Earlier this month, Alan stood at his usual post on a median on Missouri Avenue, surrounded by the chaotic rhythm of the busy intersection. He handed water bottles to drivers, receiving — but never asking for — a few crumpled dollars in return. But it was not a usual day, as the city-owned trucks that rolled into the nearby gas station parking lot reminded him. He had to move.
Alan, who goes only by his first name to protect his privacy, is the founder of Alan’s Oasis, a “hydration supplementation station location” that operates at the Brightwood intersection. For 12 hours a day, Alan “passive-aggressively panhandles,” as he calls it, pacing up and down the intersection, stopping to tell a repeat customer a joke or inform someone their headlight is out. Once or twice an hour, he’ll receive $20. Every now and then, he gives out a miracle bottle — $100 in exchange for one bottle of water.
His business model, giving away water to people driving by instead of selling it, has made him a local celebrity. Alan’s “a fixture” in the neighborhood, A’Lexa Hawkins, one resident, said. Reddit threads describe him as a “kind man” and a “great guy.” One post calls his oasis “one of my favorite sites in D.C.”…