Meet your vendor.
My mum’s from New Zealand, my dad’s from the UK. I was born in Wellington, and we moved around the North Island. My mum and my dad broke up when I was at a young age. It’s a pretty complicated story. I’ve got a brother in the UK, a brother on the Sunshine Coast, a sister in New Zealand, and I have a brother and sister over here.
When I was about eight years old, I went to England and stayed with my grandparents in Dorset, because my dad was working overseas at that time. My dad, myself and my younger brother travelled backwards and forwards from the UK to New Zealand three times. We got to travel to different places as well, like Disneyland, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore and Hawai‘i.
I found school pretty hard. Moving different schools was really difficult, you know. But I was into my sports. When I was in New Zealand, I played rugby (it’s still one of my passions; I love watching my team the All Blacks). I used to play hockey, and I played table tennis and badminton. Me and my brother used to enter a lot of fun runs. We were quite fast. I used to have all these trophies and medals.
My grandma, she’s been an inspiration. She’s in her nineties now, and she’s been pretty sick – that’s why I had to go back to the UK earlier this year to visit her. My grandma used to work at a boarding school as a cook, and that led me into hospitality. My grandparents used to serve in the British air force, and I was a cadet when I was younger, too. I was going to join the air force but I didn’t get the grades I needed, so I did a course in hospitality. I did go into hotel work. I’ve done sales and warehouse work, unloading shipping containers. I’ve done a hairdressing course, a painting and decorating course, and I’ve done traffic controlling as well.
I’ve been in Perth for 25 years. I started selling The Big Issue almost 10 years ago, in February 2016. I saw some people selling the magazine and I thought, This is something I could do, because I’d been in unstable work. It wasn’t because of my work ethic – it’s just because they didn’t need me no more.
I’m a pretty determined person. If I have a goal, everyone can see how much work I put in to achieve my goals. I find working with The Big Issue is pretty good. I like interacting with different people, and I like being my own boss. I feel like I’m a free person: I don’t have anyone standing over me, judging me or telling me how to do my job. It makes me happy.
I do garden work too, for my whole apartment complex. I enjoy it. Currently I’ve got sunflowers growing in the front and, around the back, I’ve got a lemon tree and about three or four pawpaw trees.
I’ve been pretty fortunate with my life, you know. I’ve achieved a lot at my age. There are a lot of people haven’t done as much as I’ve done. I’ve had bad days and that but, other than that, it’s been pretty good.
David L sells The Big Issue at Myer Bridge, Perth CBD
Interview by Amy Hetherington
Photo by Ross Swanborough
Published in ed#752