Transcription
Oh, my god. I'm in one of America's richest neighborhoods.
What on earth are these houses?
Scottsdale, Arizona.
Excuse me, sir. Sir, how did you get rich?
[laughter]
I'm not rich, buddy. I'm wealthy.
I'm here to meet millionaires.
Wow.
[laughter]
I could get used to this, but not just millionaires. Because only a 15-minute drive away is one of the city's poorest areas.
What's the scariest part of being on the streets?
You learn what it's like to be vulnerable and you learn what it's like to be violated.
Right.
Wait, she said you never had anything.
And I want to bridge the gap between the richest in America and the poorest.
You have to have the will to want to make it. Some people just don't have that.
What could two people this far apart actually learn from each other?
People that are homeless are not lazy.
It's all [ __ ]. Everybody's had the same opportunity.
But first, I need to find two people actually willing to meet.
I actually had literally no idea how this was going to go.
Which brings me here to the people on the streets of Arizona. Welcome to Zantland.
Hey, right here. This is a camera.
You want some water? All right. We can park.
Right now, America is in the middle of a homelessness crisis, and Arizona is one of its epicenters. There are over 15,000 people without a home here. Most of them in and around Phoenix and Scottsdale, which is mad because the same stretch of desert is home to just as many millionaires. I want to find people from both ends of that divide. So, I'm riding along with David from the Phoenix Rescue Mission to meet some of the people surviving on the streets.
What, what's it, what's it feel like to be out on the streets? Like, is it?
You learn what it's like to be vulnerable and you learn what it's like to be violated. Luckily, you're not a woman. Sometimes even worse things happen to you, you know.
How did you end up on the streets?
I just did a 10-year in prison and, um, my parents passed away when I was there. So, I got out homeless again. It's hard to start. Um, I've been homeless ever since. Been 10 years. I've been on the streets.
What's the scariest part of of being on the streets?
[snorts]
Going to, going to sleep.
Sleep, yeah.
Uh-huh.
Yeah, sleep. Because you don't know what's going to happen when you're asleep.
It was a sobering first step into the world of Arizona's homelessness. It was unbelievably hot, and despite being in one of the wealthiest parts of America, there were people everywhere just trying to survive the day.
Is a portion, this is a portion of your life right?
No, no, no, no. This is it.
That is your life.
This and the, this is it right now, yeah.
Are you permanently on the streets or do you have a place that you stay or?
Uh, no, I'm currently eating concrete. We're now on. It's time number eight for a total of 13 years.
How easy is it to go from that line of kind of being okay and having a place to stay to kind of falling into the kind of?
It's real easy. It's just I went crazy naturally. I didn't need any street drugs or any alcohol. I just, mhm, you know, went crazy naturally, which does happen. Be really happy you have a job, 'cause if you don't, you do drugs. Well, uh, uh, pick yourself up by the bootstraps. As long as you have a goal and, uh.
What is your goal right now?
Survive. Survive till at least Monday.
David, my guy from the charity, told me that one homeless man here documented just how hard life was by writing poetry. So, I asked to meet him next, hoping that he might be the person to take me deeper into this world. Thanks for making time to talk to us. How you doing?
Good. How are you?
I'm, I'm good. I'm Ben. Uh, can you tell, tell me a bit about yourself?
I'm 63, born and raised in Detroit. Toured with some bands, some bands for a while and got married and had to stop that life for, for the, the kids and.
Where, where are your kids now?
My ex-wife left the country with our kids.
You're now here. You don't have a family to live nearby.
I have no family. Zero.
I didn't push Larry on the details of his divorce. But what was clear was that at some point his life had fallen apart.
Probably 5 years or so ago it started and stable housing, that's what they put me in. And it started out great. It was like $400 a month. Then COVID hit and it doubled. Couldn't, couldn't afford it no more.
So, it just all of a sudden the, the rug was pulled and you just. What's it, what's it like being on the street? I mean, it's, it's so hot. It's kind of insanely hot.
It's, it's very hot.
Yeah.
You? Uh-uh. Well, but in the circumstances, nobody knows where the water is at.
Just knowing where the water is, yeah.
Come out. There's a lot of, there's a lot of. Sorry.
