Flipping the Script
Paul's Quest for Burger Van Brilliance
Photo by StreetLife Stories
"Ex homeless guy, ex-drug addict trying to setup my catering business and get my burger van business up and running"
Paul became a follower of @streetlifestories_ and upon clicking on his profile I saw the above and had to message him.
Our chat took place over Zoom which he took from a friend’s house for the Wi-Fi connection. Despite his experiences, he comes across super upbeat and has the self-confidence that I admire in fulfilling his traveling burger van dream.
Paul became homeless for a variety of reasons and steered away from talking about the past much. The conversation always came back to the present or future with a sense of proudness in getting to where he is today. His street time began in Brighton in 2015 where he also enrolled on a catering course, passing levels 2 & 3. After 2 years, he was housed in Brighton, but he found the hostel badly run and was keen to get out. With little support for his living conditions, he left Brighton to move up north, leading him to get a room in a shared house. Shared housing is similar to University halls – lock on the bedroom door, share everything else and not knowing what or who you are walking into.
"Could be sharing with junkies, alcoholics, thugs, whatever"
Although shared housing can get one off the streets, it comes with its own difficulties.
"they don’t assess you good enough. If they assess people properly what each person’s needs were, maybe if they were drug addicts, alcoholics, people in recovery. If they assess them properly and house them in the right house it would have been alright. Pointless housing someone who has just left rehab or in recovery in a shared house where there are loads of alcoholics and druggies; You don’t want that do yer"
I couldn’t help but wonder what he would have gone through at the time of finding out that he got a room and then have the realisation that this might not be all he had hoped. Is the grass always greener on the other side?
Before moving from this place, Paul was robbed of close to £1,000 of catering equipment, including a Japanese knife set worth £160.00. He felt that the place he was staying and the police showed little interest. It made me question an incident I had been through during lockdown – someone came into my home and stole my work laptop while leaving a souvenir in the downstairs toilet (no joke) and during that time, the police were not interested. Was it because no one was hurt or because they assumed my laptop would be covered by work or insurance? Blasé comments between friends that if this incident had happened to someone of elite status, they would have fingerprinted or something…but nothing. So if it just comes down to paperwork and nothing really being taken seriously what would it have been like for Paul? After this, Paul moved a further 3 times due to damp, mould, sharing with hardcore addicts and dealers as well as the guarantee of food theft. He now resides in Cumbria.
I was still curious to the reasons why Paul ended up sleeping on the streets. After all, he had lived on so many including Manchester, Oldham, Stockport, Rochdale & Blackpool so I tried again. He went on to say that his story began with losing his job, rent arrears, leading to heroin; Admittedly he lost all hope. The government had sanctioned his job seekers and housing benefit for 6 months which didn’t even cover drug money and in the end, attended court where a judge agreed that he didn’t quite understand how someone who has zero coming in pay for anything; He was evicted.
While on the streets, Paul was not only physically and verbally attacked by passers-by but also recalled an incident with a police officer. The officer walked by called out: “a bum” to which Paul reacted, in his words angrily by questioning the comment: “why are you calling me a bum, I’m going to college”. We’ve all done it, gotten triggered by a comment because in actual fact we are genuinely trying our hardest to which we believe we are capable of, that frustration when someone puts you down about it and to top it off coming from an authority figure who is meant to care for citizens rather than casual digs. The officers went on their way to a chicken shop with their riot van left open. 30 grease-filled minutes later they were to come out to find that someone had raided the van, taken the doors and wheels off and all items were placed in another riot van parked in front. Was it Paul or a dose of karma? I’ll leave that to your imagination.
Not everyone living on the street is there for the same reason, ranging from relationship abuse, family, and finances to substances.
"they are all there for different reasons. Not all there for the same reason. Most people say ‘oh they are just bums’. No, they are not. They come from all different types of backgrounds & reasons and sometimes when you get onto the street you give up, you don’t care so you get into drugs to get away from the pain. It’s how I got into heroin cos thought why not – heroin is cheap – 3 for £25"
Heroin is known as one of the most addictive substances so understandably after one hit the user is craving more and for as little as £25 it’s no surprise they use this to keep warm, take a break from their twirling mind, escape from their present life. The thing is, we all do it. We all have our vices – drink, drugs, sex, food, shopping, plastic surgery, social media. The difference is that these people don’t even have spare change for that 90p water bottle from Lidl.
I’m happy to write that Paul is off the drugs. How? Willpower, self-belief and loving himself enough to see him through.
"Like most things, it’s mind over matter. You have to want it. Depends on the person. If you are ready to stop it then you can do it. You gotta keep motivated and keep people around you who motivate you. Start separating yourself from certain individuals"
We find ourselves clinging onto relationships so we aren’t alone or dealing with our own demons or made to feel that we are somewhat lost whereas, in fact, it is exactly what we need. I felt inspired by Paul that even though he went through a different level of loneliness to most, he saw his truth. He needed to strip away even more. He removed himself from individuals that were continuing down the path they were currently on. He chose to be with himself and really feel into discovering his worth to believe and make hope a reality. He received comments such as “you aren’t going to get a burger van. How you gonna do that? You need money for that”. He truly believes he can and he is by taking steps of utilising money into his burger van instead of on drugs. He put £800 towards a burger van and is slowly working towards getting licences, permits and an upgrade to drive a tow.
"It is about changing your mindset. Your outlook"
Needless to say, Paul is extremely determined, passionate and has an innate self-belief that he can live the life he chooses. He genuinely would rather be homeless and alone than around people that bring him down or insinuate that his ideas are unrealistic.
Paul told me that typically beggars use money for drugs whereas the individuals who have no home are the ones that sit quietly – by having a regular conversation you could find out for yourself if they are telling the truth or not – do they change their name or story at each conversation for example. He taught me that a mobile phone is considered a necessity for a homeless person. With the digital world at the forefront, how else can they claim their benefits? How else can they contact the jobcentre or ring for a doctor/ ambulance? They charge devices in day centres, libraries and limit their usage.
There is such hype on individuality at the moment and recognising that we aren’t conformed into a box and yet the benefits system is not on a case by case basis. Paul feels there could be better monitoring on how individuals spend their benefits, perhaps less for drug users and more for the ones who are actively seeking help & further in their healing journey. Then again, it isn’t advisable to go cold turkey with drugs so that in itself would require managing.
Paul dreams of his van business to use all homemade fresh produce and create his own burger sauce. Wants to bring back Pie, Mash (eel) Liquor – an old fashioned UK dish. Selection of different pies with mash potatoes (his eyes lit up at this). Wants to make his own pastries, liquor sauce etc. Of course, I asked if he would cater for vegans to which he said yes 🙂 The plan is to attend music, food & drink festivals, gay pride & then head abroad to learn more about various food cultures from their origins. Eventually, experiencing Route 66 and settling in California.
You can catch Paul on: