LOCAL FEATURE CREDIT: GILES CLASEN He collects disability and has stable housing. But sometimes, money is hard to come by, and his disability payments only go so far. The extra income he earns helps pay the bills. Torres is known to travel 50 blocks a day or more in his scooter, zigzagging through alleys and residential streets. “I charge my scooter and I go,” Torres said. “Just because I’m disabled doesn’t mean I’m going to stop. Losing my leg won’t stop me.” Torres said a lot of people go through depression when they lose a limb or face other serious medical issues. While Torres is upbeat, he acknowledges that he also suffers from depression but says he works hard to fight it and live as normal a life as possible. Torres has the support of his girlfriend, which has been monumental for him. “Sometimes I get down a little bit. But she says, ‘It doesn’t matter, babe. I still love you,’” Torres said with a smile. Torres strives to be the first to find items he believes are worth selling, even though someone else cast them aside. “I’ve got four mortal enemies,” Torres said. “The trash man, skunks, raccoons, and the pawn shop. The trash man’s doing his job, so you let that go. The skunk and raccoon — they don’t know any better. But the pawn shop... they’re thieves. They want to give you nothing in exchange for gold. Pawn shops steal from me, so I only have hate for them.” (And yes, Torres has been sprayed by skunks while working.) When he comes across certain items, Torres sees them as small kindnesses that brighten his day. For example, he came across a TV placed gently against a trash can — as though it had been left there just for him. Torres looked the TV over and noticed a scratch on the surface of the screen, but there was no other damage. He was confident he could CREDIT: GILES CLASEN CREDIT: GILES CLASEN buff out the scratch and make the TV as good as new. He then put the remote control in his chair’s storage and lifted the TV to his lap. With the shopping cart full, Torres flicked his chair’s joystick and motored forward, faster than any jogger or a Lime scooter could keep up with. Then, he proceeded to another neighborhood, another set of alleys to patrol, certain he could fit more in the shopping cart before he headed home. ■ September 2022 DENVER VOICE 7
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