'Real Change' is real money

"Real Change, ma'am? Have a nice day!" should be words familiar to those who frequent the Safeway branch on Brooklyn Avenue. Passing the entrance of this supermarket, one usually finds 59-year-old Edward McClain standing beside a stack of newspapers, greeting each passerby with this friendly phrase.

McClain began selling Real Change, a Seattle newspaper produced by the homeless, under the roof of this Safeway branch nine years ago. He hasn't left since.

"It pays my rent, my bills and more," he explained.

Nothing -- not rain, snow or violence -- stops this man from doing his work. He walked for over two hours from downtown Seattle to Brooklyn Avenue during a snowstorm to sell Real Change a few years ago. He also returned to work the morning after a man spewed profanities and threatened him with a grenade three months ago.

"You can never submit to fear," he explained. "Once you submit to fear, life is over with."

A person purchasing a newspaper from him today would hardly guess the map of McClain's life, which began in Jackson, Miss., in 1943 and led him to his current place. According to McClain, after graduating with a degree in political science and sociology from Northern Illinois University in 1970, he studied microeconomics at Concordia University in Montreal. After realizing that a successful career in any of these social sciences would require a Ph.D., he moved his stakes to the culinary arts, which he pursued through cooking and baking for over 35 years.

He arrived at Seattle from Chicago in 1994, however, with a dose of bad luck. After spending much of the $2,500 he initially carried with him on replacing clothes that were stolen, McClain found himself financially unable to obtain an apartment. Rent was much higher than he had expected. His solution to this problem: party away the rest of his money. However, stability eventually returned.

"After being in a shelter for two months, I found out about Real Change," he said. "I made $1,300 one month, and haven't been homeless since."

He works hard for this money, refusing to leave his spot until he has earned $100 each day. This determination, said McClain, has led to his being the top vendor the past eight years, out of approximately 2,000 other vendors across Seattle.

A wrist guard on his right arm serves as proof of his ardor. He suffered from carpal tunnel syndrome from selling the papers. Without the wrist guard, the symptoms return, and no worker's compensation awaits McClain.

Yet McClain continues to shout the same phrase to every person who passes by. Some smile, some ignore him, some discretely decline and some buy.

"I say the same thing every time," he said about his marketing phrase. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Jennifer Kipp, a post-baccalaureate architecture student, found the phrase persuasive enough. As she walked out of Safeway with groceries in both hands, she stopped to purchase a copy of Real Change.

"He's really friendly," said Kipp, who occasionally reads the paper for its unique viewpoint. "It doesn't seem like he expects anything from you -- he's upbeat."

The income from selling the newspapers, however, is not the only reason for McClain's dedication to his job. The freedom and camaraderie with the local passersby bring him under Safeway's canopy each day.

He calls the little girls that enter the store with their parents "cutie pies." They love him just as much as he loves them. This can be seen as a toddler squeals with joy in her cart as her parents stroll her past McClain. She keeps her eyes glued on McClain as she sucks her thumb.

"Hey cutie pie, what's up?" he says.

"She goes bananas when she sees me," he said as he waved goodbye to the girl.

After his experience selling Real Change outside Safeway on Brooklyn Avenue, McClain will never attempt to seek a desk job with scheduled hours and superiors hovering above him. He loves his job and cannot see himself changing anything now or in the future.

"I do everything at my own discretion," he said. "I come and go as I please, and this aspect makes the best job you can have in the world."