Jason has very little love for people. He has even less love for people who throw away toys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA child will play with a toy, even if he\u2019s missing a leg or an arm or spray-painted a different color,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not the condition of the toy; it\u2019s the fact of the toy. It irks me. [People] throw them away, but a child would\u2019ve enjoyed that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jason picks up any abandoned toy or stuffie he comes across. A few months ago, he adopted a scruffy Elmo plush. That Elmo lived on the top of his tent for a few weeks. Then the police came to remove Jason from his street, and Elmo was thrown away. Jason says it\u2019s OK, though. He\u2019ll find another one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
—<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jason has a nickname: L.A. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
L.A. is nearing five years of homelessness in Los Angeles. He lives in a tight bundle of tents and tarps, just east of the 110 freeway. Most tents around South Central are tattered and faded. Jason\u2019s home has a big comic tarp with \u201cBOOM\u201d and \u201cPOW\u201d speech bubbles pinned across his front wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jason, 44, doesn\u2019t act like a \u201cnormal\u201d homeless guy. His favorite hobby is shopping. He doesn\u2019t shop for anything specific. He says that he\u2019ll just walk around stores. You don\u2019t know what you want, he said, until you see it. For him, that\u2019s half the fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jason smells good. He dresses well. He brings in around $300 every couple of days. He sells clothes, watches, and other off-the-record products. He listens to NPR. He doesn\u2019t drink. He tried shrooms once and hated it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI do smoke weed, though,\u201d Jason laughs. \u201cWhy else would I be in California?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
—<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On a good day, Jason wakes up at noon. Lazy days, he\u2019ll be groggy at 2 p.m. First order of business: clients and friends. He\u2019ll check up on everyone with three questions: Do you owe me money? Do I owe you money? Did anyone die when I was gone?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, he\u2019ll probably grab something to eat and drink. He loves pizza. His favorite is 7-Eleven pizza. Pro tip: don\u2019t buy a slice. Order a whole pizza. They\u2019ll pop it in the oven, and three minutes later, Jason\u2019s eating \u201cthe best thing in the world.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He loves Pepsi and hates Coke. He lived in Atlanta, the headquarters of Coca-Cola, for over seven years. He swears that if you blindfolded him and gave him a cup of Pepsi and a cup of Coke, he could tell the difference every single time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After eating, he\u2019ll bike or ride the train. He\u2019ll go anywhere, far away from his tent. Despite his nickname, L.A. hates being around Los Angeles. It\u2019s not the city. It\u2019s the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAny place far away\u2026 I\u2019m somebody else,\u201d Jason said. \u201cI love the control I have. I can be whoever I want to be. Or I could just be nobody.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He doesn\u2019t tell his clients he\u2019s homeless. Most people assume or have preconceived notions when he tells them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m fine,\u201d Jason said. \u201cI just let them play with their own thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
—<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jason\u2019s been all over the country. He grew up on the South Side of Chicago. East 63rd Street and South Kimbark Avenue, just south of the University of Chicago Law School, that was his old stomping ground. It was all poverty and gang wars. So, his mom moved him out to Los Angeles when he was 9. He came back in high school, but the gang activity never stopped. Soon after, he went to live with his sister in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every friend he had eventually got involved with gangs. Even the girls. But Jason didn\u2019t. He doesn\u2019t know why, but he\u2019s thankful for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was weird,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019d probably be dead or in jail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was a cook for seven years in Atlanta. He loved to travel. His personal pride was the jetski he owned in Georgia. He had a condo. He seemed like the kind of guy who had made it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In April 2018, he decided to move back to Los Angeles, where his mom and older brother by seven years, Chris, lived. Two months later, that June, he got a message on Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI knew it was all bad,\u201d he said. \u201cThey ain\u2019t ever try to contact me on Facebook.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Old age and poor health. That\u2019s all it took. In a week, Jason\u2019s mom died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Jason spiraled. He splurged his money. He stopped going to work. He didn\u2019t know how to cope. He visited multiple psychiatric wards in Los Angeles. He felt crazy. He wanted to know if he actually was crazy. Doctors tried to medicate him, but he refused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf a pill is all that it takes, then I\u2019m already better,\u201d Jason said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s when he gave up on life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOnce I lost my mom, I lost my mind,\u201d he said. \u201cThings that used to scare me, they don\u2019t scare me anymore. And that\u2019s kind of scary. I\u2019m not myself anymore. I don\u2019t think I ever will be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
