Selling the Street Sheet on the corner of Sutter and Powell, he started recapping the headline stories and asked if I’d buy a copy for $1. I offered him $2 instead for his name and his story…and he could keep the Street Sheet. “I won’t turn that deal down”, he said.
Pablo was born and raised in San Francisco and has been out of work for about 18 months. He is both an Army and Air Force veteran (enlisted, not drafted) and served 3 years in Korea (rather than Viet Nam), where he met his wife. They returned to San Francisco, had two children and then later divorced. He still sees his daughter and grandchild occasionally.
Pablo used to drive short-haul trucks until he was laid off and before that, worked for the post office. I asked if he was still seeking employment. Pablo replied that he likes selling the Street Sheet because he gets to talk to lot of different people and is able to make ends meet. “Besides, let the young people get the full-time work. Who’s going to hire an old guy like me?” I asked how old he was to which he retorted, “older than you.” Pablo will be 62 in July…which makes him younger than me.
I tried to get a natural shot of Pablo as we spoke but every time I raised the camera, he broke out into a huge grin. He was a happy guy and seemed to enjoy the conversation.
Taken 5/12/14
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