Salutations. My name is Parlez Vous. I am a neophyte Street Sense vendor. At 27 years old, I can say that I had no idea I would become an apostle of the homeless community. Then again, I never imagined that I would myself be homeless. My full story is something I hope to disclose as I contribute more writing to
Street Sense over time. My primary objective behind the writing of this piece is to thank Street Sense for offering this unique publication as a tool for spreading awareness about issues concerning the homeless underclass, developing salesmanship and business skills, and fomenting self-esteem for the men and women of the often despairing homeless community.
On the polar end of my gratitude is the benevolent community of people who have supported my vending campaign in the Wisconsin Avenue area near the Starbucks in Georgetown. Some were nicer than others, but I was overall encouraged to continue engaging the community and raising awareness of the grossly out-ofhand social ill of compounded poverty, homelessness, drug addiction, mental illness,
ignorance and unemployment.
I also would like to describe the special jewel that Street Sense provides my life with. I am a startup entrepreneur and was determined to find a way to raise capital and learn business and fundraising skills from the Street Sense promotional model and training. This should help once I raise the adequate startup capital for my fashion, art and lifestyle company, The Dopamine Clinic, LLC. Since becoming homeless and going through the epic trials and odysseys that accompany the plunge, I have acquired
an enlightened perspective on life. I realized that it is only when one loses everything that their true nature can be discovered through emotions, thoughts, words, actions and ultimately reality.
This is the deterministic norm behind my unique brand of “homeless existentialism.” This is what makes a self-employed, homeless student believe that he will ultimately succeed as a writer, businessman, artist and designer. Again I thank you all for your unwavering support, empathy and generosity. A luta continua.
