I am going to contradict myself here.
No I do not give to beggers. I am acutely aware that they probably would buy drugs or alcohol and I think a lot of their problems are self inflicted. Yes I know that makes me a hard old moo but I am a realist. I also know that some big issue sellers are not what they seem to be.
Why the contradiction? On another thread some time ago I related the story of a tramp I used to make a point of speaking to and giving a hot dog to in Leicester. I was in my early twenties then. He was a shy man who was nick named spit and twitch. He was left alone and if anyone had a go at him somebody would always stop what was happening.
I found out, after a long time he was a window fitter and family woes had left him distraught and he became 'a gentleman of the road'. One day, after many years he simply vanished. He was not an alcaholic as far as I knew but a genuine sad and lost person who deserved to spoken to respectfully. By the way, he did not beg he was never seen to anyway.
Alphabetical girls and boys names January 2024