I want to tell you about something that happened today while I was doing some shopping in Chipping Norton. After a tour of the charity shops, I walked past a young woman selling The Big Issue. I always try to buy The Big Issue whenever I see a vendor and I told her that I would need to draw some money out but that I’d be back with cash. I went into Sainsbury's to get some groceries and withdrew £10 from the ATM outside. I crossed back over the road and bought the £3 magazine (£1.50 of which will go to her) and gave her £2 extra as a tip. She said that magazine was only the third one she’d sold that day and by this time it was around lunchtime. I asked her if she was hungry and she said yes, and that she hadn’t eaten all day. I said I’d be popping into Café Nero and asked if she wanted anything. To her credit, she knew exactly what she wanted. She asked for the chorizo slices with the bread and the cheese that comes in the box. I went into Café Nero, took it off the shelf and got in line. While I was queuing, I realised I’d forgotten to ask what drink she’d like. When I got to the counter, I told the barista that I was buying the meal for the young woman selling The Big Issue outside WHSmiths. I could’ve afforded to buy her a drink as well but realised I’d landed myself right in the middle of a social experiment. It was too intriguing to ignore. The question was: what happens if I ask for a free hot drink for an extremely vulnerable young woman from a barista in a highly successful coffee shop chain? I got to the front of the queue and explained the situation. The response was instantaneous. The female barista didn’t hesitate. I wouldn’t have expected her to know what the young girl had wanted, but I guess in this instance you might call it women’s intuition. She immediately swung around to the coffee machine and within the minute, I was in possession of a very large hot chocolate. I thanked her and walked out, smiling behind my mask, having had my heart warmed by such a positive and emphatic response. The young woman was very grateful for the lunch and the drink, especially given the morning’s bitter chill and the snow flurry that would set in a few minutes later. I wished the young woman well and went on my way. If you’ve never bought a copy of The Big Issue, I’d urge you to pick up a copy. It’s always such a good read! It’s a great charity to support and truly a great British institution, and it always leaves me feeling a little more hopeful for humanity having read it.
It was a few weeks into autumn and I hadn’t had a hair cut since before the summer solstice. My beard, long and straggly and in desperate need of trimming, was a week away from having birds nest in it. I unpolished my boots and wore some old jeans that were ripped at the knees and dirty from digging a deep hole on a particularly wet day in Highgate Cemetery. Hanging loosely over the top of those was a baggy grey jumper I spilt half a bottle of bleach over about three years ago. I looked a bit of a state, but there was a method to my madness. Today was the day I was going to ask Moon for a pay rise and I wanted to look as if I’d been trod on. On the morning I was due to ask him, my bike got a puncture not twenty yards down the road from my house. It wasn’t a polite slow puncture so that I might finish my journey on a squidgy but rideable front tyre; the thorn tore through that poor inner tube like a javelin through jelly and it had me riding on a stee...
That's great, Tom! It often seems that people are too embarrassed to speak to the homeless - it's more than most can do to give them a bit of change. ( I know you're not supposed to do that with Big Issue vendors, you're meant to buy the magazine only, but it doesn't hurt. ) I find it very sad that, during the first lockdown, local councils found temporary homes for homeless people but, now that the world's back to normal ( yeah, right! ), they've been shoved back out onto the streets and forgotten. It shows that there are resources to help these people but not the political will.
ReplyDeleteThe next time we meet, remind me to tell you the story of buying a curry for a young homeless guy, it's a bit too long to post here.
And, yeah, The Big Issue is always a good read.