I recently saw a beggar, nothing unusual about that you would think, we have all encountered them haven't we? You are almost used to seeing them in major city centres, railway stations, tourist areas etc. I myself have blanked them in Paris, Barcelona , London , Widnes and dozens of other locations. These people are mainly viewed as 'wasters' , 'lowlives' even vermin by the comfortable majority. They are a million miles away from the world that 'I' live in. Or are they? What was so unusual about my encounter with the beggar I most recently met was he was sat outside the local convenience store in my own middle class neighbourhood. I'm on the way to spend a tenner on our chippy tea and this bloke is sat on a blanket asking for 20 pence. I gave him the 20 p , "thanks mate " he said, "no problem" I replied, and off I went. What did he do with the money he collected? Your guess is as good as mine.
The main thing about this beggar is that he was similar age to myself. What had happened to him in his life for him to end up like this? Is he a dad? Is he a husband? Something has gone tragically wrong for him to end up in this position. Was it unemployment, debt, broken relationship, illness, addiction? Who knows? One thing though , these are situations that can hit any of us . It is a fragile line between success and failure, having and not having. It beggars belief that these people are not a million miles away from our lives and we are not far from theirs.
Blagmiester must reavulate his opinion and approach to these people.
Sunday 4 February 2007
Beggars Belief
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1 comment:
I, too have been guilty of ignoring people. Not because I don't care, but because I feel too helpless to make any real difference. And also, I always feel I need money myself! But lately, I've bought the odd cup of tea for a couple of local Big Issue sellers on the coldest of North East days and it has been gratefully received, much to my surprise! I suppose that even if you are in debt and can't really by a Big Issue lest you go hungry yourself, just acknowledging them as people with the same urge for a cuppa as the next person is enough. I guess we forget they are people and treat them as invisible.
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