It's okay. It's okay. I understand. I'm sorry.
Uh-huh. How about this? I, I, I write poetry. I don't know if he, he told you this or not. I actually have a book published. I'd like to share one poem that's going to be completely fit, fit, fit, fitting here. It goes, "Why do homeless people get high? When they don't have enough money to get by? Let me try to explain. They get high to help ease the pain. It also helps them to forget the feel what still happens are too real." You may think of them as a lazy slob, but being homeless, uh, it's a full-time job. Some collect bottles and cans all day and day, then turn them in for the daily pains. And then so I sign, they're asking you, "Can you spare some change? Anything would do." They search all day for the perfect camp spot where their footprints don't come out or get chased by a cop. When they find that place, they lay and weep till they close their eyes and fall asleep. So then they get high, take them to a different place where they're not looked at in disgrace."
That was beautiful. That was really beautiful. You're a talented man.
That kind of sums it up. Gives you peace. People that are homeless are not lazy. They're not lazy bums. They're, they're, they're people that had a hard time. Maybe something in their life happened. And that's what happens. It's, people don't choose to be homeless. Something happens and it makes them homeless.
Thank you. I appreciate your time. I really do appreciate your time. You have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen.
I, I, I hear, hear that a lot, but. So, it's usually a little bit different than that.
[laughter]
All right. Well, thanks. I appreciate it.
Thank you. Thank you, man.
God, that was, uh, that was really upsetting, actually.
Yeah, I mean, that was.
I nearly cried.
Yeah, me too.
I was actually.
I, some, some, some days I do.
And that's just being human, right?
Mhm.
I think, I mean, he was very, very articulate around just how hard this is, you know, like the sense around not getting enough water, not feeling safe and secure, not feeling like you've got anyone to rely on, the kind of precarious nature of it. He was saying one of the hardest things is just the indefinite reality of just not knowing when it's ever going to end. From the moment that conversation ended, I couldn't stop thinking about Larry and his world. I had taken his number and we agreed to meet again later. But getting a glimpse into his life only made the divide here harder to get my head around. Because alongside the growing homeless population, Scottsdale has a booming millionaire class. In 2025, it was reported to have had the fastest growth in millionaires anywhere in the United States. Now home to 64 centimillionaires and five billionaires.
So, I thought it was time to swap worlds and get in touch with someone living in a completely different dimension to Larry, even if it's only 3 miles away. So, we did what we do best.
There we go.
And got searching. I genuinely think we got in touch with most of the millionaires in the Scottsdale area.
We had a few leads, but we weren't really getting anywhere. So producer Ben thought it might be a time to change plans.
Ben's, so Ben's just right there. He walks into me saying, "I want to meet a billionaire." I'm not doing that.
[laughter]
There's no way. I don't want to go meet a billionaire.
My rationale is expensive cars, expensive people.
And somehow park next to a Lamborghini outside of one of Scottsdale's most expensive gyms, I met Mike.
I've got a crazy request. I'm looking for a dude who's happy to to spend the day with me, let me see their life, and also meet a guy on the exact opposite end of the financial spectrum. And I'm wondering whether you might be willing to let me into your life.
That sounds interesting. [snorts]
To my surprise, after a few back and forth, Mike said yes.
I guess why, you know, why let me into your life?
I'm looking at some perspective into, you know, how the other side of the world lives as well and see if I can make an impact and maybe help some people out at the same time.
We have a millionaire. Yes. All right, cool.
I didn't know much about Mike other than the fact that he was in the cannabis industry and he was worth a lot of money. But regardless, in one of the craziest changes of scenery I've ever experienced, I was off to a millionaire's mansion.
This is insane. Like, yeah. I spent the whole morning on the streets of kind of Scottsdale and Phoenix, like in a searing heat of people like struggling to make it through the day, and then now I'm in one of the most expensive neighborhoods, maybe in America. This is his.
Hello.
Hey Mike, I think I'm in the front of your place. It's a brown gate and a giant, like cream house that looks like a palace in Italy.
You're in the right place.
Hello Zeducation Landers, thank you so much for watching the video. If you can, please like it and subscribe to the channel. Everyone who's done that so far, massively, massively grateful 'cause it really helps us on the mission we have to tell truthful stories and try and bring some understanding to the world. If you can, also consider becoming a Zeducation Land member. Loads of people have done it now. It's a small amount of money each month, but it helps support films like this. Now back to the video.