—<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s December 1986. It\u2019s Christmastime. Jason is 7 years old. He\u2019s hanging out in the living room with his mom. And then he hears a scream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jason turns his head in time to see the family\u2019s Christmas pine tree, decorations and all, fall on his mom. An almost annoyingly loud woman, Jason\u2019s mom went down screaming and yelling and cursing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being the good little mama\u2019s boy that he was, Jason rushed to lift the prickly tree off his mom. He still remembers the first thing she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe knew to say, \u2018Chris!!!\u2019\u201d Jason laughs. \u201cI couldn\u2019t do it at my age.\u201d That is, lift the tree off her. Chris, then 14, older, stronger, was in the next room over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s his favorite story to tell of his mom. There\u2019s an innocence and childlike nature about him that comes out. He can\u2019t stop cackling while he tells it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jason\u2019s dad would buy him stuff, but he wasn\u2019t around. He only came by when he had a gift. Jason\u2019s mom was the breadwinner. She\u2019d always tell him to be more Christlike, hold his head high, and take responsibility for his actions. She taught him, he said, how to treat women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEven if I don\u2019t like the woman, I still got to respect her,\u201d Jason said. \u201cIt\u2019s as if my mom was standing over me, watching over my shoulder.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He doesn\u2019t have any other big reasons why his mom was so important to him. She was his mom. What more do you need?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, when his mom died, Jason was lost. He hit the streets almost immediately. He knows his mom would be disappointed in where he lives. But it doesn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy mom wouldn\u2019t feel anything if she saw me,\u201d Jason said. \u201cBecause she\u2019s not alive anymore. And that\u2019s how I feel about that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
—<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jason\u2019s gotten used to it. He\u2019s had five years to adjust. He doesn\u2019t care about what other people say or think. Nobody understands what it\u2019s like to be homeless, unless they are homeless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s grown to hate rules and regulations. He thinks it\u2019s funny that civilization has agreed that normal living is behind closed doors, surrounded by four walls, and under a roof. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He doesn\u2019t really care about his life anymore. But he\u2019ll never jump off a bridge or anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI got too much pride,\u201d Jason said. \u201cI live in a tent, and I got too much pride.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019d like to leave his tent. He has a daughter, Cameron. She\u2019s 22. She lives in North Dakota with her mother. Jason hasn\u2019t seen his only child since 2018: his mom\u2019s funeral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But he\u2019s scared of the consequences and repercussions of reality. He hasn\u2019t followed rules, a regimen, a structure in a long time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA lot of people are assholes,\u201d Jason said. \u201cEntering the real world\u2026 it\u2019ll make me snap. And I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll be able to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
—<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jason loves animals. But he\u2019ll never get a dog. He loves kids. He\u2019s always wanted a stable family. But he\u2019s given up on that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen I do meet a girl, if she hangs out for more than two days, I get irritated, even if I like her,\u201d Jason said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to get attached and lose again. I guess I keep people at a distance, so I don\u2019t have to worry about that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So Jason doesn\u2019t have friends. He loves talking to people, about anything from politics to the weather, but he doesn\u2019t. He doesn\u2019t take medical help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m always lonely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Silence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He looks down and fiddles with his watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah, I\u2019m always lonely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He swallows. He recovers quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut I\u2019m used to it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JASON: The Toy Collector Jason has very little love for people. He has even less love for people who throw away toys. \u201cA child will play with a toy, even if he\u2019s missing a leg or an arm or spray-painted a different color,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not the condition of the toy; it\u2019s the fact […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-93","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ascjcapstone.com\/spring-2024\/mntsai\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/93","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ascjcapstone.com\/spring-2024\/mntsai\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ascjcapstone.com\/spring-2024\/mntsai\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ascjcapstone.com\/spring-2024\/mntsai\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ascjcapstone.com\/spring-2024\/mntsai\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/ascjcapstone.com\/spring-2024\/mntsai\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/93\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":226,"href":"https:\/\/ascjcapstone.com\/spring-2024\/mntsai\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/93\/revisions\/226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ascjcapstone.com\/spring-2024\/mntsai\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}