Dave (35) lost his home due to a depression preluded by alcoholism. "The bills were stacking up and even if I thought about the consequence of not paying them: I just couldn't be bothered." Slowly he's getting his life back together, he's eligible to get housing again within a couple of months. The alcoholism remains an issue however. Dave is as friendly and social as one can be, the bigger the surprise when he talks about being an angry drunk. "When I have a few drinks with friends it's all fun. But sooner or later I'll be alone again sitting in my room. Then my mind starts playing tricks on me, I start questioning everything and all the bad memories come to haunt me." Three times a week he helps cleaning up the streets in the city for five euro. "You don't have to do a lot of thinking when you collect trash. That's why I love this work, I can just empty my head while doing this."
Nico (63) is often seen at the central station where he tries to sell cards and newspapers. Skilfully he erases 'not for sale' with a marker first. He says he's been doing heroin since his twenties. "I don't have any regrets. I never liked it when people told me what to do." Waking up early is the reason why he detests even the idea of a steady job. Nico seems content with his life. With much passion he talks about his old days when he lived in a farm with a squatting community. "When we were out of food I would just break a chicken's neck. We took care of ourselves." And often they weren't short of food and money at all. "We used to break into offices. Sometimes they left thousands of guldens in old locks that were easy to open." Meanwhile he has left his criminal past behind him after spending many years behind bars. Even in prison there are too many rules for him to abide to. Nico is maybe one of the last who deliberately chooses to live the life of a junkie.