Nice to see you. Give me a little tour. How much would you be talking for these bad boys?
That one's about $550,000. This one's about $350,000. Cannabis is one of my things. That I've always been an entrepreneur in real estate, flipping houses. I played around with crypto. It's a movie theater.
No way.
Electric chairs in here.
I'd get used to this.
Tell me, like, what was life growing up for you?
I got in some trouble as a kid. I got kicked out of high school. Parents sent me to a correctional facility when I was 17 years old.
Honestly?
In Utah, yeah. I escaped. I'm the only one in 38 years to ever successfully escape. We grew up pretty much middle class. You know, my family didn't have a lot of money.
Mhm.
You know, I always knew I wanted to be successful. I wanted, you know, more in life.
By all definitions, people watching this will think you've made it. How?
The reason I made it is because of my determination and my discipline to keep going. And I think that that applies to anybody in being an entrepreneur. I think you just have to have that mindset where you're never going to quit. I think it's just a mindset. And I don't like to fail. I don't like to lose. I mean, I think that's a quality that some people have and some people lack. And that's honestly probably what sets a lot of the people apart that are successful and that are not.
Can we see more of the house? What's in, what's in the fridge of a millionaire who's got it all?
These are all my peptides.
Oh, yeah. Peptides.
I got a ton of different peptides. I want to optimize myself. I think that's another big thing that goes into being successful. I have my my Oura Ring on. I have my Whoop on. I have a continuous blood sugar monitor here. I have a blood pressure monitor. My bed monitors my leg movements. I have my air quality monitored.
Do you have like a private chef?
I do, yeah.
You do, yeah.
Yeah.
Do you play the piano?
Uh, I don't. More for decoration.
I mean, you get to enjoy the finer things in life, for sure. Here's the sauna.
How could we not have a home gym?
I do on the other side. Steam room as well. I usually hop out of the sauna and I get in the steam for a second. Got a little guest wing.
How often have you got guests?
Uh, every now and then a buddy of mine's coming from Puerto Rico.
Why Puerto Rico?
Puerto Rico's got a very good tax, tax program. Tax program is very, very good out there.
The pool.
The pool, kids love it. It's a lot of fun. You don't get real big pools like this.
What's the hardest part about being rich?
The hardest part about being is trying not to get sued.
Yeah.
Have you been sued?
Oh, yeah, lots of times.
What do people sue you for?
I don't know. It's all kinds of different stuff. They'll, they'll find an excuse for anything. Any, any little thing they think they can sue you for, they'll try. People try to extort you a lot of times. Like, sometimes it's cheaper to pay someone $10, $20, $30,000 to go away than it is to spend $50, $60, $70,000 on an attorney defending yourself. A lot of people know that.
Have you ever lost massive amounts of money?
In a lawsuit, no. I usually win most of them. It's a lot of money. It's not cheap, but usually on the winning end.
What would you say your net worth is?
I don't have an exact number, but it's enough.
It was clear Mike didn't want to talk too much about his legal problems or his net worth. So, instead, we went inside and spoke to his mom.
Can we ask you about Mike?
He's amazing. He's amazing, my boy.
What would you say it is about your son, you know, that's led him to kind of be where he is right now?
If he falls down, he gets up and he goes again. Been doing that all his life now.
Why do you think some people can get back up after they've been knocked down and some people can't?
Because he's just never gives up. Never takes no for an answer and he just keeps going. I'm so proud of him. He's just very humble. He just does not brag about. You wouldn't even know he's where he is right now.
And this is like my fifth Lamborghini.
Really?
Yeah.
All right. Going to drive a Lamborghini.
Welcome to ZanLand, baby.
It was hard not to get swept up by Mike's expensive lifestyle and to forget how different the reality was just 15 minutes away.
So, I wanted to ask how he felt about people living on the opposite side of the financial spectrum.
Why do you think people end up on the streets?
Uh, it's, it's definitely just different mindset for sure. You have to have the will to want to make it. Some people just don't have that and they just think giving up is easier and they don't want to try. A lot of people are afraid of failing for sure. So, they just never try.
