Austin is known for a lot of different things, especially ones that add to the whole “Keep Austin Weird” slogan set up and adopted by local eateries and stores. Central Austin is where the campus is located, as well as the main strip of the street called Guadalupe. The locals know the strip that runs along the edge of the University of Texas at Austin as “The Drag.
The drag is a strip of stores and restaurants that consistently struggle to cater to the 18-24 year old age crowd, and businesses are frequently replaced along the strip.
Around these shops you can see, at nearly any time of the day or any time of the year, a very distinct group of homeless people. Despite being homeless, they all have somehow managed to develop a sort of style that they all adopt. It consists of black or dirty dark clothing that has a sort of old western appeal/steam punk sort of flair to it. They have a lot of accessories like bandanas and what not, and the style is very consistent throughout their framework.
Who are these people? Where do they come from? Why do they constantly hang out on the drag?
These supposedly “homeless” people are what Austin locals call the drag rats. They will bother you for money, and flaunt that they are using the money for drugs and alcohol. They are frequently drunk, or inebriated in some form, in public. I have seen a lot of arrests on the drag involving these people. Almost all of them enjoy being completely rude to you, weather you give them money or not. I have been called a slew of different foul names, as well as being physically harassed.
The drag rats are an interesting subculture, almost like a cross between punks, vagabonds, and anarchists.
Drag rats even have a very distinct smell; sort of like a musky must that you would smell on a hippie mixed with a smell of not taking a shower for a month.
I have also questioned the true nature of these people’s homelessness. They use ploys to gain money. They all have animals, ones that are very purebred and expensive. They seem to use these cute animals to get people to give them money more frequently, or in larger numbers.
I have also witnessed a group of drag rats getting into a car and driving away.
Why do these people live like this?
There have been a lot of different reasons for different people becoming drag rats, each having their own tale. One girl I spoke to told me that she was addicted to heroin so her parents kicked her out of the house. She had been living off dumpster food from behind Taco Cabana, and had been raped. She was only twenty-four years old.
Another I spoke to told me that he came from North Carolina. He had heard that Austin was “relaxed and the people were chill” so he made his way down to Austin by hopping trains.
One of my friends goes to the University of Texas at Austin with me, and began to integrate with these people. She slowly acquired more and more homemade tattoos. She frequented her time with drag rats, and even acquired their smell. When she walks down the drag now, drag rats do not yell at her, they follow.
One of my friends has become a sort of queen amongst these people. She isn’t homeless, but she has the attitude, charisma, and strange personality to be able to integrate herself into their subculture.
Yesterday we were driving with her, and we saw two homeless men fighting outside of the corner store outside of my house.
“I wonder what they are doing,” I questioned.
“I know those guys, I was just drinking with them!” She replied.
It was completely strange to me that my friend would choose to be amongst these people. I asked her why she was so intrigued with their lifestyle.
“You know it isn’t really the fact that they are homeless, or that they are free, it is more so that they travel and have stories,” she said.
I realized that she was right; these people do have stories.
They have come to Austin from all over the country, just to live amongst a place that they consider to be friendly and chill.
But why do they choose to taunt the locals, and treat them terribly? If they expect the locals to be so friendly, why do they act so negatively upon them? Maybe it is frustration. I can only imagine the frustration of trying to get money for drugs and alcohol from college students. They certainly would much rather spend the money on themselves. Most don’t even have money to spare.
Some say that the drag rats add to the charm of the city, providing just another scene in the midst of the day. Others say that the drag rats are incredibly annoying, constantly fishing for change. Drag rats have never harmed me. I have been pestered, annoyed, and harassed by them. As my friend slowly integrates herself into their group, I wonder how many of them are actually homeless.
I feel as though many of them choose this life, as many are extremely young and full of energy. Most are between 20 and 35 years old. It seems trivial as to why a person would choose a life of a homeless person, but only if you think skin deep.
These people have the ability to travel, and leave whenever they want. They are completely free of responsibility. They can also make friends along the way of their travels.
Weather or not they are an absolute positive or negative addition to the city; they are here to stay for the time being. They are making themselves known through their inspirational graffiti. If you see “dream” or “math” spray painted on any dumpster or wall, you know who put it there. It was the sub culture of homeless people known as the drag rats.
