VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

Michael D. looks to move out of survival mode

BY HANNAH HERNER

In his short tenure at The Contributor, Michael D. has jumped into the elite group of top 15 vendors. His secret is consistency, going out to sell the paper seven days a week at Mallory Lane in Franklin.

Like many experiencing homelesness, Michael is firmly in survival mode — living off of income from selling the paper and staying in his car. It’s been this way for the last few months, since he was released from incarceration.

“I really don’t find nothing that really interests me anymore,” he says. “I’m so stressed out thinking what am I going to do today, where am I going to sleep, where can I park that’s going to be safe, and I ain’t going to be bothered or run off. Is it going to rain today? Is it going to be 100 degrees today? It’s one thing after another.”

Michael came to Nashville from Cheatham County after a divorce in an effort to leave some of those memories behind. Now 43 years old, he was married at 19 and has 22-year-old twin sons who call to check on him every few days.

“When I went through my divorce about five years ago, I lost everything I had. I hadn’t been able to rebound from it since,” he says.

Michael spent his childhood in East Nashville, and played baseball at White’s Creek High School. He’s one of 10 boys and one girl in his family. At school he was known as a hot head, but that was just when it came to protecting his sister. She’d point out boys at school who gave her trouble and he’d get in fights. Otherwise, Michael’s role in the family was the “class clown.”

“I just always like to make people laugh. I always used to be the life of the party. Whenever we’d have get-togethers, I just liked to see people have a good time,” he says.

Of all Michael’s tattoos, his favorite are the wizards, which are meant to symbolize good luck. He has one drawn up that he hopes to get in memoriam of his favorite brother, who was killed in 2016 by police officers.

In the past, Michael was a diesel mechanic. He’d love to get back into it, but most shops require you to have your own tools — something that costs $10,000 to $20,000, he says.

As part of the divorce, he also had to sell his drag racing cars, boat and his beloved Harley Davidson. Riding was a stress relief for him, and one day he wants to attend the Sturgis bike rally — one of the biggest in the country.

“That’s one of my goals that I hope to be able to meet really quickly. Just get on a bike and ride,” he says.

These days, it’s hard to answer a question about what he’s interested in, or hopes to pursue. It’s more about survival. But he’s trying to get back to his old self again through talking to Contributor customers.

“I’ve enjoyed meeting these people, really,” Michael says. “I found here lately that I haven’t really been a people person at all in this last year or two. I’ve distanced myself from everyone. It’s kinda hard for me actually. I’m fighting it though. I don’t want to be a loner, be by myself all the time. I wasn’t ever like that.”