Compo 10,328 Posted January 9, 2017 Report Share Posted January 9, 2017 Just spent a weekend in Glasgow where the city centre streets seem to be full of beggars. Many are Middle Eastern women and I do wonder if their menfolk send them out to beg? Most though are young lads in their late teens/ early twenties who live rough on the streets and sit all day with a Starbucks-style coffee cup in front of themselves. I don't like walking past these people and ignoring them but what else can you do? I usually put some coins in a cup or two during the day but I can't afford to give to everyone. In addition to the beggars there are the stereotypical Glaswegian drunks who stagger around and push their face into yours saying "geez some spare coins forra cuppae tea, pal" and then as you side-step them you hear a muttered "Ya Fukkin bassa! So, Is Nottingham similar these days or is Glasgow an isolated case? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
benjamin1945 16,139 Posted January 9, 2017 Report Share Posted January 9, 2017 hey Compo........try trying to 'nick' a Glaswegian drunk when hes just nicked some whisky...........really funny........phrases.........eyyousassanachfucke88itbe oeyafu8k8ingheednoef8ckoff...........lol. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
benjamin1945 16,139 Posted January 9, 2017 Report Share Posted January 9, 2017 And sometimes I got the bottle back..............mind you it was empty...........lol............despite all that I loved working in Glasgow,...really funny (humourous people............ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mary1947 2,079 Posted January 9, 2017 Report Share Posted January 9, 2017 I think is sad in this country in the year 2017 that we have beggars, homelessness, people commiting suicide, soup kitchens people on drugs etc. When we are suppose to have a lot of clever people running it (all parties). When will we ever learn? 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
benjamin1945 16,139 Posted January 9, 2017 Report Share Posted January 9, 2017 I agree Mary..........there are all sorts of mainly sad reasons for them being in that position......mental health being a big one.......often think ''there but for the grace of God''.............. 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
plantfit 7,580 Posted January 9, 2017 Report Share Posted January 9, 2017 We seemed more concerned with sending money and aid to foreign lands than we do in looking after our own,such a shame we have this situation in our country,what are we ? the fifth richest country in the world and we have poor unfortunates for whatever reason sleeping rough on our streets,I remember writing on this site a few years ago that when I spend Christmas in Edinburgh I would set a day aside to buy sausage rolls and cups of hot chocolate from Greggs and go and sit with some of these people,have a cuppa with them and spend time listening to them,some sad stories but mainly they were full of optimism for the future,so I suppose there could be a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel,we can only hope Rog 9 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,304 Posted January 9, 2017 Report Share Posted January 9, 2017 #6 Could happen to any of us if things go badly wrong. Always try to keep that in mind. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
plantfit 7,580 Posted January 9, 2017 Report Share Posted January 9, 2017 Quite true Jill,it's a good job we don't know what the future holds for us but I'd like to think if I did fall on hard times someone would at least spend a little time listening to me and at least show they care even if they did nothing else,we can all learn from each other,when I spend time with some of these people others tell me I should'nt give to them because they are better off than me and they have big flash cars and nice houses that they live in when they've done begging for the day,I say to them,let it be on their concience then not on mine,know what I mean Rog 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,304 Posted January 9, 2017 Report Share Posted January 9, 2017 Quite agree, Rog. I don't think there's any harm in buying them food or a hot drink. I'd draw the line at money though, due to potential drug issues which I wouldn't want to encourage for their own sakes. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FLY2 10,108 Posted January 9, 2017 Report Share Posted January 9, 2017 Re #6. At least we're ceasing funding that Ethiopian girls school band to the tune of £5M per year. That should get us a few more ambulances ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poohbear 1,360 Posted January 10, 2017 Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 More likely that 5 million will now go for new carpets in Buck House. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PeverilPeril 3,279 Posted January 10, 2017 Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 Compo - We have just been booked for 3 nights in Glasgow. I used to travel around there on business and saw massif improvements over a 40 year period. Gosh, was it rough! Drove through the Gorbals area a few times - never stopped there! Looking forwards to this trip and the following week in the Highlands. At home here in Staffordshire we live in a bubble. A green village with none of the social problems found in the cities. Even Stafford town centre is relatively free of beggars and homeless. Saw a homeless guy tucked up in a doorway last week - first one I've seen here. I visit Plymouth frequently and ALWAYS see these unfortunates. When some guys 'bang on', in the local about druggies, immigrants and scroungers?....just makes me wonder? Tabloid readers? Mind you - most of our leaders live in a bubble. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Compo 10,328 Posted January 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 In post #7 Jill said: "Could happen to any of us if things go badly wrong. Always try to keep that in mind." Well, it very nearly did happen to me back in 1988. My wife and I had been living in the Falkland Islands but she decide that she wanted to return to UK. She returned and left me down there to sell-up and see to all the formalities etc.. The day I arrived back in UK she told me that she had sold our UK house and that she was divorcing me. This left me with nowhere to stay and no belongings; all of which had been sent to her from the Falklands. So all I had was what I brought back in my aircraft luggage. To make matters worse, I went to the bank and discovered that the joint accounts had been emptied. Fortunately, the very last thing I sold was my old Landrover, so I had enough money to see me through the next couple of weeks until I got sorted out. Even more fortunate was the fact that a friend working on a Falklands contract who had come home at the same time, offered me his house for rent until he returned permanently in six months time. That gave me enough time to get a job and organise a small house for myself in Darwen, Lancs.. As they say "There but for the grace of God" ..... 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PeverilPeril 3,279 Posted January 10, 2017 Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 Jaysuss Compo! That must have taken some getting over!! Doubt if I would have had the strength to have overcome that. Physical shocks are relatively easy to get over, but emotional and betrayal issues..........hmmmm 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
benjamin1945 16,139 Posted January 10, 2017 Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 #13 Compo................i know what you mean Compo..............been in similar situation twice.........but you dig in and start again.........luckily found the right one in the end...........looking back i sometimes shudder at what might have been.......but in a Perverse way would'nt have changed much,and alot of it was quite funny..............''we pass this way but once''......... 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MargieH 7,599 Posted January 10, 2017 Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 Compo - that's a horrific story!! I can only imagine how you must have felt... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FLY2 10,108 Posted January 10, 2017 Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 I've never given to beggars, but often do to buskers. Especially if they are singing a song I can relate to. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Compo 10,328 Posted January 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2017 At least buskers are doing something to earn their money, Fly2. Beggars tend to irritate me because they are not making any effort to earn their bread. However, I still find it hard to ignore them and I suppose that is what many of them rely on. I was in inverness the other week and there was a young beggar sitting by a shop window with his obligatory coffee cup in front of himself. Over the road was a woman singing her heart out with her cup also in front of herself. She had a bloody awful singing voice and I'm sure she was making up the words but she was making the effort and so I dropped a donation into her cup. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LizzieM 9,507 Posted January 11, 2017 Report Share Posted January 11, 2017 I don't give to beggars, those who just sit there with paper cup and dog. But I do sometimes drop some change to a busker because as Compo says, they're making an effort. Recently while we were in Cannes we watched a female beggar (of Eastern European origin) arrive and set herself up. She got settled down outside a shop on La Croisette, a boulevard of very expensive designer shops. She'd strolled up to her pitch, put a bundle of clothes down, sat down herself and then got her child, probably about 7 years old, to lie over her and the bundle looking very sick. He was perfectly fit, we'd watched them walk along the road as they arrived there. It's a shame that the child is dragged into begging at such a young age. A shame that anyone has to resort to begging in this day and age but only a few have really fallen on hard times. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poohbear 1,360 Posted January 11, 2017 Report Share Posted January 11, 2017 An accordian player busker on Shirebrook market always brought a laugh because he played the wrong notes like Les Dawson...His dog disappeared one week and the rumour was that it couldn't stand the embarrasment any longer and went in search of a musician! 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Compo 10,328 Posted January 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2017 I have just had one of those flashes of memory that we all get from time-to-time. There was a legless beggar in Addis Ababa who used a kind of skateboard to get around the city centre, begging. He made quite a good living from foreigners who took pity on him. At the end of each day he would skate around to the Hong Kong restaurant, pick up his legs, deposit his trolley for the night and walk home...... Brilliant! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,115 Posted January 11, 2017 Report Share Posted January 11, 2017 I can't imagine begging in Inverness to be very productive! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crankypig 457 Posted January 11, 2017 Report Share Posted January 11, 2017 Went into town this morning,there was a beggar/rough sleeper in a bad way,he looked awful shaking like he was either having a fit or had hypothermia...two policemen were looking after him when a bloke started recording the whole thing on his phone,quick as owt one policeman knocked the phone out of his hand,the bloke went berserk yelling 'you broke my effing phone' 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LizzieM 9,507 Posted January 11, 2017 Report Share Posted January 11, 2017 This is the downside of easy access to photos and videos on a mobile phone isn't it Crankpig? There's a time and place for taking photos and if a person is in distress that is not the right time to record it. The policeman did the right thing, otherwise the video would have been all over Facebook today. Very sad individual ...... the beggar AND the spectator 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
plantfit 7,580 Posted January 11, 2017 Report Share Posted January 11, 2017 What sort of lowlife does a trick like that,anything could be wrong with that poor person,end of the day he is the same species as us but just not had the breaks or simply fell on hard times,such a shame Rog 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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