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Vendors
Answers to Page 15 Puzzles
VENDOR PROFILE
Tory Breise
BY LEONORA KO
STAFF W R IT E R
ory Breise is friendly and curious, .
and he has 2,000 books on his
Kindle.
“I like to go around and look at things,
talk to people and see what’s going on,” ;
Tory said. “But most of the ideas that I do
get are from books.”
Tory went to college in Iowa, where he
studied logic and philosophy and earned
straight A’s, he said. He also enjoyed writing
fiction.
“The first short story that I ever wrote
won third prize in my college’s short story
contest,” he said. It was “pretty cool.”
His philosophy professor Was a mentor.
“We had convérsâtions about religion and
philosophy and would sit around the fire and
read books,” he said. “She actually taught
me how to think about stuff. (It was) thé
first time I ever had to use my brain.”
But then he lost his way, he said. He
rejoined his drunk friends and became
homeless in Iowa.
Tory decided to go to Denver to put his
life back together in a
new place. He
found a bar tending
job, lived iii an
apartment and
began a long-term
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So I’m starting to think that maybe I’m
bullshitting myself and not even noticing.”
Now Tory is reading books on addictive
thinking and practicing mindfulness.
He said for him, becoming a Street Roots
vendor has been a step in the right
direction.
“Although I am homeless at this point in
my life and while this isn’t ideal, we are all
stiU people. We can still have a positive
impact on our community, even if all we’re
doing is selling a couple of papers, you
know? We’re still here; we’re still trying to
participate,” he said.
“I’m a real person,” Tory said with a
laugh. “Ihave real thoughts. It’s OK to try
to have a conversation with me. If I’m
involved in a conversation, I try to leave it
like that person’s learned something, that
they feel better and they’re glad they’ve
talked to me.”
Tory is pondering his next step.
“I was thinking about going to AA for a
mentor,” Tory said. “I’m not really
struggling with alcoholism right now or
drug abuse, but I think that if I get involved
with AA, I can have structure and maybe get
a mentor.”
Tory has had good feedback from his
conversations on the street.
“It helps when (I hear), ‘Hey what are
you doing out here? You shouldn’t be
here. This doesn’t make any sensé.
You’re sm art You’re smart enough
to get out of here. You don’t
need to be homeless.’ I get
that a lot and that’s
helpful. I think that
helps to build my
When things
confidence.
“I think that
confidence is one of
the main things
that Ineed to
transition out of
here.”
fell apart this
year, h e .
came to
Portland.
Tory said
he is taking
a break to
figure out his
life.
In the Jan. 13 edition of Street Roots, the
story “A taxing issue” incorrectly stated the
amount of money raised by political action
groups, Achieving the American Dream
Coalition and the Oregonians for Affordable
Housing PAC in 2016. They have raised
more than a half of million dollars, not h a lf«
a billion as stated in the article.
T m mostly just trying to find a way to be
comfortable with myself and the world
around me. I don’t know if that makes
sense. I thought I knew some things about
how the world worked, and I found out that
I was mistaken - like love lasts forever and
stuff like th a t” |
To make up for a difficult childhood, Tory
uses what he learned in school and in books
to understand the world.
“I feel like I started with nothing,” he
said. “All these other tools that most well-
adjusted individuals were raised with - I
never had those. So I’ve been trying to put
(those tools) together and learn since then.
“I’m trying to figure out exactly what it is
that I’ve been doing to screw myself over.
Because I always end up in a situation
where I’m like, ‘How did this happen? I’ve
done everything
right. I’m so
smart, I’m well
prepared - and
everything’s ,
falling apart.
It must not be
me. It must
nothave
anything to do
with me.’ But
it happens
consistently.
Street Roots • Jan, 20-26, 2017
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