Meet your vendor.
I was born and raised in Brisbane. I’m the oldest of six. When I was younger, they didn’t realise I had vision problems. It wasn’t picked up early, so I struggled a bit at first. I started in a Catholic school, but the nuns didn’t think it was suitable for me, so I moved into the special school, which actually helped a lot.
After that, I worked part-time in a factory on weekends. When I was about 15, I wanted to leave school, but they made me stay until the end. Not long after Year 9, I started driving taxis, and that became my life for 40 years. I even drove limousines towards the end. I liked it. It was good work.
I had to stop driving because of sleep issues. At first, I thought it was migraines, but it turned out to be more serious. I even had an incident where I fell asleep while driving – it was dangerous. Luckily, there was no major damage, but I knew I couldn’t keep going. I ended up voluntarily giving up my licence. That was about 10 years ago.
After that, things got a bit difficult. I went down south in Melbourne for a while to stay with family, but it didn’t work out, and I ended up sleeping on the streets and got really sick – nearly ended up with pneumonia. Eventually, I came back to Brisbane. Brisbane’s home.
I first heard about The Big Issue when I was living in a hostel, after two years of living on the streets. One of the guys there was selling the magazine and kept telling me about it. I asked him to bring me into the office and introduce me, and I’ve been doing it ever since.
Getting into the hostel helped, and then finding The Big Issue gave me something steady. It’s been good for me. It’s helped me a lot. I live with depression, and having something to do, somewhere to be – it keeps me going. Being on the age pension, it also helps subsidise things. Yeah, it gives me purpose.
A big part of it is talking to people. I’m not a shy person. I mean, I drove taxis for 40 years, so I’m used to dealing with people. That’s probably why selling the magazine suits me. There’s not a huge difference from driving taxis, really.
These days, my pitch is on Adelaide Street in the city, but I’m mainly out in the suburbs, around shopping centres. I prefer it out here – less traffic, more regular faces. I’ve got regular customers who come back every week. One lady, for example, comes every Wednesday. If she misses a week, she tells me she’ll be back. People are like that: they look out for you. Some buy extra copies, some offer help.
I’ll keep doing this as long as I can. I don’t really take time off unless I absolutely have to. At the end of the day, I’m a people person. I like being out, talking, connecting. That’s what this job gives me. That’s why I keep doing it.
It’s our 30th year this year, and it’d be nice to have what’s happened over the years in the magazine. Having an issue looking back at the history would be good.
Interview by Jen Vuk
Photo by Andrew Porfyri
Published in ed#759
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