Journal Entry 1
Week 1

While reading the book our group noticed things that surprised us. For one, we were surprised that Adam was able to find a job easily any day of the week. This goes against many of the stereotypes that are given by the media that people who are in a shelter or homeless cannot get work. Although we were also shocked that a full days work can sometimes only be worth fourteen dollars. Therefore we all understand how easy it probably is to get discouraged.
Another surprising event in the book is when Adam describes how happy he when he is just hanging out with the other guys in the homeless shelter. He says how he will remember sitting around, watching bootleg movies, and eating junk food even when he is old. We all decided that this is important to understand in all of our lives and that to be happy isn’t to have money, but to have support and good friends.
In the first four chapters of the book, the author explores the world of homelessness and looks into its causes. The author discusses many reasons why people may be homeless whether it may be because of circumstance or because of poor life decisions. This somewhat stares in the face of the author because Adam comes into the adventure believing that many of the people were simply freeloaders, yet most the people he meets are poor because of circumstances out of their control. This type of stereotyping of poor people as freeloaders that even the author is a victim of is due to the fact that the extremists in any group of people are usually the people who receive the most attention from people in the media. Therefore this is important in understanding life in general that people should question the status quo of what people believe.
Many people are homeless due to their past. The past is something that can greatly affect the future and because of this shouldn’t it be talked about more? We were interested in the fact Adam’s story wasn’t spoken of much in the book. Why didn’t many people ask him of his past? Adam learned of many people’s past, but never really shared his with others. In the book Adam said that the homeless people in the shelter connected through their stories of how they got where they are today but yet Adam never connected fully with his peers in this sense. Adam says that he gains many friends after the first week but somehow he surpasses the act of sharing his past?
Our group noticed that the ideas put forth in the first few chapters intersected with some of those in the book The Late Home comer. Adam and the people in the shelter are among a minority just as the Hmong were in The Late Home comer. The Hmong were in an ethnic minority but an argument could be posed that homelessness is an ethnicity in itself. Crazy as it sounds; homelessness is a culture in its own. Life for people living from dollar to dollar and sleeping on a bench one night or a curb the next is completely different than that of the “average American”. The Hmong lifestyle isn’t too far from that of a homeless person in the fact that, they started from scratch and began their journey once anew. The American dream was and still is something that both of these “ethnicities” or rather cultures strive for. Simply put, life outside of the norms of American society can be gruesome and difficult no matter who the people may be, homeless or Hmong.

Discussion questions chapters 3 & 4 (Cody Sanoy)

1. In the book it says that a team of doctors, a nurse, and two psychiatrists would come in to help people living in the homeless shelter. Where does the money come from for this and do think it is right for them to get free health services?

If this medical help is coming from the taxpayer’s money than I don’t think this is fair. The public shouldn’t have to pay for the homeless people’s healthcare. If it is volunteer work or if the hospital pays for it than this is perfectly fine and very nice of the hospital to do. Also, this could add to the fact that some of the people living in the shelter might not try to get out of it because the benefits within the shelter are so good. They might not get free healthcare like this once they move out.

2. Adam talks about how when he is 80 years old and in a nursing home; the days he is going to
Remember are the ones from the shelter. Do you find it interesting that he is actually having a
Good time being homeless? Doesn’t it make sense for him to be miserable and hate being homeless?

To me it doesn’t seem like it makes sense. I guess it’s good for Adam that he’s having a good time and is going to have a memorable experience but at the same time this isn’t fair. The best time of your life shouldn’t be when you’re homeless and mooching on other people because this only encourages the behavior that makes people homeless. If they love their life being homeless they’re never going to move out and they’re going to keep enjoying getting free services, free food, free room and board, and not having to work.

3. Do you think it was smart of him to confront the owner of the baby store? Was this necessary?

I think Adam overreacted when he confronted the owner of the baby story. Sure they didn’t treat them like people they trusted but, who would? If I hired a bunch of homeless guys to help me do work I wouldn’t trust them with anything either. It isn’t the best situation that they showed up late and wasted a lot of the worker’s time but Adam should’ve expected this and should’ve been prepared for a negative experience.

4. Adam was warned to avoid the work agencies when he first got into town. Do you think it was smart of him to work for them anyway? And shouldn’t he have expected to get screwed over? Why do you think he was so surprised?

