From memory, I started selling The Big Issue on July 5, 2011. I can’t say when I specifically first heard of The Big Issue, but I did see the ads on TV. When I first moved to Sydney I kept saying, “I’m going to do this” – and about a month later I rang the office and they said, “Come out on Tuesday morning.” I think I sold 20 mags that first day – Harry Potter was on the cover. It took a little bit of work to know how to sell the magazine; it was a little bit of a learning curve.
I’m from the Byron Bay area. I was pretty much a loner in high school. But by Year 12 there was booing because I didn’t get school captain. After school I went to TAFE and did pastry work. They were long hours, like 5.30 in the morning until 7pm. They were small classes, like five or six people. We got up to some interesting stuff – people running around whipping each other with tea towels. The baking stuff wasn’t too bad. A lot of unlucky stuff happened after that. There just wasn’t enough work, some bad bosses.
I started doing some circus stuff when I was at school. One of the tricks was on a roller balance board about a metre-and-a-half off the ground, you had to balance on this platform that moves side-to-side. Then I thought, I wonder if I could tap dance on this? I knew someone who was a tap teacher. The first day I struggled to walk out of the class! I did it for an hour a week. Then they got me doing an exam, which I didn’t really want to do but I did it anyway. Then I was in an eisteddfod.
I’ve been trying to get into a dance school. I’ve made phone calls and I still haven’t found somewhere I can get into, so I’m a bit bummed about that. But I’m really trying. Right now I’m teaching myself a routine where I can juggle and tap at the same time. I want to enter another eisteddfod.
My health has been improving. When my asthma plays up and I land in hospital for a few nights, that’s tough, that’s not fun. If other people see me like that, having an asthma attack, then it’s ten times worse. I’m like, “I’ve got asthma, so what?” and other people say, “Aren’t you worried?” Nah.
Some of my customers are powerful business people. I’ve also met quite a few celebrities on pitch, like Neil Perry, Russell Crowe and Commando from The Biggest Loser. I try to get a little bit of chat in before I tell them I know who they are. Once Packed to the Rafters was filming near my pitch, so I raced back to the office to get some extra stock.
The best thing about selling The Big Issue? The freedom. One day I want to do a relay where I sell for 24 hours straight. I’m still working out how to do that.
Scott sells The Big Issue in Potts Point, Sydney
Interview by Sinéad Stubbins
Photo by Michael Quelch
Published in Ed#716