A few days ago I walked up to our local shop ( all of five minutes away ),it was a lovely sunny evening and just as I reached the shop a woman of about forty stopped me and asked if I had any change, I said no and joined the back of the queue, soon there were other people behind me and the woman kept asking various people if they had change. An older man ventured to ask her what sort of change she wanted and began to dig in his pocket and peer at his coins,' any change you can spare me', she said very politely. With that the man put the money back in his pocket and ignored the woman. Eventually, I emerged from the shop only to find the woman had now been joined by two of her cronies who looked to me like hard faced madams' with too few clothes and way too much makeup on, all three were stopping passers by and requesting change, when they got some they were polite but when refused they resorted to foul language and insults. I felt intimidated by them and so walked home the long way round so I didn't have to pass them. Cowardly I know.
Half way home I realised I had met the first woman a year or so before, I had just got off the bus and she stopped me and tearfully told me her purse had been stolen and she needed 70 pence to be able to get home............what did I do? Gave her 70p as I believed her and thought she was genuine.
Remembering this incident made my blood boil, I was just relieved I hadn't parted with any money. But what I should have done or at least wished I had had the guts to do, was tell the woman to get off her considerable arse and go out and get a job so she didn't have to stop people for'change'.
Trouble is there are 'beggars and 'beggars. There used to be a lovely man who sat on the pavement in the summer and as you went by he would chat about this and that but never asked for money, one day I saw someone give him some change so, now and again, I would get into a conversation with him and pass over a 50p. I gave it to him because I wanted to and I hadn't been intimidated by him and 'no' I didn't give a damn about what he was going to use it for!
Some people consider buskers as beggars I don't. I think it takes a lot of guts to stand in some grotty underpass or street corner playing a guitar, banjo, or violin. We are fortunate to have a Chinese man who plays the violin beautifully in our local precinct and for icing on cake he even wears full evening gear, I always put money in his violin case and am delighted to do so. Come to think of it, banjo man is very good too and well worth some small change!
Of course we should all be able to traverse the streets without being stopped by beggars especially aggressive ones, but I have noticed buskers being moved on by the Police probably because they are easy prey due to performing in one place, wheras these other pesky ones can shoot off down a side street or back alley at the first sign of the Law. I remember once being shocked to the core in Glasgow. I saw a poor old man, clearly blind as he was holding a white stick and had a little dog with him, I gave him some change and walked away. A few moments later he dashed past me folding up his white stick as he went and looking behind him to make sure the Police hadn't spotted him!
Naive or what!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Beggers make me feel very uncomfortable too. I just don't give money to any of them. It often makes me feel very guilty but, as you say, there's no way of telling the genuine from the fake. And at the end of the day, I work hard for my money.
ReplyDeleteI always give money to a good busker though. I think that is completely different to begging and the police really need to refocus their energy onto beggers like the ones you encountered today. When they're making local residents feel so uncomfortable they can't walk home, something needs to be done and I'm sure you weren't the only one to feel this way.