Choose’s #5
By Frona Parrish and Gagan Dhiman
Choose’s #5 is a convenient store situated on the corner of East Broad St. and Oglethorpe Blvd. Upon first glance, you might feel like the men outside are just lurking there and the bars on the windows may feel ominous, but we chose this place in order to understand and become closer to community. We first spoke with a woman who works there, Jessica Germaine who is an accomplished local author and is fondly referred to as “Sis” by neighbors and customers. Jessica has worked there for three months and says, “everyone treats you like family.” She told us she was nervous at first that there might be a lot of crime, but has never encountered anything more harmful than children walking out with some candy. We were told from several sources that everyone loves the owner, Kevin, because he is fair to everyone. There is a system of trust built up from the community and the store. If you can’t always afford something, sometimes Kevin will put things on a credit and sure enough if they can’t pay they’ll come back and pay the next day. Jessica said if there were to be any crime it would be from someone who wasn't from around here because no one would steal from Kevin.
The majority of people who frequent the store are homeless. They come by to buy their beer or cigarettes and leave, but return a few hours later with some more change to buy their next beer. Tourists sometimes wander in not knowing where they are and are pointed in the right direction back toward the sights downtown.
The store is popular not only for the service, according Mr. Jessy Black the community needs the store because the location allows the people to travel shorter distances for the things they need and the prices are affordable despite being in the Historic District. If they didn’t have the store they would have to travel about three miles to Kroger or go to 3G’s convenient store off Wheaton St, but Choose’s is preferable because Kevin is Mr. Black’s friend and he takes a chance keeping the prices low to facilitate the community. Kevin also gives some of the homeless work if they cannot afford to pay for something as an alternative to credit, allowing them to work for what they want or need.
When we asked about the neighborhood, Mr. Black said, “it had been better thirty years ago because now it is full of strangers and you have to be careful of liars and con artists… flim flammin’ con artists”. But most of the people who live in the projects or the shelter across the street aren’t from Savannah and they don’t know the city, because they are too busy making assumptions. Others are people who are doing the wrong thing at the wrong time for the sake of survival and they get into trouble. Mr. Black was the first to mention trouble and how it’s the new people making trouble, stating you just have to stay away from certain kinds of people and the kinds of activities they participate in.
In contrast we also spoke to a man, Herbert Anthony Williams from Charleston, SC who has been homeless living in the shelter in Savannah for eight months since his grandmother died. Herbert is a Veteran who served in the U.S Army as a cook for nearly twelve years. He was very close to his grandmother and after his grandmother got really sick, Herbert quit his job to take care of her. After his grandmother passed away Herbert left everything in Charleston and moved in with his daughter in Columbia, SC for a while. However when that didn’t work out for long, Veterans Affairs (VA) referred him to Savannah shelters. Being in Savannah and homeless for the first time, Herbert believes that if his grandmother were alive, he would not be homeless. Herbert didn’t have much input or opinion of Savannah. In Herbert’s situation he is dependant more on the VA than the community, but mentions that the homeless people in Savannah never go hungry and are very well taken care of. Herbert sleeps in a shelter on E. Broad St. and Presidents that opens at 7 pm and remains available until 6 am the next day and everyone has to leave during the day. Herbert spends much of his time seeing sights, the library, and frequenting Choose’s #5. When we asked what he thought of the store he replied Kevin treats everyone fairly and has nothing bad to say about the place. We thought it was interesting that he automatically seemed to assume that we might think negatively of the store, but we also attribute it to a truth from Mr. Black, he is a new comer to Savannah and doesn’t know what it’s all about outside his limited perspective.
As you can see, although Choose’s #5 may look like a host to society’s most frightening, it is actually a place that brings the community together.
