Resistance is Phutile

Smarter than your average tramp.

It always strikes me as odd when I see homeless people sitting beside cash machines. I mean, you can see the logic, sure, but do they not notice their upside-down hats always seem depressingly empty? If the whole idea is to attack the unsuspecting passerby's conscience, and beat the guilt out of them until they capitulate (which it is), then why provide such an easy escape route, I wonder. Any idiot can think quick enough to blurt out "sorry - no change" whilst snatching a wad of notes from the machine and rushing off.

It's not that it should be this hard for a person in need to acquire 20p from a person with a wallet full of £20 notes. But the world is full of people who need help, choc-a-bloc with them. Why should I give you any money, the busy bank manager wonders, when you'll only go and spend it on drugs and besides, there are people starving in Africa with much less than you.

(Must get round to donating a few quid to Comic Relief one of these years.)

Anyhow, rightly or wrongly, the contemporary tramp has to work hard in order to get a few quid in today's world congested with worthy causes. So with that in mind, I'd like to suggest an alternative approach to the 'hole-in-the-wall-hawk' method. Rather than heading for the nearest Natwest, why not hunt down the closest water fountain? It would take a thick-skinned soul indeed to stand there chucking loose change into the displays in Trafalgar Square while a shivering beggar looks up at him with pleading eyes.

Incidentally, I have often heard cries for help on behalf of the homeless come from somewhat surprising quarters. See if you can guess what angle they're coming from:

"What I wanna know is why we've gotta help all these foreigners when we've got our own to look out for. There's people in England who need the money and the food, not all these bloody Africans."

Are the sentiments of concern for the homeless genuine? Of course.

posted by Phu @ 10:43 am