I think that it was a good idea for Adam to work for the labor agency. Even though he was told it was a bad idea it’s better than not making any money at all. It allowed him to buy some necessary items like soap and extra clothes. However, he should’ve been happy with what he got and should’ve been prepared for only a little bit of pay.

Vocabulary (Charlie Warnes)

Vocabulary
1. Pro Bono= (Page 32) It is a term used with legal services, to donate without charge; free.
2. Biweekly= (Page 33) Occurring every two weeks.
3. Tuberculosis (TB)= (Page 34) An infectious disease that may affect almost any tissue of the body, esp. the lungs, caused by the organism Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and characterized by tubercles.
4. Pungent= (Page 41) sharply affecting the organs of taste or smell, as if by a penetrating power; biting; acrid.
5. Bootlegged= (Page 42) something, as a recording, made, reproduced, or sold illegally or without authorization: a flurry of bootlegs to cash in on the rock star's death.
6. Monotony= (Page 48) wearisome uniformity or lack of variety, as in occupation or scenery.
7. Waned= (Page 50) to decrease in strength, intensity, etc.
8. Gall= (51) bitterness of spirit; deep resentment.
9. Freeloading= (Page 55) to take advantage of others for free food, entertainment, etc.
10. Feasible= (Page 56) Capable of being accomplished or brought about; possible.

Visual Organizer (Logan Dahlke)

In chapter’s three to four, the author touched on many parts of his everyday life. What I got out of it was that there were many hardships of being homeless. The author in these two chapters rarely has money, and when he tried to find a stable job, he didn’t have any luck in doing so. Then, he was working for EasyLabor, and was working hard on a Saturday, but ended up only making $14. Also on this trip the lady that he was working with did not treat him very well. On night he finally had a spare moment, and took a shower, the showers are very grimy, and at times are very crowded, but he took a shower late at night, so it was not busy.

Summary (Stephen Fisher) 3&4

Chapter three starts with Adam’s second day at the shelter. He begins the day at an orientation provided by the shelter where he learns about services available to him and health hazards. Following orientation he goes on a job hunt through the city, in the end finding out that the best place to look for jobs in on the internet. The next day he finds a job working construction where he meets a polite boss who offers him a job for that following Sunday.
Chapter four starts with Adam mentioning small jobs he got through easy labor. One job in particular where he and others were treated with disrespect and worked to the bone for low wages. After Adam in disenchanted by his last job, he picks himself up and prepares himself for the long road ahead to accomplish his goals.
The tone of chapters three and four are all light hearted with slight bits of humor and self deprecation. Throughout Adam makes fun of either mistakes he’s made or characteristics about himself. Such as on page forty-one Adam shows humility in the fact that he can’t go without conditioner for his hair while all the other guys only use shampoo. He also goes on with his humorous tone when he describes how he must eat like superman because of the way he works. Therefore Adam shows both the ability to laugh at himself and be extremely self-aware at the same time.

Discussion Questions (Charlie)

1. Adam made up a story about how he became homeless and came to the shelter... obviously it was fabricated; how many stories do you think he was told were also fabricated? How many people do you think are homeless for a legitimate reason or for reason such as being lazy etc...?

The answer to the first question lies within an opinion. My opinion is that I am sure at least half of the stories he was told weren't true because why would people just completely open up to a stranger? I know I sure wouldn't.

2. Adam obviously spent a lot of time thinking of how to make this "research project" as realistic and legitimate as possible, is there anything that he didn't do that you can see so far? Or is there anything that you think was smart of him to do? Continue along those lines...

I wonder exactly how he remembered all the exact quotes and all the stories to the exact point because it isn't like he could interview and write everything down on the spot. With that said I wonder exactly how much of the stories he wrote about were changed to simply make the book better.

3. "Sarge" told Adam no to make friends because you never really know who someone is, so you don't know who you can trust; Adam disagreed with Sarge, what do you guys think? Are friends a necessity to make it out of poverty or are they something that could possibly put you further into poverty?

I believe that friends are going to be a necessity in Adams journey for the American dream and they are going to be a huge part in his success. Friends and connections will be the very things that keep Adam motivated to continue on his treacherous and tough journey.

4. Would you say that Adam has an advantage over some of the other homeless people because of his age, as in terms of work and employers and health etc...? What advantages and disadvantages is Adam dealing with in his attempt to find the American dream?

