Vendor Spotlight

Wendell finds his peace

STORY AND PHOTO BY HANNAH HERNER

In the mornings, Contributor vendor Wendell J. needs some time to himself. He finds a seat at Starbucks, listens to the jazz music and gears up for the day.

When he heads to his selling spot, it’s “showtime,” he says.

Wendell trained to become a vendor on March 4, 2020, and quickly became a fixture at Starbucks on West End Avenue, finding success even during the pandemic. He starts as early as 7 a.m. in the morning, and stays as late as 6 p.m. at night.

“In all honesty, it takes a lot of energy, this job. For me, I smile a lot and engage and tell people ‘thank you, good to see you again,’” Wendell says.

Wendell focuses on the product he has to offer — the very exchange that makes street papers what they are, and distinguish Contributor vendors from those who panhandle. He has a habit of skimming the paper so he can tell customers what’s inside. He always reads the vendor spotlight in full, though.

“You know, I have more information to offer,” Wendell says. “I just don’t always say, ‘oh, I need this because I’m homeless and giving this to you because I need money.’ No, I say ‘this has got some interesting articles, local journalists here who write about things that [TV news] doesn’t really cover,’ you know? They cover issues that are ongoing in the community, and they look for things to be improved.”

He’s open about dealing with severe depression, which has made it hard for him to stay in housing. The depression is something that selling the paper can at times alleviate, and other times exacerbate.

“It helps, but then it can backfire. Sometimes you gotta fight the depression, fight the negative thoughts before you even start selling the papers,” he says.

When there’s a rush of people and he doesn’t get to have exchanges with any of them, be it selling a paper, or even just a greeting, it starts to affect him.

“A whole crowd of people, there was no exchange or nothing, then it sinks down. It’s like maybe today is not the day,” he says.

On those tough mental health days, it’s nice to be able to work on his own schedule, and leave an hour or two early. With a past in the military, Wendell says it was a big adjustment to enter back into the civilian workforce. There’s no perfect job, he says.

“This is sort of semi dangerous, but yet fulfilling,” he says. “Dangerous, because you’re dealing with other people from the streets, other vendors who don’t want to respect you or abide the fact that you do have a map badge. So it can get to be into some heated situations. But overall, you’ve got your peace. You know, there’s no perfect job. But you got your peace and we get to interact with people. I get excited, really energized when new issues come up.”

When Wendell isn’t selling The Contributor, he likes watching Marvel movies, educating himself on cryptocurrency and listening to live music.

When asked to describe his customers, he says, “Positive, free spirited. Glad to see me. I’m glad to see them. Even if they don’t pay me. I still make it a point of saying, ‘hey, it’s good to see you again.’ So that’s what I always say, because I know money doesn’t come on trees. Some days are good, some days are not that good, but I still try and make it a point to let everybody know I appreciate them.”