Jimmy Wayne Isn’t Letting a Negative Column Drag Him Down

Posted by Irene Lee on 02/12/2010
Keywords:
Jimmy-Wayne
Jimmy Wayne won’t let negative press get him down.
 
James King, a writer for The Phoenix New Times, pointed out in a column that Wayne’s "Meet Me Halfway" walk from Nashville to Arizona, meant to raise awareness for homeless teens, is not exactly emulating homelessness. 
 
Wayne started the walk on New Year’s Day to bring awareness to the way the foster-care system leaves kids on the streets without the ability to take care of themselves. He noted that in doing the walk, people might be able to experience vicariously through him the misfortune of being out in the wild fending for food and shelter.
 
Wayne has received much help throughout his journey, which currently has covered more than 470 miles. People have given him supplies, coffee and food, and a vehicle was recently donated to follow him. Wayne has been able to sleep inside the vehicle on some frigid nights instead of in the tent he usually uses. The 50 lb. backpack he was carrying is now in the vehicle, and he is getting help from a medical expert for a knee problem that has developed in his walk.
In a blog posted Monday with a headline that said “Jimmy Wayne Chickens Out,” King said that taking that kind of aid made Wayne’s “self-promoted, common street-kid image a bit lame.”
 
King’s blog generated a huge volume of negative feedback – so much that he decided to write another column in which he said he needed to “um, apologize.” In the column, he referred to Wayne’s knee problems as a “boo-boo” and his fans as “sycophants.”
 
Indeed, the walk does not quite resemble the homelessness Wayne had said he would be experiencing. He has modest assistance, and his managers practically forced him to get a hotel room during one snowstorm. Additionally, Dierks Bentley’s road manager kept him updated on the Super Bowl by texting him play-by-play results.
 
But Wayne said actually being homeless wasn't the point of his journey. Wayne recognized the very day he announced his plans that they were flexible.
 
“I’m sure it’s probably gonna change along the way,” he said. “What we hope to do is generate that awareness, get the word out. I hope that people get involved. I hope that media comes out. I’m inviting everybody to come out, because that’s what this is for is to generate awareness. That’s how you do it, awareness. It’s very powerful, and we hope to get it out there.”
 
Awareness is what he is getting. More than 11,000 people are now following his tweets, and Wayne is using them to call attention to stories about foster kids who are mistreated by the system.
 
For his part, Wayne isn’t going to let King’s column bring him down.
 
“I don’t solicit help,” he wrote in one series of tweets. “However, if someone offers me a cup of coffee, I take it… If someone offers to carry the bag, they can… If a company offers support & a RV that doesn’t have heat; I’ll sleep in it when they offer it that night… My goal and promise was to walk and share the stories of generosity the Americans bestow along the way during this journey.”
 

Source: GACtv.com