Vendors
Page 6
VENDOR PROFILE
Untitled
Mr. and Mrs. Geist
by j.mccurdy
BY LEONORA KO
all
glorious
men
are
gloriously
flawed
STAFF W RITER
an you be homeless and joyful?
Mr. and Mrs. Geist would say yes.
C
They found each other and happiness
while on the stree t During this interview,
the couple laughed, finished each other’s
sentences and described their time
together.
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Mr. Geist: We’ve been together for a
little over a year, and met in (both chiming)
New York City.
Mrs. Geist: Which is my favorite city in
the world.
Mr.: And I grew up on Long Island, and
she lived there for over 20 years. And we
met in a soup kitchen ...
Mrs.: Yes, and fell in love.
Mr.: Oh, we’ve got to have that (both
laugh). So from there ...
Mrs.: I was losing my mind in Manhattan,
and then I met him. He was telling me
about his travels and where he’s been cross
country. ... He was like, “You’re depressed
here, why don’t you come with me? Why
don’t we have an adventure?” And I was so
miserable that (listening to him) I was
excited, intrigued. So I said, “All right, let’s
d o i t ’”
Mr.: So I told her, “You know, while
W
building a relationship, we could
get jobs. You could go to
rjjs»S|
your job and I could go to j | H |
my job and we’ll never
■
see each
other,
or we
could
spend
all our
time together. And
that’s pretty
J
much what we
jj
did.
w
To get to know
each other, the couple
decided to stay in one place
for the summer and “sleep
under the stars” along
Manhattan’s East River. In the
fall, Mr. Geist met Mrs. Geist’s
Holistic • Seif-Empowerment
Physical & Emotional Well-Being
Curiosity • Engagement «Choice
Street Roots • June 17-23, 2016
family. They stayed at her parents’ house a
few weeks, where Mr. Geist did work
around the house to help her elderly
parents.
Mr.: I’m not a bum, I’m actually a ...
Mrs.: He’s a handyman type, creative and
crafty, and that was really sexy to see
(laughs). Are you blushing?
Mr.: Yes.... I used to be an industrial
bridge painter, sandblasting and (painting)
special coatings on mega-steel structures. I
used to make $50 an hour, hanging upside-
down, doing weird shit on missile launch
towers.
Mr. Geist worked full time until his father
died in 2008. That’s when he decided to
drive a van across country. When the van
broke down, he started walking. By the time
he met Mrs. Geist, he had been to 46 of the
lower 48 states and 31 national parks.
The couple zig-zagged around the
country, taking the bus, hitch-hiking and
train-hopping. A shopping cart came in
handy when the couple reached Colorado.
Mr.: We did get stuck in Denver for three
months.
Mrs.: Oh, yes.
;
Mr.:... with 17-degree
weather and 18 inches of snow
&
4 and a camping ban - so you’re
|to t allowed to have a tent
! Bnywhere in the city. We filled
this shopping cart like
a bear cave and we
hung out with 18
ijnches of snow on
#■ us. And we
i laughed the
SW whole time.
■
*
They eventually stayed at a mountain
cabin offered by one of the friends they
made in the area.
Mr.: We didn’t take advantage. We gave
back to the people, friends that we’ve had
along the way. Cook, work and play fair ball.
Barter. And love, you know? No thievery or
crime.
Mrs.: Actually I do hair, and one of our
friends bought me a pair of scissors so that
I could cut his hair. Now I have scissors, and
I’ve been helping friends that live outside as
well.
Mr.: Four in the last 10 days right here in
Portland.
Mrs.: I got a hat for a haircut. I'd rather
do that, than say “That’s $5, I’ll make it
really cheap.” I’d rather trade.
Mr.: And know that she gets $150 for a
haircut in New York City.
Mrs.: It’s like $150. It’s a lot. It’s
overpriced. I mean really. So why not just
do it for free? I’m quick. It’s easy. I can do
i t I’m licensed. I can help out.
Mr. and Mrs. Geist sell Street Roots in
Pioneer Square on the corner of Southwest
Sixth Avenue and Southwest Yamhill Street.
There they have fun entertaining the public
and themselves.
Mr.: I always wanted to have a hard-core
chick that would be able to run with me. All
my previous relationships let me down
because I’m strong-willed, strong-headed
and strong-minded. And this girl, not only
can she keep up, b u t...
Mrs.: I put him in his place.
M r.:... She makes me belly laugh like
nobody else has. She brings me b a c k d ow n
from this Type A personality and makes me
laugh at myself.
Mrs.: And I never could have seen myself
ever leaving New York and doing this much
traveling. So he kind of saved me. I’m totally
in love with h im ....
Mr.: And I say “Live free or die.” So if the
train’s going that way, then we can jump on
it and make our way down to Mount Shasta
and see the redwoods again. Or maybe cut
through the desert this time.
Mrs.: Right, we’ll do that.
Mr.: Sky’s the lim it
Mrs.: Sounds fun.
o
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IN STORES
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Produce and Will Leather Goods.
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