The ThunderBlogs

Patrick Yacyshen stood alone in front of London Drugs in Kerrisdale on a weekday afternoon, selling copies of Megaphone, a magazine sold on the streets of Vancouver by homeless and low-income vendors.

Men in suits and ties chatted on a bench nearby while well-dressed elderly women walked in and out of the drug store.  The streets are calm.  Occasionally, a BMW, Mercedes, or Lexus drove by.  Polite chatter in low volumes and occasional voices of children walking by can be heard.

Yacyshen, in his clean tan-coloured shirt, jacket and pants, did not appear to be out of place.  He wore a hat with the label “John Deere” and brown shoes that seemed relatively new.

If it wasn’t for the distinct name of the magazine he was holding with his well-groomed hands, he could easily be mistaken for another middle-class working man.

Yacyshen is from Saskatchewan and he moved to Vancouver in 1994.  He used to work as a draftsperson, drafting anything from oil rigs to pipelines. He was laid off when natural gas prices were lowered a couple of years ago.  Now he works as a vendor of Megaphone magazine, and even writes for it occasionally.

Yacyshen said that most vendors work downtown, but he prefers to work in Kerrisdale because it has a more “relaxing” atmosphere.  He makes the trip to Kerrisdale daily to sell the magazines.  He said he can be found in front of London Drugs Monday to Friday and in front of Shopper Drug Mart on Saturdays.  He tries to take Sundays off.

Copies of Megaphone are bought by vendors for 50 cents each, but Yacyshen said there are plans for this price to be raised to 75 cents each.  The suggested donation for a magazine is $2, but he said many customers donate up to $5 to $10.

Yacyshen stays downtown at the Yale, a hotel that is known for its rhythm and blues nightlife scene.  He said rent is $460 a month and luckily, he has access to his own bathroom and shower.

Through uneven but clean, white teeth, Yacyshen said he is still quite healthy.

A block away, a man sat with several bags of his belongings in front of the Liquor Store and played music on his shiny wooden guitar.