Journal 2 ch.5-8

Scratch Beginnings: 4/30/2010

In Chapters 5-8 Adam spent most of his time trying to find a job. This proved to be a difficult task until he meets Phil Coleman who encourages him to be more assertive. Adam decides to take a different route with getting a job and goes to speak directly with Curtis, the manager of Fast Company. After giving Curtis his whole speech about being the best man for the job, he is hired. We felt Phil’s point about being more assertive could apply to just about anyone trying to get a job. Most managers find that this trait is a positive one to have for employees and is most likely going to help someone get hired for a job because it gives the manager the idea that they really value the work.

One surprising thing we found was how accepting the church was of all the homeless men showing up at the mass baptism. They didn’t seem to mind that a whole group of them arrived and started eating all the food. The people from the church even encourage the men to get baptized while they were there. People were even nice enough to offer some of the men a place to live, but the men rarely took advantage of such offers.

Another thing we found interesting was how many of the men make money just by donating plasma every week. We were surprised that the clinics didn’t mind that they were taking donations from a bunch of men off the streets. We also thought it was odd that the clinic just took Adam’s word for not have been taking drugs and all that, something many homeless men are involved with.

We thought it was interesting that for some of the men cigarettes became a form of currency. Adam, someone who never smoked, bought a pack of cigarettes hoping to gain from trading. Even though he didn’t gain as much as he wanted from trading the cigarettes he found that it was a good way to meet many of the men at the shelter.

The resident known as “Hustle Man” was someone we found very interesting. He knew heroin was killing him, but he had no plans of quitting because he loved it. Also, even though he was a heavy drug user, Adam felt that he was one of the most ambitious guys he had met. What we found most surprising, though, was how easy it was for him to quit using heroin just because it was costing him too much.

At the beginning of chapter eight Adam talks about how repulsive the shelter is, but that he realizes that it is almost done on purpose. It gives the men a place to stay, but at the same time they still have the desire to move foreword with their lives. This was something we really didn’t consider at first, thinking that a shelter should be welcoming to the homeless. Shepard makes a good point, as it is only a shelter and not a home. Dictionary.com defines a shelter as “building serving as a temporary refuge or residence for homeless persons...” It only makes sense that the shelter would be repulsive, it meant to be temporary and if it gave the men all the luxuries of a home then they would never feel that they should try to get out and back on their feet.