The way of Dinya

It's not that difficult to loose moral image and get social stain of "homeless person". At first you're alone in a big city without any money or ID card. You feel awkward to bother people a lot, you have no place to wash yourself or your clothes. Some people are ashamed to return home with nothing. Couple of nights at our railway station waiting room and you get "new friends" and your own life changes step by step. Railway station Krasnodar-1 is located in the city centre and is not only the biggest but also the key station of the North Caucasus railroad. About 15 homeless people are living in here permanently. In summer the amount of tramps increases. Sergey, whose nickname is "Dinya" (Melon) is homeless for many years. In the beginning in Moscow and now in Krasnodar. His first sentence in prison was for a murder when he was 14,then there were new crimes and new terms. Sergey's family didn't accept him cause they were afraid of his possible bad influence on other children. So he was thrown out on the street. Living at the station is totally ok for him. Dinya (Melon) doesn't believe that anything can change, he can't stop drinking. Free dinner can be taken from a church; begging helps to get money for booze; clothes are from garbage cans. Every new day is similar to a previous one, you get a feeling of stability. I spent 24 hours with Sergey to note down his thoughts and to know if a person has any chance to survive in the street when normal citizens don't even notice you. "There are more mean people here. Take any person from your world, let him spend 3 days here, he couldn't stand it. Every day in the street goes for 3. Your world is aquarium, guppies on the top, sheatfish at the bottom but here we have piranhas, which are ready to eat each other. It is very difficult. Everyone can hurt you, such things happened to me and other tramps". "You've always got mayhem when a lot of homeless people are around. Do you know what is mayhem? People who don't give a shit. Trams can be beaten up or robbed or even killed". " I don't know anybody who wanted to live in the street voluntarily. I often think do I live free or is it just the circumstances? Somebody has troubles with family or the police. I have both. They forced me to leave my town. My stepdad told my mother that he didn't want me to live there. They were always quarreling with each other. When I first came back from jail after 7 years my family accepted me but after another sentence they could not forgive me". "I don't like to live like that but I have no choice. This life has no advantages. There is no place to wash or shave yourself except for a river but sometimes you want to wash, shave and take a hot shower. Sometimes you want to sleep in a bed and a woman, of course. You want different things. You want to cook something and to eat something sweet or hot but you have nothing. So you kill a dog and go to the Karasun lake to grill it. Don't be surprised!" "The rules here are simple: never give up, never betray as in the Bible. This world is complicated when you're sober. Look at me! Who will hire me? I wake up with these thoughts, so I drink some shots not to think about it. I'm sick and tired of it, the sooner I die the better. I don't have fear at all. Look at my back! I was on the edge many times but I never considered a suicide. It's disgusting.