Vendor Writing

Transportation Issues

BY NORMA B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

Have you ever had your car booted perhaps for parking your car in a No Parking zone, parking on private property, or maybe you have outstanding traffic violations ie unpaid parking tickets.

Well on July 3, 2024 before traveling on an MTA Accessride van, the driver attached the wheelchair securement to my chair in order to transport me safely to my destination.

(In case you’re wondering, without such devices, the wheelchairs can roll or even tip over during transit. I’ve experienced this firsthand — it DOES NOT feel good!)

When we reached our final destination, and he went to detach the apparatus from my chair, he was unable to get it off.

He made multiple attempts. First by hand, tugging and pulling in EVERY conceivable direction, then using various tools such as a hammer in an attempt to beat it off.

Despite his best efforts, NOTHING worked!

After 15-20 minutes he apologized, but he had to go, he had other pickups to make.

I didn’t go anywhere over the next two days. I’d forgotten to set up my transit in advance and the following day was a holiday, July the 4th.

On Saturday July 6, my schedule was packed! When I got on the bus that morning for my first ride that day. When the driver, Jana, went to secure my chair she asked, “What the heck is going on here?”

Like the driver who had originally attached the contraption to my chair in the first place, she too tried to get it off but was unsuccessful, and she urged me to call in a complaint.

I told her I was hesitant to do that because it’s not like the driver did this on purpose.

Still, she persisted so I placed the call right then.

Throughout the day, on my multiple trips, each driver did as the others before and tried valiantly to remove the “extra” equipment from my chair. They were ALL unsuccessful!

Then, on Sunday July 7th, my driver Robert tried like the others before to remove the gear from my chair, and just like all the others before him, he too was unsuccessful — but he went a step further.

He called in to MTA, just as I had done the day before.

He told MTA that this issue was a safety issue for me, which was true as I’d tripped and almost fallen twice over it.

He further advised them that they needed to pay to have me come to/from the MTA garage to have the rig removed, or send someone to my spot at OHB + Central Pike to remove the device since I was going to be there for a while that day, and most impressive of all — at least to me — is that he refused to leave until they agreed to do SOMETHING about it THAT DAY!

In a very short time, someone from MTA DID in fact come to my spot and remove their equipment from my chair!

Like the others before him, he too tried various tools in his effort to get the securement off my chair, and like the others he too was unsuccessful.

So how did he finally get it off?

After taking a few pictures, so he could ‘instruct future drivers of what NOT to do’ when securing a wheelchair, he went back to his truck and got something that resembled a blow torch and cut it off!

I told him to PLEASE be careful, don’t go starting any fires or worse yet, set my papers on fire!

When he was done, away he went, my chair was finally free of ANY unnecessary attachments!

So from the time this story began until its happy ending every time someone asked: ‘What’s up with your chair?’ My response was: ‘MTA booted my chair!’

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Living in Survival Mode

BY MAURICE B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

As a custom of existing around individuals between the ages of 8 to 88 I realize the way they live is all that they ever known. So, how does one turn off that awful mode?

Realistically, survival is the mainstream of living in this dog eat dog world, and it seems like there isn't any hidden switch. From the highest trusted person to the lowest scum of the earth we all are ran by that switch. There isn't a person that can't say that they haven't been used and or haven't used someone. The factor of being used makes an individual feel a certain type of way it has it's good and it has it's bad points, it's all up to that person to choose to be used and for how long.

Take the matter of a toxic relationship. Each individual teaches the other how they want to be treated. One person has their own concept of how the other needs to be treated, but there is someone waiting for one to realize them from afar. The reproduction of toxic actions began and lasted for a year and a half and it only got worse. Matter of fact, it took both into detrimental stages as one had already known this in which kept it a secret. The other one was putting their all in all into making it work, but the actions of prolonging and excuses constantly came up. One day a care flight to the hospital came about that separated the two and gave the one in the hospital time to think and place pieces together. As pieces were connected the picture that was painted from the beginning was the same picture. The only thing was that the person in the hospital bed didn't examine the fullness of the picture. Whereas the teachings that was taught to the one in the bed was to accept the full package, but in accepting the fullness of the package first find out what all that is in the package and weigh out the intentions and compatibilities of both parties. After the stay in the hospital the return home came. There was no food and the electricity was off and another person was in the house.

