It’s this time of year when I get sent letters from
charities asking for money for the homeless over Christmas. I’ve just dropped
another couple in the bin [there was no free pen] and I have to confess to
feeling ambiguous about the whole homeless thing.
I grew up in a secure middle-class white grammar school
environment where I don’t think I ever saw anybody begging in the street, and
if anyone was sleeping on a park bench it was obviously their fault and they should
just go and get a job.
It wasn’t till I left home, oh ages later, that I saw a
documentary about a poor guy whose wife left him, and long story short, he lost
his home and because of that he couldn’t keep his job [nowhere to shower and
keep really clean, nowhere to store his paperwork etc. etc.] so he ended up
under a bridge with all his worldly possessions in a bag and no future and no
hope. It was only then, I kid you not, that I started to realise what
homelessness was all about.
So I started to look for people in doorways with sleeping
bags and a dog, so I could give them some money and some kindness. And you know
what? I couldn’t find any! Where were they all now I had some kindness and
money to share? I wanted to do it face to face, avoiding the middle man of
organisations – who apparently took most of our donations to pay staff and
property and heating and advertising costs.
While I was looking several stories appeared in the papers revealing the ‘homeless’ who were scamming the public. Apparently, the poor guy in the doorway wasn’t
what he seemed. No, he had a comfortable house a few towns away and managed to
earn more begging than he could get on benefits or holding down a regular job.
He may even have a Mercedes….
Now what to do? I
didn’t have that much money, and I would much rather spend it on my own kids and
friends than on a potential scammer, especially one who may have a Mercedes. Then a
saw a poor homeless guy in the town centre but I didn’t have any money on me.
So I decided when I went home that I would go and buy him fish and chips
because that way he couldn’t feather his nest with it if he was a scammer, and if he wasn’t, at
least he would get a good meal inside him. But when I went back he was gone.
But I found another guy huddled in a doorway when I was out
with my husband on a trip. No dog, and no sleeping bag, but even if he was a scammer he looked cold and
miserable, so we bought him a hot coffee and a large slice of brownie. I was
surprised how nervous I was when I offered it to him, but he said thank you and
when we walked away and I looked over my shoulder at least he was drinking the
coffee.
Just as I was getting the idea I could do this on
a regular basis when I got home, what do I find in my town’s Facebook Group? A
HUGE slanging match discussion about a homeless young man who is often
seen in our town. Some people wanted to call an ambulance when they found him
shaking ‘with cold’, other people who knew him said he was shaking because he was
waiting for his next fix and please don’t give him any money because he would
spend it on drugs. Give him food then, said other people who chimed in, while
the first people had indeed called an ambulance and were waiting for it to come.
We tried, said others, but he just refused rudely and said he wanted money.
Then others mentioned that help had been called for the poor guy before and he
had refused it with an ‘F off’ response, and so it went on and on….
I’m back to square one guys. What to do? At least I can keep
a bit of loose change in my pocket to buy a Big Issue if I ever see one. They
are supposed to be genuine, aren’t they?
No comments:
Post a Comment