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Velva Thomas, Vendor of the Week.
Photo by J.P. Gritton |
There are probably a few really good reasons why I shouldn’t compare Velva Thomas to a teddy bear. For one, it’s cliché. People are often compared to teddy bears. Not only that, but it’s rarely an apt comparison — not only are people often compared to teddy bears, but they are often compared to teddy bears inappropriately. Comparing someone to a teddy bear is also just sort of — I don’t know — maudlin or something. If somebody compared me to a teddy bear I would probably laugh politely and then walk away feeling cynical.
But it is in the best possible way that I use this metaphor to describe Velva Thomas. By “teddy bear” I mean someone who has not even a shade of ill will, someone who is not only genuinely kind, but visibly so. I would say that Velva Thomas is huggable, but I’m concerned that if anybody read that they would never buy another copy of Real Change. She’s just really nice. Velva Thomas is nice.
Thomas was born in Tacoma but eventually made her way down to Seattle. Here, Thomas was introduced to Real Change, and she’s been selling so long she can barely remember when she started.
After a time in Seattle-area shelters, Thomas found housing up north, in Everett. As it stands, she is the first and only vendor to sell so far north. She’s gotten popular up there, where she sells at 25th Ave. and Colby St.; her sales are so good, in fact, that she’s been able to join her church on trips and retreats.
“I think this is a good cause,” she says of Real Change. “It makes us feel good doing this. This gives us something.”
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