That was enough for the one person to separate from those toxic actions, but it came the other person's time to end up in the hospital because of not properly taking care of themselves. Because that individual wanted things their way, it hung a black cloud over the other's head because they moved in all of their belongings piece by piece until they were in illegally as if that's what the other one actually wanted.

Well after calling 911 and instructing them that the things were considered abandoned, the call to a moving company was made to come pick the belongings up. Paying the moving company removed the black cloud. A year later that one that was in the background asked how much longer was it going to take until you had enough of being used? Accepting self-responsibility and self-accountability to live life on life's terms helps any individual to realize when and if they want to be used and for how long, because the pain of remaining the same will not change until a person lets go of what has them in pain.

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My Story

BY JULIE B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

This is my story. My name is Julie B. and I am homeless and have cancer in my brain. I have PTSD and a disability and it is not easy for me. I struggle every day trying to stay alive. My body can not take it for much longer. If I don’t get a place soon, I will die out here. The housing people don’t get that I have PTSD and the stress of being homeless takes its toll on you and sometimes you want to just give up and that is the point I’m at now. I just want to say that so if I give up because no one really cares about me or what I am going through. See, I am about to have brain surgery to take out a tumor in my head that is cancerous and I could die on the table. But no one cares about that, no one cares if I live or die because I am just a homeless person that no one cares about and just a homeless person that doesn’t matter to anyone. Don’t even matter to my husband. He would be happy if I died. It would make everyone happy, like I said no one really cares about me or the homeless. I hope when I do die someone remembers me and my service dog, but with my luck no one will care to remember me as a vendor and someone that cares about everyone who comes across my path.

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Take the Paper and Read It!

BY MICHAEL W., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

If someone doesn’t take the paper when I’m selling it and just try to give me money, it can feel like panhandling. Even if someone comes up and says, "I only have one dollar,” I’ll say, “ok no problem here’s a paper anyway.” You know, just for the fun of it. Then they take the paper anyway because I think it’s that important that they should read it. I don’t want to throw them away if they don’t sell. If I have any old papers, I’ll also keep them around for people who may have missed an issue and want to still read it.

I get up at 5 a.m. and leave my house no later than 7 a.m. to get out on my corner. I’ve been out in the same spot for years. Then, I leave around 12 and I’m so tired I go back home. I want the public to know that The Contributor

is also helping put people into housing. Also, where I go to church at, they are very helpful and get me things I need, and they want to make sure I can stay in my current apartment.

My counselors in school told me I’d never be able to live on my own or manage my own money because of my learning disabilities. But I’ve learned what I’ve had to learn when I was homeless and I can do the basic things around my apartment like dishes, laundry and grocery shopping. I got to do them because food stamps don’t last that long. You can get that much for $70 anymore. I just want the general people to understand that if you think you have it bad, I’m out here trying to maintain a house and things I need to do and I feel the pinch every single day.

I have COPD and I probably have emphysema because it runs in my family. Try putting tennis shoes or boots on and you’re just trying to be able to breathe. It hurts so much just to walk. I just want the general public to realize what it takes to be a Contributor vendor when they see someone out there selling the paper and maybe that will encourage them to buy the paper.

I hope everyone who buys the paper reads it. How will you know what the community is doing for the homeless without reading about it? Years ago, downtown wanted all the homeless off the streets. They don’t want us sitting around doing nothing, but they also don’t want to help. So, what can you do when you see things like that? I just like to let people know they should take the paper and read some articles in it. You might get educated! We used to have a kids page in the back so there was something for everyone. I think we can find more stuff to help people read the paper more and more.

I have a friend who does a bicycle ministry and she told me it takes her almost two weeks just to read the paper. She buys one from me at church when she sees me. Her daughter is going to Kentucky University. When she goes, I’m going to tell her how to read the paper online so she can tell people about what Nashville is doing.