You would probably think Dana was a pathetic character unless you shared a neighbourhood with him. But after he’d been on the street a while, people noticed that he didn’t harass anybody for spare change, that he wasn’t scoping out porch furniture or lawn tools to steal and that he would pay attention if you spoke to him. As my dad liked to say, if you have no money, people don’t respect you, but as the years go by and you still have no money, you get credit just for still being around. Dad was talking about himself, but the same thing applied to Dana.
Every week, we would see Dana cruising down the street on garbage day, starting in the afternoon when some of our neighbours first put out their trash, then again after supper, when more blue boxes were put out. Finally, he’d go by late in
