Clothing

STEVE CONANT

Staple Design First of all, how you doing today man?
Steve Alright.
Staple Design What's your name?
Steve Steve.
Staple Design Steve? How old are you?
Steve 25.
Staple Design What's your last name?
Steve Conant.
Staple Design Ok. Where are you from?
Steve Ohio. Lexor[?], Ohio.
Staple Design How long have you been homeless for?
Steve Off and on, for the past year and a half.
Staple Design How did it happen?
Steve I had been involved in a domestic situation, that I keep going back to, and in and out of. So...
Staple Design Ok. So what's the single best thing that's happened to you, since you've been homeless.
Steve It's kind of been a spiritual awakening for me. Getting in touch with things that I never really knew.
Staple Design What's the worst thing that's happened to you?
Steve I'd say, really seeing the meaner nature of people, how mean they can be.
Staple Design How do you get by to survive?
Steve I just have to take it on a spiritual level, you know? Have faith that when I need something, it'll come to me and I've been pretty lucky so far.
Staple Design Alright, Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Steve I don't have too optimistic a look on that at all.
Staple Design Why not man?
Steve I just keep getting caught in patterns, and they keep on repeating themselves over and over again.
Staple Design I mean the first thing about changing the situation's gonna have to be recognizing the patterns, you know what I'm saying? I'm not trying to tell you how to live, I'm just taking a little time out to make you feel better, you know what I'm sayin?...Alright. So how do you get money?
Steve Um...I try to panhandle, panhandling, um I've got a lot of pride so it's really hard for me, and I only do it like, you know, every three or four days.
Staple Design So, how much money do you usually get?
Steve Um...most I've gotten is 25, 30 dollars is the most I've ever gotten.
Staple Design What do you usually do with the money when you receive it?
Steve Um, I spend it on food and cigarettes mostly.
Staple Design What's your favorite movie?
Steve Pretty Woman actually.
Staple Design Alright. What's your favorite book?
Steve Um...Um...I have to say Anne Rice, The Wild Land [?].
Staple Design What's your favorite food?
Steve I'm a strict vegetarian, so I like a lot of basic things...like I'm a big salad person. I don't eat sugar, I stick to all natural stuff.
Staple Design What do you do for fun out here?
Steve I have my taro cards, I read my cards. I like to read a lot and listen to music. I don't really do much else.
Staple Design What do you think about NY?
Steve It's alright. I um...little different than I expected but I like the diversity.
Staple Design What do you think about the mayor?
Steve I don't have a high view of any politician so I won't go any much further than that.
Staple Design I understand completely. Where did you go to high school?
Steve Pickerington.
Staple Design Pickerington in Ohio.
Steve Yes.
Staple Design You have a job right now?
Steve Um..I did.
Staple Design What where you working for?
Steve I worked for a mental health drop-in center.
Staple Design You have any kids?
Steve No.
Staple Design Are you any particular religion?
Steve No. My family's Pentecostal but I have my own mixture of beliefs, I take different religions and I kind of mix them up.
Staple Design If you could be anywhere in the world, where would you be?
Steve Well, truthfully I have no clue, but I would like to be in a better conscience of myself.
Staple Design What's your definition of the word home?
Steve Um...I've never really thought about it. I've never been homesick for very long. I'd just say a stable environment, where you have your own stuff.
Staple Design This is your opportunity to speak out. We're gonna publish your interview, so if there's anything you'd like to put out there...
Steve I just think a lot of people's attitudes should be different because, you know, I'm a homeless person, and everybody assumes that if you're homeless you're a drug addict, you're alcoholic, you know, they think the worst of you. People really need to look at people as individuals instead of categorizing everybody. That's one of the biggest problems that we have in this world.
Staple Design Thanks a lot.