On March 11, 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 rolling into the nearby gas station parking lot reminded him. He had to move.
Alan 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 about Alan’s Oasis describe him as a “kind man” and a “great guy.” One post calls his oasis “one of my favorite sites in D.C.”…