Robert Bunkley's an avid reader, well liked by his friends and plays a mean piano.

He's also homeless, spending his days lining up odd jobs here and there, finding spots to beat the sweltering Upstate summer heat and looking for places to stay at night.

At the Spartanburg Soup Kitchen last week, Bunkley talked about the struggles of men and women on the street and why it's best to just blend in with the crowd.

"Out here in the streets, if you want to do something and come up, you've got to put forth the effort," Bunkley said. "Sometimes that's hard, because nobody is going to look after you."

Bunkley said he never intended to spend his golden years without a place to live, but that's how circumstances played out.

He said he showed up some two decades ago looking for work and a place to stay. He "lucked out" after finding a small apartment above an office that would rent to him for a portion of his fixed income.

It wasn't much, but it was a steady roof over his head, Bunkley said.

"There also wasn't a lot left over at the end of the month, either," Bunkley said. "So when I had a kind of falling out with management, things kind of fell out the bottom. But that's how it happened for me."

Since then he said he's earned cash by doing things like yard work and playing piano for anybody who appreciates a good tune. The latter skills might earn him $40 or $50 on some Sundays, money he said he tries to stretch as much as possible.

He beats the heat by finding shade and by spending his days and evenings at the Spartanburg County Headquarters Library. It's air-conditioned, and it's downtown, and by the time it closes at 9 p.m., there's a good chance he might have lined up a place to sleep for the night.

"Honestly, it's touch and go," Bunkley said. "I have a lot of friends around, and a lot of folks I've met through playing at churches. I'll show up at night and sometimes have to hang around on the porch for a bit until they get there. I'll freshen up and try to rest a bit and then move on. You don't want to wear out your welcome."

The goal, he said, is to never appear to be homeless.

"The average person prejudges you and that's it," Bunkley said. "It closes doors right there. You feel like they don't really want you around."

That's why he said he washes his clothes when he can, sometimes in little creeks, hanging them out to dry on bushes. Even if they're the same clothes he wore the day before, Bunkley said he wants them to be clean.

"You're doing everything you can to not make people feel uncomfortable," Bunkley said. "They worry about you stealing something or hurting somebody or whatever. So you try to just blend in when you're downtown."

Still, he said he understands the average person's reluctance to help or engage with homeless people.

"Some people can't help it, they've got mental stuff going on," Bunkley said. "But there's also plenty with habits. They can't take care of those habits living at home, but they can do that on the street. That's not everybody, though."

He's optimistic about his own situation and about Spartanburg.

"It's not what you'd call easy," Bunkley said. "But you just take it each day. Places like the Soup Kitchen are a lifesaver. And if you've got somebody who needs a little help, don't be afraid to point them in the right direction."