I’m on the overground, doing the usual: minding my own business, reading a comic (Superman since you ask, even though I HATE HIM!) not letting kids sit down (because when did adults start doing that anyway?) like I say, the usual and then a guy gets on and starts begging. Straight away he says he’s not begging, that he’s going to recite some poetry and afterwards if anyone’s got any change he’ll happily take it as ‘it’s nice to be nice’. And firstly Shakespeare he’s not, I’ve heard better poems, in fact I’ve rarely heard worse and whether he admits it or not, he’s begging. So then we all do that thing we do, look down at our feet, up at the sky, anything except give him eye contact because then he might come over and we wouldn’t want that. For the record, tube me is totally different to day to day me. Street me would never walk past a homeless person without acknowledging them. I’m sure they spend most of their time being made to feel invisible and that bit of human interaction might count for something. I usually get a thank you just for that, even though I never give money on principle. For me, whatever the issue homeless people are facing (obviously homelessness being one but also potentially drug dependency, mental illness…) begging isn’t the answer but the more money we give the more they’ll be delayed from finding real, meaningful, long lasting solutions to the problems so I never give and maybe never will.
On a tube, I find begging much more invasive, we’re like trapped animals. We can’t just do a Dionne Warwick (walk on by). I don’t like it and looking at the other people on there, they weren’t too happy either, free poetry recital or not but I’d still defend his right to do it, regardless of the legality and how uncomfortable it might make us feel. Then he starts to really start pressuring a guy for money, and ceased by the spirit of Superman I decide I’m not having it. I get up, tell him, if he wants to beg, beg but I’m not going to sit and watch him bully someone and we go back and forth and back and forth and I get into, ‘there must be a better way, this isn’t the answer’ and he says ‘ok then what is?’, and I’m speechless because I have no idea but as a society we have to find one. So I’m asking everyone, anyone what is the answer? Is anything working because I’m seeing more people begging not less.
So he walks down the carriage and at the next stop, I kid you not, a homeless woman gets on and starts begging and I want to tell her she couldn’t have picked a worse time or place if she’d tried but I’ve done my superhero bit for the day. I sit back down and read my comic before some kid nicks my seat.
Random musings on life 