He was selling Street Sheet and as I turned the corner onto Mason, he launched into his spiel. “I’m trying’ to stay out of trouble…” I stopped and listened for a short while and then asked him if he’s heard of $2 Portraits. He hadn’t, so after explaining it to him, he agreed to participate.
Troy is 54 years old and is originally from Louisiana. He came to San Francisco at age 18 and immediately got into trouble. “I was a gangbanger…did some bad stuff and spent almost half my life in prison. I got involved in running some guns and a few guys got shot up real bad.” Troy spent 25 years in Folsom, San Quentin and a third prison I hadn’t heard of. He was there long enough to become a “lieutenant”; supposedly running a cell block from an inmates perspective.
Once out of prison, he tried finding work and was actually hired by Hertz. Once they saw 10 felonies on his record, they let him go. (I thought it odd they didn’t see the felonies before they hired him). Troy is living in a halfway house and sells the Street Sheet to make legitimate money. He’s not interested in going back to prison.
Troy was really polite. He thanked me profusely for listening to his story and not running off. I gave him $2, told him to keep the Street Sheet and then we shook hands. Off he went to pitch the Sheet to another prospect.
Taken 7/8/14
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