If you were to meet somebody on the street, what questions would you have for them?
Just how was their childhood growing up? And basically what have they tried and failed at? Have they even tried yet? What are their interests in life? What do they like doing? I mean, you could take that and figure out what they like to do, try to find a way to monetize it.
Are you coming across kind of people on the streets, homeless people?
As far as Arizona, not really and especially the areas that I frequent. I mean, there's, I don't really see a lot of people on the streets here.
Like, what do you think it'd be like to just sleep on the street for weeks on end?
Miserable, miserable. Like I don't know how that alone doesn't drive them to, you know, want to make a change. And it's doable. I mean, it's definitely doable. There's jobs, you can go mow lawns. I mean, you can, you can get a job. But like I said, there's a, there's a root problem that you got to fix before all that just falls into place.
[clears throat]
What do you think about the disparity in wealth between people?
I, I think it's all [ __ ]. I think everybody's had the same opportunity. But somebody who has like a regular 9-to-5 job and they're getting mad because I'm over here with with money, but I did a lot more work than they did to get where I'm at. I didn't just wait for it to be handed to me. Like sometimes people like that, they just don't want to do the work, but they think they should be just gifted everything. And I definitely don't believe in that. I don't, I don't believe in income inequality at all.
Do you ever have those conversations with people in real life? Like they say to you, "Hey, why have you got a Rolls-Royce?"
Try to stay away from those kind of people, honestly.
Mike clearly had some strong preconceptions about the mindset of someone living on the streets. He'd had a difficult upbringing himself, which seemed to inform a lot of how he saw all of this. And I was fascinated to know whether he'd still hold those views once he was sat in front of someone actually living that life. But before I brought them together, I wanted to step a bit further into Larry's world on the exact opposite end of all of this.
Yeah, it's not exactly where you'd expect to find a guy kind of living on the streets.
Staying on the patio of a sports bar.
Ben, how are you?
I'm good. Thank you so much for welcoming me back.
You're welcome. So, this is your setup?
This is it.
Do you give me a little, little walk around?
Despite living a short drive away from each other, Mike and Larry's worlds couldn't have been further apart. Mike lived in a million-dollar mansion, and Larry was sleeping on the patio of a sports bar that the owner had given him permission to stay at. So, where, where do you tend to sleep?
Here, I guess.
So, that, that's the bed?
That's the bed. And I [snorts] usually have the backpack for the pillow and that way, that way it's not only a pillow, I'm securing it with in the backpack.
What would you say, what would you say is the level of comfiness of that?
For me, it's about an eight.
Eight out of 10, okay.
Be- because.
It's better than the floor.
It's better than grass, it's better than mud, it's better having a roof over your head. Sleeping in grass, 99% of the time you're going to wake up with a thousand ants on you.
Yeah.
And maybe 3% of the time you're going to wake up with coyotes around you. All my family passed away now. They were all, all killed them when we were another out of eight kids. I was the only one with blonde hair, blue eyes. I was treated differently be- because of that. My, my father, my father was an alcoholic. Some really bad things, uh, was done to me.
[snorts]
What was the happiest time of your life?
I don't have happy times. I, I don't think that I, I think I have to earn my happiness. And the way I earn my happiness is by making other people laugh.
Mhm.
And when I make other people laugh, that makes me feel better. 'Cause, you know, there's, there's no better gift you can give to anybody than put a smile on their face.
Mhm.
I mean, have you ever gone to Walmart and seen people in line returning smiles? I don't think that happened.
Have you ever felt loved? Like?
You know, the funny thing is, like everyone here absolutely loves me from, from the owner down to the littlest busboy and.
Mhm.
I'm allowed on the patio anytime at, at all. The owner here actually said to me, "From now on, you get one meal a day." That's strange to me 'cause that, 'cause in my life that didn't happen. Pe- people didn't.
Didn't care.
Didn't care. When I met the owner, he was out here watering the plants. And I would w- reach in my pocket, I had $2. He, he threw down $50. He said, "I have to go right now, but if anyone ever says anything, tell them Al, the owner, says you can stay here."
What did it feel like to have someone kind of see you and and want to help you in that way?
I actually felt bad because I wanted to to give him the money because you feel like you're doing something.
