Vendors
Page 6
Better days for
come what may
VENDOR PROFILE
Peter Polzer
by Kenneth T. Nickell
The bitter cold is wasting no time in
separating comfortable from crucial.
I’ve walked these rainy roads.
Struggled these streets wading along
winter’s strong with you before.
No more.
I have given all that strength to those to
follow and need to seek out hearts less
hollow.
Smile when thinking on our past.
As I recall we had a blast. Sadly dear the
good won’t last.
I’ve removed myself, resumed myself,
renewed myself.
Preserving only a fraction of what you kind
ones see. My hopes for us may never be.
I’ll the need to save the one-tenth four me.
Peace and bliss have arms and lips.
I’ll allow that they may hold or kiss.
Doubt and fear and cast aside.
Faith and hopes with children’s eyes.
Widened and peering tearful, waiting for
the next surprise.
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was very fortunate. My dad was from
Austria and my mom was from Germany,
and they came here in the ’50s. They were
really hard-working, decent people, you
know? Brought me up to be a please-and-
thank-you type of person. My dad was a
project manager for a shopping center
developer, and my mom was a housewife for
the most part, but she was a seamstress by
trade.”
Things went downhill when Peter started
drinking. When he hit rock bottom a year
ago, a friend helped him to detox.
Since then, Peter has been clean and
sober through his determination and a
supportive community. The
.
results have been a world
of change.
“I started going to
(Alcoholics
IE !
Anonymous) from
.
the get-go. Got a a
sponsor, worked J |
the steps,” he
Jgf
said.
Peter
qualified for a I N g l
“dry” shelter W , :
eter Polzer is a people person with a
sure sense of salesmanship that is
helping him toward a better future.
His years as a furniture salesman make
selling Street Roots a natural fit
“The main tool to sell Street Roots, in my
opinion, is to be genuinely enthusiastic,”
Peter said. “I look at my job as spreading
good cheer, as corny as that may sound.
“The other thing I do is: I ask for the sale
all the time. But it has to be super concise.
You only have a few seconds, and there’s a
lot you can talk about.”
Peter described his process of selling the
paper to people walking by on the street.
“My first month and a half, I was trying
to figure out what to say - and I don’t think
there’s any right or wrong answer; it’s just
something that evolves. I’ll say, ‘Good
morning, sir, do you feel like helping the
at Bud
homeless today and getting yourself a great
Clark
paper at the same time? Got a brand new
Street Roots, only a dollar.”
Peter said strangers have literally stopped
in their tracks when they realized what he j
was saying.
“I think a lot of vendors, who are starting IJ
like me, have this assumption that
everybody knows what Street Roots is,
w
right? But they don’t. There a lot of
people that have no idea what you’re
doing. You’re standing there tidth a pile
of papers.”
Peter adds, “When I ask for the
MS
sale, I’m not this jerk bothering
™
people. I don’t think I’ve ever come
across that way to people. I’m very « 3
careful not to.”
He said his manners come from
his parents.
“I was brought up with good parents. I
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Dec. 16-22, 2016
Commons, a building run by the housing
agency Home Forward.
“It’s a clean and sober environment that
provides men with the opportunity to get
their lives together,” Peter said.
Through his stay at the men’s shelter, he
connected with Central City Concern, a
nonprofit serving the homeless.
“I got hooked up with a Shelter Plus Care
voucher through CCC, which put me into an
apartment program,” he said. “I’m
responsible for a third (of the rent) based
on how much I make. It’s really cool. I’ve
got my own place right now.”
Peter has been selling Street Roots for
four months.
“I feel my job is not only to sell the
|L paper, but also to give good energy,”
Peter said. “Life’s hard. Let’s face it -
t
it’s not a great economy and not
everyone is walking around clicking
a
their heels. So just saying good
morning to everybody and being
genuine, it’s pretty cool. I make
■
money by being friendly and helping
people feel better about themselves.
That’s how I look at i t ”
Peter added: “And after the
holidays, I’m going to try to
transition to a full-time job very soon.”
f
Answers to Page 15 Puzzles
>1 3
BY LEONORA KO
STAFF W R ITER
Street Roots •