I investigated the life of drug addicts on Queen street for a day, here is what I learnt

THE DAY STORY

1. Part 1 - Finding warmth

I planned to set off at midnight having with me nothing but a piece of cardboard and keys to my house. I walked down from the top of the hill where I live to the closest cemetery.

I spent a few hours at the cemetery lying in my little cardboard box and feeling the cold of the night. Once the warmth I carried with me from the house went to the tombstone I lied on, I figured I had to find a warmer place. A homeless shelter that I found wasn’t warm either and so I ended up on Queen Street, where I lied down. To keep me warm, I had to do burpees from time to time throughout the night.

2. Part 2 - Making friends and business

I was woken up at 6 am by the cleaners. I tried to find a spot where to sit and join someone, not really having making money on my mind.

The first homeless person I came to asked me to give him my cardboard, which I did.

I then got shouted at by his friends when I wanted to sit down: “Get out, my friend’s hustling here” was his response, angrily defending his friend. My guess is that he was actually making money off him. In the street there are the big boys, senior members that get the girls, who are aggressive and have obvious history of drug use.

I didn’t join any of them.

Instead, I ended up joining two cousins, Oi and his cousin. Oi offered me a place to sit down and asked me if I wanted to eat something or drink something, saying he’s got the money. I said: “I’m ok, it’s your money.”

Oi was a Maori, 41 year old man that was on the street since he was 13. Having just met me, he said: “Now it’s our money.”

Because Oi made 40 dollars that morning, he went to buy weed with tranquillisers in it. Having the dream of smoking it ahead of him, he said to himself: “Weed makes you forget of all the pain and misery.”

Oi disappeared for about 2 hours and I had time to meet his cousin and figure out how to make money, hustling my way through together with him.

Oi's cousin talked to me more about new synthetic drugs, how he does his washing and where he has his weekly showers, singingly blabbing to himself for minutes. He was inhumanly happy even thinking about having a shower. He talked about a ring that he had found a long time ago and somebody robbed him off it.

I got my first piece of food that morning, an egg sandwich from an elderly man. I have to say, I was REALLY happy. Soon after, two apples followed. I went to the trash bin next to Starbucks and found myself a paper cup.

I made a couple of dollars that morning, about 15. Suddenly, a man that I couldn’t see threw a card at me. It was a 50 dollar gift voucher to Countdown. This came as a lightning strike. Being a university student, 50 dollars was a lot of money I thought.

I bought two sandwiches and chicken thighs for my friends. I have now proved myself to the homeless community and they accepted me as their member.

We went to a place where all the homeless people come to at night. Oi and his cousin had a PET bottle with an aluminium pipe screwed into the lid. They put the weed into it, lighted the weed and unscrewed the lid. The smoke then got into the bottle and they breathed it in. They handed me some cards with fantasy insect monsters, saying that some are real. I went through all of them. I don’t think they truly understood the game.

In 3 minutes, they were asleep.

3. Bad news

There is never an easy time for bad news. I had to tell Oi that I would be leaving at midnight. He didn’t reply. He left. Not immediately, but he went away from me and only came to ask me whether I made any money I could give him. He tried 3 times and then he was gone. Forever.

4. The way out

I wanted to figure out how does a person like me, who knows nothing, get out of the street?

I got an answer. While sitting on the ground in front of Starbucks, a man from Westmere Baptist church came to me. He asked me about my situation, having no knowledge or suspicion of my background. He wanted me to become a part of their church in Westmere. We read a text from the bible. He baptised me within 10 minutes, gave me a booklet, wished me a good life and went to his friend who was getting followers by holding a bible in his right hand and proclaiming his mission.

The second group came to me. 5 men getting followers for yet another church, which I don’t know what it was. One told me he used to be homeless himself and was trying to help me. He also baptised me, took my booklet and stripped it of its middle section (war of churches hmm). He then gave it back to me.

At the end of the day I had a meal given to me by one of the charity organisations.

Overall, I made exactly $100 dollars that day. I was given biscuits, curry, chicken thighs, apples, Starbucks coffee and brownies, hot chocolate and I was offered weed. Even as a beginner hustler, I proved to myself I could survive on the street.