What's most helpful for somebody in your position?
Sometimes a conversation. Sometimes being noticed. Sometimes not being invisible.
Mhm. Where would you place your happiness levels right now?
I'm not happy with my situation, but I'm comfortable with it 'cause if not, you'll, you'll just go crazy. You know, because the thing about about being homeless is once you get there, there's no getting out. There's very few people actually become homeless and then go back to being homed again.
I suppose there's a preconception amongst a lot of society that if you give a homeless person money, they'll spend that on drugs and they'll spend it on an addiction.
Right.
You know, what, what would you say to that idea?
I, I say that's true to, to some point, but you know, when I fly my signs because I need money to eat. I don't need money for drugs. I need.
Yeah.
Money to eat.
Well, what we're going to do today is we're going to bring this guy here. Um, I guess, what, what questions or do you have for him? What would you like to kind of say to someone like that?
Is he happy?
[snorts]
Or is he money happy?
I, I don't understand. If you, if you have all that money, what you really need it for? You know, just, you just buy more things and what does that do?
How much money would you be happy with? Like, what, what do you think is a comfortable level of wealth?
$3,000 a month. As, as long as I could pay the bills and and actually have a roof over my head, I, I could pay.
Would you be happy then?
I would be happy that the bills are paid. I'd be happy.
But it wouldn't solve everything. It wouldn't solve the history and pain.
No. Like, like I said, my happiness don't come from tangible things.
What do you think his biggest misconceptions of you will be? Or what, what are his preconceptions of homelessness do you think?
That that we don't want to work. That we, we, we're, we're, we're lazy, we're, we're on drug addicts and.
It was nearly time for Larry and Mike to meet at the sports bar, but there was one thing I wanted to do before I brought the two of them together. Because Larry's story actually had a happier side to it. The owner of the bar, Al, had given Larry permission to stay on his property. And he'd been making sure he ate every day. I wanted to know what led him to do such an act of kindness.
Hey Larry, how you doing?
This is Ben. Ben, this is Ben of the AA. He's the owner of the bar.
Ben, nice to know you.
I met Larry on the side of a road. Was struck by your story. He mentioned that he stayed on the porch of a kind of sports bar and that the kind of owners treated him with some incredible kindness and I just wanted to know why.
Everybody has a story. And very few of these people in my opinion, then I see a lot of them, are people that are lazy, that are drug addicts, that are worthless. It's usually people that fell through the cracks, got behind maybe in child support payments and payments or credit went bad. If, if, if a dog comes to you and a dog needs water, what are you going to do? You're going to give it a bowl of water. If a human being comes to you, you kind of treat them like, go, get away from here. You're lazy, you're worthless, you haven't showered, your clothes are ragged. You know, we treat them like you would a stray dog. Do you help? You know, how many billions of people in the world if, if half of us those billions woke up tomorrow and just said, "I'm going to help one person," how would that change the world? I'm just going to help one person. I can't help a hundred. You know, but I've, I've tried to do as little as I can with Larry, you know, give him some food, you know, give him a meal a day, give him a place to be safe at night. This is an honorable man.
I was struck by how much care Al was showing Larry. It clearly had made a huge difference. He was also being kind to us, letting us host our conversation in his bar. And very soon it was time. I got a call from Mike. This was the moment the whole thing had been building towards. So, I went outside to get him.
Yeah, [snorts] so, um, I mean, I'm a bit, I'm looking, I'm a little bit nervous, I guess. Uh, I don't really know. I actually have literally no idea how this is going to go. He's made it. How you doing?
Good. How are you?
Nice to meet you. Yeah. Let's do it. Let's do it. How you feeling?
Doing good.
Okay, here we go. Where's Larry? Larry!
I'm Larry.
Hi, Mike.
Mike.
Good to meet you, Mike.
How would you describe your life, I guess?
My, well, I'm basically, I'm basically I'm homeless. I've been spending.
[snorts]
3, 4 years, something like that. It's hard to keep track.
What led you down this road? Tell me a little bit about your life.
