Little Miss Scarlett
Mar 01 2009, 12:19 AM
Just something my Mum told about what happened to her yesterday. Oh, and I looked and I couldn't see any other similar threads.
She was going to Tesco's and she saw this girl sat on one of the benches outside, looked about 18 or so. She said what caught her attention was the look of absolute despair on her face, like that was it, she didn't have any hope for the future at all.
When she caught her eye, my Mum smiled at her, and the way she smiled back was as though it was one of the best things that had happened to her all day, just someone smiling at her.
At the entrance there was this man selling some magazines, and he said, "Wanna buy a magazine, love? You haven't got 40 pence for a coffee have you?" In a friendly, half-joking way, you know what I mean.
She said back to him, "Look love, I'm not going to get one, just take this." It was only a quid, but he just broke down in tears and threw his arms around her and sobbed.
"Thankyou so much, you don't know how much it means to us you know. Most people just think we're scum, they won't even look at us, or they just spit at us. My girlfriend's pregnant, I just wanted to get her something warm." Well, he said something like that, there was more but I can't remember. That girl was his girlfriend, obviously.
It was better when she said it, she's a good storyteller. It brought a tear to my eye, I can tell you that.
I know plenty of people are like that, completely devoid of sympathy, but I'll never understand why other than being a complete dickhead. I'm referring to the spiting here btw, I think the main reason people ignore them is out of awkwardness or if you just don't have change, blah blah blah.
I know it's the same as everything else, some are twats and some are really nice. It's just sad to know that when you get to that level, barely anybody cares and you're grouped together with the shit. While admitably I've not seen everyone on the street, all the one's I have seen just looked sad, and seemed really nice.
Considering how easy it is to scrounge off benefits these days, more often than not I'd say it's the result of circumstance. I can't help but imagine what it must have been like in the snow. Very few of them have done anything to warrant living like that.
Well, I tried not to be preachy.
She was going to Tesco's and she saw this girl sat on one of the benches outside, looked about 18 or so. She said what caught her attention was the look of absolute despair on her face, like that was it, she didn't have any hope for the future at all.
When she caught her eye, my Mum smiled at her, and the way she smiled back was as though it was one of the best things that had happened to her all day, just someone smiling at her.
At the entrance there was this man selling some magazines, and he said, "Wanna buy a magazine, love? You haven't got 40 pence for a coffee have you?" In a friendly, half-joking way, you know what I mean.
She said back to him, "Look love, I'm not going to get one, just take this." It was only a quid, but he just broke down in tears and threw his arms around her and sobbed.
"Thankyou so much, you don't know how much it means to us you know. Most people just think we're scum, they won't even look at us, or they just spit at us. My girlfriend's pregnant, I just wanted to get her something warm." Well, he said something like that, there was more but I can't remember. That girl was his girlfriend, obviously.
It was better when she said it, she's a good storyteller. It brought a tear to my eye, I can tell you that.
I know plenty of people are like that, completely devoid of sympathy, but I'll never understand why other than being a complete dickhead. I'm referring to the spiting here btw, I think the main reason people ignore them is out of awkwardness or if you just don't have change, blah blah blah.
I know it's the same as everything else, some are twats and some are really nice. It's just sad to know that when you get to that level, barely anybody cares and you're grouped together with the shit. While admitably I've not seen everyone on the street, all the one's I have seen just looked sad, and seemed really nice.
Considering how easy it is to scrounge off benefits these days, more often than not I'd say it's the result of circumstance. I can't help but imagine what it must have been like in the snow. Very few of them have done anything to warrant living like that.
Well, I tried not to be preachy.