John O'Donnell is an artist, salesman and something of a comedian.
"Buy Real Change," he tells his customers. "It will improve your bowling game."
You have to have a sense of humor for dealing with both the funny and the not so funny if you've got his job. As we talk in front of the Ballard Trader Joe's, a man pulls into the parking garage in a brightly colored, low-seated go-cart.
"Oh, you see all sorts of interesting stuff around here," John says with a laugh. He also laughs at the time not long ago when a man sneered at him to "get a real job." He didn't take it personally; he drew a cartoon about the incident and moved on.
John moved to Seattle from his hometown of Butte, Mont., in 1979 in search of work.
"If you weren't a farmer or a rancher, there were no jobs for you there," he explains. "And I can ride a horse and all, but I'm not really a cowboy."
He eventually found a position doing maintenance for the city for 10 years, followed by a period at a Boeing cafeteria in Everett. There, he worked endlessly to be the best and most efficient, with the constant threat of a layoff looming.
When that job did finally run out, and no others came along, John came to Real Change. It was 2005.
"When I first started selling, I thought it was pretty weird," he confesses. "I didn't think I'd be able to sell fifty papers a month. But then you learn. You sell yourself. Some people will smirk, but you can't let them get to you. It's like if you go fishing in the ocean: No matter how hard you work, you just can't catch them all."
As it turned out, John could sell 50 papers a month -- and then more. Eventually he was selling enough to pay the entirety of the rent on his apartment each month. But last April, when his landlord unexpectedly raised his rent another $100, he couldn't afford it and found himself homeless once again.
Now money from his Real Change sales goes into savings for the next apartment, or in case his number ever comes up on the low-income housing waiting list he's been on for several years.
Working seven days a week, John also struggles to find time to commit to the artwork that is so close to his heart. Since he was young, he has been painting and drawing, and he possesses a certain natural skill that he's developed over the years. His customers at the store are some of his biggest supporters, along with those who saw his work for the first time at last month's Real Change Vendor Art Show in Wallingford. Selling the paper, John's had the chance to meet and learn from, as well as join, a greater artistic community.
Two-and-a-half years in front of that Ballard Trader Joe's have made the spot like a second home to him. He rounds up loose shopping carts and helps frazzled customers when he can to make sure his standing at the store is never threatened.
"If it wasn't for my customers, I wouldn't be here," he says. "I want to thank them for their interest in the paper and in helping people who try to help themselves."
And when it comes to those who are less understanding -- the "Get a job" types -- John says: "A lot of people don't know what to think of homeless people. They're scared. They've got their blinders on. But it can happen to anyone at anytime -- I know."