Well, I, I'm, I'm actually a disabled veteran. I get veteran's disability. And the VA put me in housing, and I was there 3 or 4 years. But then COVID hit, and the rent over doubled. It went from from $410 to $850. And I couldn't pay 85% of my income to rent. So, I, they gave me the 5-day notice, and I just, I've even looking at, I've been looking at rooms. Just, just a room. And it's $500 a month, which I could pay, but it's $600 security deposit.
[snorts]
Which I can't pay. You know, and it's, it's, but in intense, you just, at some point, you give up. The thing is, once you get out here, can't get back. And that's why I'm out here now and.
Have you tried to get a job anywhere?
I, I, I tried. I, I was in a Jeep accident when, when I was driving it. Part of my, my disability. I used to work as a local stagehand. It's, but my back still not, not 100% and that's, that's a lot of work. At some point, you try, you try, you try, you try, and you can [snorts] only hit your head against the wall so many times before you realize that it's no good.
Can't say that [snorts] I've been in the same situation as you have, but I've had a lot of failures in my life for sure. But I think that the difference is, is I just never let it get to me like that. I mean, there's times where I've wanted to give up for sure, but I just kept going and kept going and kept going, and eventually you're, you'll get out.
How do you think you would handle if you were homeless? How would you think you would handle that?
I don't think I would ever let myself get to that, that position. I think I would have.
People don't let themselves get to that position. It happens.
You do though. I mean, there's like certain decisions that you've made in life at some point that got you to where you're at, right? I think I would have made different decisions once I saw the road that I was going down.
But my decision was made. Someone else made it when they put me, when they put me in the, the month-to-month housing instead of stable housing.
Yeah, I mean, I'm sure it would be harder, but you're still alive. You still have these 24 hours in a day, the same 24 hours that I have. I mean, you, you wake up in the patio and then you got your day to go use. Sleeping in the patio is not comfortable, I'm sure, but you still have the day in front of you, the next day.
Like, but, but part of the part of that day, part of that day is looking for a place to shower, looking for a place to change your clothes, looking.
You seem to have that handled. You have the gym that you shower at.
Right. But that's something I worked out. Do, do you know?
That's the first, your first steps. That's the first step.
A lot of steps to, to go through to, to get, to get, and then.
Now you're there, so where do you go from here?
What do you think are some of the biggest misconceptions of people when they see unhoused individuals like yourself?
They, they, they think like, like he thinks you're not, you're not trying. I am trying and and.
No, I'm sure you're trying. I know it's hard. Listen, I've never been in your shoes, so I can't speak from your perspective for sure.
It, it's very difficult 'cause everything multiplies, at least to everything you do multiplies at least 10 times when, when you're homeless. You have to, you have to do things 10 times harder to get the same, to get the same results.
Results, yeah. No, I can see that 100%.
Being honest, what did you think you were coming into in terms of what he'd be like and?
I thought he was going to be a drug addict or something for sure. I thought he was going to say he was, you know, on drugs and stuff like that. That's how he became homeless.
What did you honestly think about he was going to be like before?
I, I, I thought that he would be some, some egotistical person that, that I'm better than you and I did this, this is a, you know, and that's not the case.
What is, what is happiness for both of you? Like, what, what do you think happiness is?
Uh, happiness for me honestly is probably family, I would say. I have to say family and friends for sure 'cause money, that, I mean, money doesn't buy that.
See, then that, and see, that's.
A lot of people, family is first, but when you don't have a family and you never understood the concept of family, you would, don't have that. Probably the last time I really felt happiness is the last time I ordered my books and I opened up the package and I seen my book right there, the book that I, I, I wrote. And if, if you have an email address, I could actually send you a PDF copy of it.
I'd like to see it for sure.
Do I have time to, to tell them one of the poems that's? This, this is the, the one that's most appropriate right now, I guess, would be, it's called Homeless. It goes, "Why do homeless people get high when they don't have the enough money to get by? Let me try to explain. They get high to help ease their pain. It also helps with the shame that they feel, which to them is all too real. You may think of them as a lazy slob, but being homeless is a full-time job. Some collect bottles and cans all night and day, then turn them in for their daily pay. As they hold their fly signs asking you, "Can you spare some change? Anything would do." They search all day for the perfect camp spot where the sprinklers don't come on and they get chased by a cop. And when they find that place, they lay and weep until they close their eyes and fall asleep. So, they get high to take them to another place where they're not."
