Michael Chilson says he started selling Real Change in 2008 “when I got tired of being a thief. It was the usual things an addict might do, steal from family and friends. I went to jail for a year for stealing a beer. I got tired of going to jail. I wanted to change my life.” He’s done with addiction, except, “I’ve still got to have my coffee, smoke my pot. I’m much happier working and earning money in order to buy things that I need.”
Michael was still a kid when his family moved to Seattle. His father worked for a big construction company. They moved all over the country: Denver, where Michael was born, San Diego, and Hawaii in particular. Seattle is his home now, but “being homeless, it’s getting more difficult. I’ve been on the street most of the time. I ended up on the streets when we moved to Washington.”
It was his adoptive family he ran away from. “Looking at my birth certificate, I’ve found discrepancies.” He’d been told the adoption happened when he was three, “but my birth certificate would make me 5.” Given how much he remembers, “I had to have been older than 3.”
“I want to find out who my biological parents were. I have my suspicions. It’s my biggest thing now. Who am I really?” Even being sure what age he is would help. “Supposedly 34. I feel like 34. I need my adoptive parents to open up a bit more and they won’t.”
Michael’s about to be homeless again. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I’ve been on all the housing lists for upwards of two years now. I haven’t heard any word. I’m about to be going back out to sleeping on the concrete. I’m tired of just subsisting. I’m tired of being frustrated. I’m tired of being hungry. I’m tired of losing things.”
Interviewed just before Christmas, Michael says the holidays don’t help. “I’m having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit. Even if I had somebody to get gifts for, I couldn’t. I’ve always been a giving person, except when I don’t have nothing. I like to give things away. If I don’t have anything, how do I have anything to give?”
That makes it harder to sell the paper, too. “Used to do better. If I have a frown on my face, I’m not going to make any dollars. I have a hard time being fake.”
One of his biggest goals is just to survive. “But I want to do more.” Something that keeps him going is music. “I listen to just about anything.” His favorites are Pink Floyd, Metallica and Hound Dog Taylor. “I like a lot of blues. I’m trying to teach myself the guitar, if I could ever keep one long enough to actually learn it. Apparently I’m pretty talented. That’s my main goal, to learn that. That and just live.”
Michael is one of 300 active vendors selling Real Change. Each week a different vendor is featured. View previous vendor profiles. Wait, there's more. Check out the full January 17th issue.