I think that Adam does have an advantage because of his age and physical health. He is a young man freshly out of college and doesn't have the wear and tear of life affecting him yet. Although there are some advantages to being young on his journey there are also some disadvantages. One huge disadvantage would be that he doesn't have veyr much experience and experience coudl be the very thing that would ensure his success.

Vocabulary Mon 11/9 (Logan)

vagrants- pg 3- A person who wanders about idly and has no permanent home.

superfluous- pg 3- unnecessary or needless

stupor- page 4- mental torpor, apathy

preferential- pg 12- favored, receiveing or enjoying preference

immaculate- pg14- free from fault or flaw

intuition- pg 19- a keen and quick insight

contingent- pg 20- uncertain, possible, liable to happen

schmooze-pg23- to chat, gossip, chatter

impending- pg 27- about to happen, imminent

fabricated- pg 27- fake, forged

Summary with a Twist (Cody)

In the first two chapters Adam travels to Charleston. He looks for a place to stay and ends up at a homeless shelter and a police officer lets him in after hours. In the morning he goes to work for a labor company. He works construction and makes around $28. Then he goes to the store and spends all of his money on underwear, shirts, soap, shampoo, a towel, a toothbrush, toothpaste and some food. He then returns to the homeless shelter where he meets a friend and, for the first time, gets to tell his fabricated story of how he ended up in this situation. Then he goes to bed and reflects on his time there.
This section of the book was written in a very matter of fact way. Adam uses facts and tells the story as it happens. He gives all of his information directly and doesn’t leave much for us to figure out on our own. He is very observant of other people. He seems as if he stereotypes everybody that he meets and writes about what he thinks of everybody in his book before he even meets them. He also writes it in a positive way. It seems as if he is 100 percent confident that he will succeed. He doesn’t say he has any doubts and he focuses more on what he is going to do to survive than what could happen to make him fail.

Graphics (Path to Success) (Stephen)

This information represents Adams lessons he has learned so far his first two nights at Crisis Ministries on how to become successful in his new environment. First he needs to stay at the shelter so he has a safe place to sleep during the night. Next in the mornings he needs to work with the people at the shelter to help in find a job for the day so he can make money. He also needs to work on building relationships with those around him so he can have people teach him about his new life. Adam also needs to spend money on necessities, such as clothes and soap and not on unneeded amenities such as extra food. He learns that taking advantage of the meals at the shelter will provide him with enough to live off of so he doesn’t starve. Finally the biggest lesson of all is to stay positive and optimistic about the future. Without optimism its hard to get ones self to focus on their goals and not give up.

By Stephen Fisher

Introduction to the book

We expect Adam to have problems reaching the American Dream. He made it seem like this whole escapade of rags to riches was going to be easy and that anyone could do it. He might not even make his goal it all just depends on the luck of the draw basically. A large part of Adam’s success depends on who he meets and who becomes his friend. Basically we all think that Adam will certainly have an eye opening experience and hope for his success but are not entirely sure that it will come.
We feel that Adam has many things going for him being that he is young and has a college education under his belt. Even though Adam doesn’t get to use his college education on his resume for getting a job the knowledge and experience is still going to help him. Adam is healthy and is in good shape because he was a college basketball star. He even seems to be someone who is optimistic and stubborn. Adam seems to be the kind of guy that when he says he is going to do something… he will get it done. On the contrary to the positives going for Adam we feel like there are a few negatives also. Although Adam is young and youthful and ready to take a stab at taking on the world he is inexperienced ignorant on how exactly to go about reaching his goal. He hasn’t been through the whole making a life for himself before and his first try is going to be from a homeless shelter. With the positives and the negatives weighing on him, we think Adam is definitely going to be in contention to reach his goal but who knows?
With each of our groups being Caucasian and able to afford to attend college how we view what happens in the book will differ from that of someone who is in some sort of situation close to Adam’s. We may be a little more critical about the book being privileged enough to never have to live on the streets or beg for food. Each of us are interested in the idea of this book because soon we will be making a life for ourselves and to know that it is possible, even in the toughest of situations, is something that will boost our confidence. Our previous experience and knowledge of the subcategory is very minimal and this is probably what sparked an interest in reading the book. Although we are uneducated and inexperienced about the homeless way of life we feel like we may be somewhat bias towards them being lazy and hope that reading this book will change our biases. We are all excited to read the book and hope that is a good read.