THE LIFE LESSONS

If you want to find out what Maslow's pyramid of needs really means, what’s truly important in life and what separates successful from the unsuccessful, I believe there is no better simulator than trying out the street life.

In 24 hours I gained more knowledge about business, sociology and personal development than I got from 100 book summaries on stock investment, sociology at school and any talk anybody has ever given to me. Including my parents.

I will break it down for you, but I will always recommend you to try it for yourself. If you do try it out, message me.

1. Discipline is the key - I am not a christian and I never was. However, the christian way is truly the key to self discipline. It’s ultimately what has gotten us the sophisticated society we now live in. There are behavioral rules. You need to monitor your thoughts, because “the God can see you”, you can’t think of sex, you have to be honest and you need to continue educating yourself and learn words every day. You need to see yourself from two sides and you need to always focus on the higher purpose without getting discouraged or depressed. All this, I found in the booklet that the man from Westmere church gave me. It had about 1000 words. I studied it as I was lying on the street. This inspired me to collate the ultimate list of bad habits of homeless people and create the antidote:

No sex (The cousins always fantasised about it)

No music (They listened to music and like ACDC and were tattooed)

No drugs (They used weed and tranquillisers and alcohol)

No sugar (They had lollies called "fruit salad" and cookies for lunch)

No wasting money (Drugs, expensive food, playing cards)

No games (Game cards)

With this, you will be the person who is able to withstand your lower desires and build a rich life. Even as a challenge, it’s best to experience it.

The homeless people earn more than you do. And they could earn even more if they sell drugs. They just don’t know what to do with the money. They can’t plan things and they have no hope. They live for a quick relief from pain. What are you doing with your money?

2. Knowledge is what separates you - Homeless people don’t have an education. The difference between those who will get from the street and those who don't is this: Can you read a page, memorise what you read and take that with you into your life?

Homeless people can't focus long enough to read a page in a book. They don't know how to memorise things.

They also don’t know what good and bad is, they don’t know how to build a dream in their head, how to gain skills, how to achieve their dream and how to live life well. Good knowledge is what ultimately determines who you are as a human being. You are what and who you know.

3. Get the basics right, all the rest is dreams - When you are cold and shivering, trying to find a place to sleep and a blanket, you understand INSTANTLY what is truly important. This time, for real. Not at Outward Bound, not at summer camp, not anywhere else. On the street. People that walk around have dreams in their heads they want to fulfil. Brands, things, degrees and partners are only dreams in their heads. When you don’t care about that, you discover that happiness is at the bottom and all the rest is just an infinite sandbox for dreams, that are just not important. It also makes you the sculpturist of your dream.

4. Asians don’t give you money - People are not the same. Look at history and culture. The dreams that people have about life are passed down the generation. Asian people have no tolerance for the homeless. The dreams you live in determine your life.

5. Happiness is homeostasis - Ultimately what makes me happy is knowledge. Knowledge that my happiest moment in my life was lying in the sun and sleeping with two homeless guys who just had drugs and I was warm and fed. You can only see the beauty of the world from the top of the mountain. And you get that by experiencing the climbing of it.

6. People will use you - If you can’t provide value for others, you are a dead meat to them. You can be God but if you’re not useful, you don’t matter. People on the street need to cooperate to survive so they make tribes. They use each other and cooperate to survive. There are the pimps of the street as well as people new to the game. It’s a primitive society at the bottom of the food-chain. A getaway from the complexity of the world.

7. If you don’t ask, you don’t get - Obviously, but more so on the street. There is a difference between the hustlers who ask and who don’t. Those who do make a lot more money than those who don’t. People feel compelled to give them something. On the day, the police came to us and asked Oi to stop asking people. There is an act in the law that prohibits this. But if you are a loud mouth, you will make more money. Period.

Being homeless will set your emotional compass towards becoming rich. Being poor is desperation and you will try to get away from it as far as possible. You will save your money and get knowledge. You will plan your goals and you will become more disciplined in getting them. You will execute things effectively. You will compete with the guy that was once you on the street and try to beat him as much as possible. You will value what you have and understand the Maslow's pyramid. You will like people more and understand things they want. You will get a spark in your life and your blood will be whirling with excitement. And you will start getting things done and start moving in life.

At least that’s how I feel now that I have done it.