah.
- [Interviewer] And you were nice to me, so.
- And you were nice to me.
So, what goes around comes around.
And I can only hope that
the better off I treat people,
the better off my life will be, you know.
And that's it.