PORTLAND — John Michael isn't like the rest of us. We, meaning reporters, are sipping coffee and typing ferociously on our computers using this unreasonable hour (6 a.m.) to catch up on work we’ve been putting off. We don’t talk to each other because we’re awkward and competitive. We are well groomed. We fidget with our electronics. We refresh our email, Facebook, Twitter.
Then there’s John Michael. He chats with everyone and his affable voice carries throughout the room, as does his catching smile. A brown stain runs down the front of his white t-shirt. His pants and the washing machine are estranged. His hair could use a comb. But he didn’t stay in a hotel last night like the rest of us. He slept in a doorway downtown.
John Michael isn’t his real name either. It’s the current, and fourth, name he’s chosen to go by. This is the second day he’s been here as a reporter to cover the Dalai Lama’s visit to Portland. He writes for street papers and when he’s not locked in this building with the rest of us, a small documentary film crew is tailing him for the upcoming film, “The Last American Adventure.”
He's a self-proclaimed bum and says his spiritual path is on the streets. He’s chosen homelessness. John Michael’s lived on the streets of Texas, Lewiston, Idaho and now here.
“The streets will set you free,” he says, laughing, recalling a vision he once had. “I can feel myself evolving here.”
