Thursday, April 26th, 2007
- A man and his little black dog are walking down the road. The man is holding one of those plastic cones which vets use to stop dogs from scratching themselves. The man pauses and bends down to stroke the dog. The dog wags its tail in delight. They continue on their way.
- A couple holding hands.
- Two men busking on my morning train. They are playing a recorder and an accordian.
- A drop of precipitation touches my face. I wipe it away.
- The slumped posture of a young beggar woman. She has covered her hair with a dark blue bandana. She approaches me with an outstretched hand. Her eyes do not meet mine. She moves on to another person, then eventually returns to me as I wait for my bus home. My hard London heart ignores her outwardly.
Written by PJ | Posted in Uncategorized
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I am the happiest on my own…food and tv and peace………R 30;…au revoir
Ello, I am pretty much a recluse so my horrible girlfriend keeps telling me. She thinks it is pretty...
10:18 pm on 26-Apr-07
Yeah I got that same London heart, it’s cuz we’re SO SURE they’re gonna spend it on drugs.
10:29 pm on 26-Apr-07
There wasn’t any obvious reason to give her any of my hard-earned. She was young, looked healthy and had nice shoes. She didn’t even have a baby strapped to her torso like they usually do, it was just like, “give me your money, just cos I can’t be bothered to earn some myself.” Even if she was an illegal immigrant there are always ways of making money apart from begging.
9:25 am on 27-Apr-07
Must be something in the air! This is the third post I’ve seen this week that mentions beggars (Cat and Political Umpire being the other 2 who’ve blogged about it).
As much as sometimes I want to give, something stops me.
I suppose that once they have whatever change I’ve spared, it’s theirs to do with as they please, but part of me doesn’t want to be an ‘enabler’ if they are going to spend the money on the next hit.
The young, healthy ones make me think: why don’t you do something, find another way of earning a living? One answer is this: if what I’ve read lately is true, beggars in London take home, on average, about £250 a day. No pimp to hand the money to, no overheads, no tax; no wonder we’re so cynical.
That said, we know there are those who are on the streets because being at home is less dangerous. Then there are opportunistic people who prey on those of us who are still sympathetic. Trouble is, we can’t always tell who’s who.
*gets off soapbox*
Nice observations, by the way. That’s inspired me…
11:34 am on 27-Apr-07
I love your writing style! Keep writing.
7:39 pm on 29-Apr-07
Thanks guys!
CB: I’ve heard similar stories of people making loads by begging, then slinking off after their shift to drive home in a flash car…