In Recent years, beggars have become a familiar sight all over the country like forgotten souls; they haunt the streets like poltergeists being ignored and largely left to pass empty handed. They reside mostly in towns and cities trying to catch a lucky break to get themselves out of there situation, but their presence has evoked a lot of bad feeling from many sections of the public. However I would like to point out how much of this bad feeling is a result of ignorance and that the only way is to change our attitudes and take action before it is too late.
Of course homelessness is not a condition that just affects poor souls living their daily life on the streets, many more thousands spend their existence "sofa surfing" these people seem to drift wherever they can. One terminology used a lot these days "the hidden homeless" as people like to call them ranges into numbers not far from half a million, to put that number into perspective that is almost twice the population of the city of Swansea. Many say that begging has become an acceptable career path for the "lazy generation" of students who just want to make a couple of quid.To say someone would rough it out on the streets to make such petty cash is outrageous don't you think? But like me you might be asking yourself why is there such a prejudice towards the homelessness? A prejudice that has spread uncontrollably manifesting itself like a virus, infesting weak-minded victims.
There is an array of factors responsible in their own ways for these shocking misconceptions from tabloid papers to traditional beliefs passed down through generations. Well I would like to tell you a little story about the tabloids these companies do not make papers to inform you on important information!Oh no they want to make money to exploit the unfortunate people who are brushed aside when they target their articles. For instance do you know what a solcredulist is? No? Well a Solcredulist is someone who believes everything they read in the tabloid papers e. g the daily mail, the sun or daily sport.
.. of course in these papers they take a keen unlike to the homeless why you may ask what have they done? Well if you were to believe the sun for instance they imply strongly that every homeless person has a twenty-bedroom mansion with an in build swimming pool ; under floor heating.Sound familiar to you? You have probably heard this room uttered by more than one foolish uneducated soul.
Well I think you should hear the real truth What could really make you want to spend just one night on the streets let alone the rest of your life? Just imagine the setting yourself, first things first you try looking for a spot to lie low ; recuperate easier than it sounds! The cold unceasing wind sends icicle twinges down your back your ready to give in anything for a space out of the wind and relentless bombardment of rain.You try one doorway only to find some six foot five "scouser" telling you where to go if you catch my drift. So you keep going any place will do by this time you would lie on cactus needles just to get a nights decent kip in some secluded spot. Finally you find a doorway covered in damp cold tiles but you lie down all the same.
Once sat down your problems are by no means over yet, if your thinking about being comfortable yet then you live in a fantasy world, right so you wriggle about like a worm finding the least painful place to put your head trying to shelter your head from the wind, a laughable thought!Then as if your body was not feeling bad enough from the extremities of finding your little piece of earth just imagine what you think about yourself: Stubble covers your face taken a hold like a rash, your clothes drape over your body as the creases show off the stark nothingness hidden to the eyes who would rather not look, you are a ghost wandering the streets people feel your presence but do not dare look in your vicinity. Just taking a tiny sniff of your stinking, drab clothing is enough to make you want to vomit.But of course you are used to feeling like a cancer patient the nicotine cravings eat at you worse than your hunger. You lie in some well to do shop entrance trying to catch a trip to dream land but you know that those dreams will remain just an illusive fantasy.
Just thinking about the chances you could possibly have with the opposite sex would make you breakdown and cry with your first thought because guess what chance you have? None! So still think begging is an easy way out of working life?The life of some "lazy generation" student who just wants a quick easy way to get money for a Friday night? In conclusion who really are the lazy ones? The people who struggle every day just to make enough money for a sandwich and a cup of tea so they can last one more day of hell! Or is it the people who can help them give them an escape from their personal hell but do nothing, the ones who walk straight passed them everyday yet do not let these street dwellers dwell in their thoughts for even one miniscule second?I think the only way we can truly begin to change these people lives to clean our streets of the "winos, larger louts & snotty beggars" is to give them a helping hand after all if some one is in need then the right thing to do is to give them another option in life. So I put it to you go do your part to help even if all you do is to donate some money to your local homeless charity at least that is one step in the right direction don't you think?
