Appearance is very important. You must look presentable in our society. You must be able to appear well and clean. Whether you drink too much, have bad teeth, or have only the clothes on your back, you must find a WAY. We are here to show you how to do this.
1. Shower as much as possible. This means finding a shower. And if there are showers at a homeless shelter, use them each time you are there. Use any kind of soap. It does not matter right now. They are all the same, when you smell. In our American society, your smell is so important, because it disgusts all people who smell things like bad breath or shit or arm pit sweat. People will ignore you simply based on the way you smell.
2. Rather than brush your teeth for now, try mouth wash. This will work for a while.
3. Cut your hair. If you are a man, long hair is unattractive, but, more so, when you have long dirty hair, people are suspicious. They think or believe you are homeless and you will only ask for money to buy alcohol or drugs. Short trimmed and clean hair is the first thing they will see.
4. If you are a woman, long hair must be kept clean. Try to have a stylist cut your hair. You can go to many barbers and stylists, but few will be cheap. We suggest finding the cheapest barber or stylist you can find. Begging for money one day or having just enough money to get a good hair cut once a month will go far, go farther than one hamburger.
5. Like long hair, men, try to shave your beard. Find a razor somewhere and shave as much as possible.
Appearance is so important that it can mean the difference between begging and getting money and begging and not getting money. People are less afraid of you and do not believe you need food, shelter, and a job. People will kindly help someone who looks clean and presentable. They won't know how awful you have it.
6. We suggest you eventually get suit pants, a white collared shirt, and a tie. And, for women, a dark colored shirt and skirt. Or you get a dress. These things can be found at Goodwill or other thrift stores. You can buy all these things for under $20. We know $20 is a lot of money, but if you can somehow buy these clothes and stay clean, you will not appear scary or ugly or suspicious to people. They will not know. They will only believe what they see.
