As notices were handed out up and down railroad tracks in Reno, Carl sat down in an outdoor couch to have a cigarette.
“Any property that is left will be thrown away, could be considered trash and thrown away,” he said of what was on the notice. “Anything that is not considered trash, I guess you would have to notify whoever, some, somebody who is in charge to tell them.”
His latest housing situation at the Riverwood Apartments ended with “bad blood happening with the roommates.”
As the sweep looms, he says he’s been helping others at tent city picking up trash. “You know, we got bags and rakes and shovels and stuff. It’s not like we come out with big bulldozers or anything.”
He says he will try out the Nevada Cares Campus if he is allowed in. “I'm planning on getting suited and booted and, and trail on over there,” he said.
He hopes it will be lead to housing and other opportunities. “I would definitely love that. I mean, if I can shower there and have electricity and what not, you know, that would definitely be a plus.
Carl used to work in construction in Illinois and flipping houses but says his friend’s company fell through.
”I saw opportunity out here, which there is a lot of opportunity to actually do work through a good staffing company but I'm not stable enough to make sure I get me a good night's sleep, to make sure I can make it to work on time. You know? Cause like some of the warehouse jobs that I been on, you know, I got to get up at five o'clock in the morning, you know? And sometimes out here you're not getting any rest. You're not. Cause you know, you got that, a lot of everything out here. I don't hate on anybody for what they do, but it's kind of a jungle out here.”
He’s not too worried about oncoming sweeps. “I got my tent in the bag and my backpack, so I really ain't got much to give away, I ain't got much to carry and I ain't got much to give away.”
He says there’s lots of misconceptions of those struggling. “Not all of us are drug addicts and all that stuff. Some of us were actually trying to step up the game and what not and it just fell off, on bad luck, not from just gambling and all that crap either. Honestly walking down the road, you can see who's a person that's actually trying and the person who's not, you know, you see a person that just wants to be a drunk hurt on the street, but it's like, you know, what got him to that point? You know, there was obviously something that struck him if it gets to that point.”