"There are beggars and buskers operating on this train - do not encourage them by supporting them". Oh and while you're at it, you see that little old lady that keeps smiling at you when you look up? Give her a good ol' kick and take her purse. It's a 'dog-eat-dog world' out there, every man or beaten up little old lady for themselves. After all, beggars and buskers only want money to score crack, buy beer and generally make others feel bad; they don't want shelter, safety and hot food... one moment, I think we've taken a wrong turn somewhere here.
So these guys, these often homeless and almost certainly penniless guys, they're the outlaws? They're the ones to be spat at? Interesting that... and those heroic individuals urging us to not help desperate individuals in need must be the good guys! Its difficult to know what stand to take here. If I were to say 'up yours, London Underground' and give this beggar sniffing at my shoe a fiver then I would likely be shunned along with my new friend; but if I were to ignore him, or her of course, entirely then I would be with the soulless majority. And therein lies the problem... the soulless majority.
Maybe soulless is a bit extreme... in most cases anyway. But if this is the way we are running our city society then what help is there for the bottom rung. I know that 'animal instinct is survival of the fittest' and all that crap but aren't we, through having higher learnt than unlearnt behaviour, supposed to have evolved into a social species with a sense of... what's that word... community? And that is exactly it. Community. The antithesis to, well, what we seem to live in now!
Next time you see, or are approached by, a homeless person, beggar or busker, try talking to them. I mean, think about it, how fascinating do you think their story is? Probably more so than your own. Most will be willing to engage and most will be friendly. If you find yourself worrying 'but what will all these others around me think?', then don't worry too much, you can always cheer yourself up by tripping up that gentle old man getting on the train and pinching his walking stick.
Those who wish to do more than simply talk to struggling members of our community visit:
http://www.centrepointroom.org.uk/