[laughter]
In disgrace.
That was, that was beautiful.
All right.
That was beautiful. I think you got a real talent for poetry, for sure. Do you have a cell phone?
Yes, it does. Does it have Sky internet access?
Yes, it does.
Why don't you start a YouTube channel?
I actually have one for my poetry, but it don't get that.
You need to stay consistent with it. I think you should do a documentary on your life, and that's going to bring you more money than you can imagine on YouTube.
A lot of that is word of mouth.
No, no, no. You got the internet access right there. You have access to the whole world with that one device in your hand, and there's a lot of things there from your point of view that people don't know we'd find very interesting.
When you fly signs and people, people give you food, you know, people wonder why I throw that away. Because some people don't like homeless people. I have had friends that, that they put some kind of poison or some people put drugs in the food.
This is, this is exactly. This is another thing I, I never knew, and I think a lot of people would find very interesting.
Just to state the obvious here, a YouTube channel was not going to solve all of Larry's problems or homelessness, but it seemed like maybe this was Mike's way of trying to help. And a few minutes later, without us having any part in it, Mike decided to do something else.
I got something for Larry right now. I don't know how much this will help you, but a thousand bucks for you.
For what it's worth.
Yeah, take it, buddy.
You don't want it?
Yeah, you got to take it. It's going to help you. It's going to help you a little bit. It's not much, but. That's it. It's yours. It's yours, Larry. You got to take it. I want you to put a deposit on a room.
No. Okay.
You're going to take it. I'm leaving it here. You have got no choice, Larry.
I got this for you.
No, no, no, no, no. Send me the PDF. Send me the PDF for your book.
No, no, no, no, no. See, why won't you take it?
What, what, what good is money if you just keep it all to yourself?
I wasn't really sure how to feel about all this. Larry was clearly hesitant to accept Mike's money, but if he took it, that level of cash could pay for the down payment of an apartment.
Take it, Larry, and go get your place. Larry, take it. It was very nice to meet you. I wish you the best of luck. I'll be here for a while.
Touch. I would like to.
Yeah, he'll give you all my information.
I wanted to know how each of them felt about what had just happened. So, I took them each aside.
We are now sitting in your bed.
Yes.
Maybe it's no longer your bed.
Maybe not. And Mike explained. I, I think he said $800 would, would, would move me into a room.
So, that was a room in someone's house.
Yeah, which is, it's all I, it's all I need right now. Just out, out of this heat is.
Well, that, well, that gives you like a shower and stuff like that.
And running water, so you don't need to worry about water.
Right, right. Did he say anything that you kind of deeply disagreed with?
That he, he, he has the misconception that it's, if you keep going, you can, it's going to happen, but he don't understand that when there's so many barriers to, to, to get into that first step that it's, it's discouraging. He knows English, but he don't know homeless. He don't know how to translate the two.
What an absolutely insane experience.
Yeah. That was crazy.
Did it change any kind of opinion you might have before, any preconception?
I think it's, it's a lot easier said than done, you know, when other people talk to homeless people and they say, "Why don't they just go get a job?" You know, talking to him right now, kind of, you kind of see where his head is at, like, you know, it's not as easy as just getting a job, clearly to him, like there's a lot of hurdles that he has to overcome before he can just get a job, you know.
And before they headed off, Larry had one last request.
Be okay with you?
Would be a blessing.
To ride in the Rolls-Royce. Obviously, we hadn't solved anything here, but I had learned a lot just from listening to these two guys talk.
Thank you so much.
Yeah, thank you.
And I will be in touch.
He, Ben, and Ben is Larry. You asked me to make a video to update the status. Very, very shortly after receiving that money, I found a room to rent. I'm in that room now. I spend most of my day here. I spend most of my day sleeping, trying to make up for the years I couldn't sleep at night. My room is not much. It's just that four walls and a door, but I'm doing well. I hope you're doing well.
If this was useful to you and you want to support Larry's poetry, you can buy his book by clicking the link that we've put in the description.
Against all the odds, we managed to bring together two people who literally would never have had a conversation. If you want to kind of support the work we do, please like, subscribe. Please consider becoming a Zondal member. Okay, bye-bye.