Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 288

"I thought I was lying to protect them. I pretended everything...

"I thought I was lying to protect them. I pretended everything was fine because I didn’t want them to worry about anything. My favorite thing to say was ‘I got it.’ That was my answer for everything. If my wife asked if we had money for rent, I’d just say: ‘I got it.’ But I was just pushing my problems to the side and giving them a temporary smile. Eventually all the problems came to light. And on top of all of them, there was the additional problem of the lies I’d been telling."

“I’m a neuro-nurse, so I work with patients who have brain...

“I’m a neuro-nurse, so I work with patients who have brain injuries, or conditions like Lupus or Parkinson’s. A lot of the patients I work with are at the lowest point of their lives, so they can react by being angry or abusive. It’s tough to absorb that energy all day long and not bring it home with you. I always try to jump on their lily pad so that I can empathize with them. But at the end of every day, I’ve got to make sure that I jump back off.”

“I’m just trying to make sure that my son is a better me. I got...

“I’m just trying to make sure that my son is a better me. I got on the right track late. I had my son when I was eighteen. I was constantly running away from my responsibilities. When I was twenty-one, I left one morning to go to the store, got arrested for possession, and didn’t come back for eight months. When I came back, everything was out of whack. We were behind on the bills. We were almost evicted. My son was acting out in school. It shocked me into doing the right thing. I got a job in construction and started going to school. Now I work in IT. Recently, I had a conference with my son’s teachers. They told me that his problems were talking with friends and not paying attention. I actually laughed. I couldn’t believe those counted as problems. When I was his age, my problems were food and shelter.”

I posted a portrait of Ramon on Christmas Day. In the caption,...

I posted a portrait of Ramon on Christmas Day. In the caption, Ramon explained the difficulties of being homeless and disabled. He had been living at a shelter for several months— a tough situation made even tougher by his lack of mobility. Everyone was quite moved by his story, and seeing that it was Christmas and all, we launched a holiday fundraiser to get Ramon out of the shelter and into an apartment. But after three minutes, Ramon texted me, and said: “Thank you so much, really, but I feel that there are other people who need the money more, so I’d like to figure things out on my own.” Given Ramon’s situation, it was a pretty heroic display of self-reliance. 

Yesterday I brought Ramon the $800 that had been raised in the first few minutes of the fundraiser, which he graciously agreed to accept so that he could buy a bed. And he very happily reported that he was now out of the shelter, and had found an affordable place in Brooklyn to share with his three brothers, one of whom is pictured here.

"My favorite thing about my sister is because she’s...

"My favorite thing about my sister is because she’s funny."

"I want to be in action movies. I want to kick a lot of ass. But...

"I want to be in action movies. I want to kick a lot of ass. But not in an overly sexualized way."

"I am so much better than I am right now."

"I am so much better than I am right now."

"When I left Africa, a witch doctor promised that she was going...

"When I left Africa, a witch doctor promised that she was going to kill me with voodoo. Two years later, I suddenly had a horrible migraine. But Jesus saved me. I’ve almost completely recovered from the surgery."

"My wife has been teaching me to express my emotions....

"My wife has been teaching me to express my emotions. She’s even got me being romantic. We walk to the park. We lay down a little blanket. We make a little picnic. We have a little chit chat."

“I was a British Marine Commando for eighteen years. I served in...

“I was a British Marine Commando for eighteen years. I served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Sierra Leone. But I never enjoyed it. I just enjoyed the respect that it gave me. The whole time I was just pretending to be a soldier. The problem is that I was good at it, and it’s extremely hard to walk away from something that you’re good at. Ironically, the military life is incredibly secure. Every one of your needs is taken care of—finances, medical, structure. I never had the courage to leave that bubble. Even though I was known for being physically courageous, I was a coward about pursuing the life I really wanted. But I finally did it. I spent the last two years in acting school. I’m gonna be a movie star, mate.”