Friday and Saturday nights in Newcastle were always busy with uni students, Goths, car hoons, emos – whatever underground subculture, it had an element out there.
We were not part of that and to find acceptance amongst any of these was impossible. So we were the wild card out there on the streets. People would either hate us (as most did) or fear us (the younger set). We were never praised, we were loathed and called bums, trash, and any other derogatory name you could put to us, some unprintable! lol
Amongst all this we had each other and the camaraderie on the streets is more often than not stronger than some family units in these times. When you see another true streetie you know exactly the position he/she is in and instead of ignoring them and hoping that they would just go away you welcome them and help them to the best of your ability, and it is usually welcomed with open arms, although this is sometimes not always the case and you can end up worse off than you originally were!
Most streeties don’t trust anybody out of their world, and when somebody encroaches on their turf it can be a little uncomfortable to say the least! (hey lol)
But i digress, back to fri and sat nights, when the nightclubs and pubs would close it was time to start searching town for leftovers and lost items. On a good night you could get lucky and find a mobile phone, wallet with 40+ dollars in it, some speed, pot or a few ecstasy tabs.
It was great when the police would turn up at a pub when it was closing as all the drugs came out of pockets and dropped on the footpath. You had to negotiate the crowds, spot your target amongst the drunken feet, evade the police and then you were home free.
A bad weekend consisted of maybe half a cask of cheap wine and half a pack of ciggies if you were lucky, oh and always sore feet!
Any way thanks .. will write again in a few weeks.
