May 7, 2025
The rain today seemed to keep customers away and invite the homeless in at Printed Page Bookshop.
Not long after I opened, Dave came in, dug through a stuffed backpack, and produced a pretty rough copy of a Roald Dahl book.
Dave and I have an arrangement. He brings me books I can’t use, I tell him I’m sorry I can’t use them, and then I give him money for his trouble. He then asks if he can change his clothes in the bathroom and clean up as much as one can in a sink. I then give Dave a bottle of water and some food if there’s any around. He thanks me and leaves. He lives out of his car. Later, when I went in the bathroom, I saw he’d dropped one of those hand-warmer packets. Good thing Spring is here.
Chris is another homeless guy who visits. He speaks with a Southern accent without many teeth getting in the way. He, too, scrounges books hoping to sell them, and today I bought a couple of books from him. Chris is a two-backpack guy. I don’t know if he’s lucky enough to live out of a car. He’s always thankful when I give him something to eat or drink.
Both Dave and Chris refer to having families once in a while, but they never talk much about them.
It’s stigmatizing to be homeless. People cross the street to avoid you. They don’t make eye contact. They probably consider you either crazy or drugged. Hell, some of them repel me.
But for Dave and Chris, at least, a little simple kindness and respect goes a long way. And on rainy days like this, having a bookstore isn’t only about the books.
-Dan Danbom