Sid Ouarezini admits he has run out of change when it comes to homelessness.
I never thought I would end up sounding like George Osborne’s younger brother, but…..
Whereas I used to swing between compassion and disgruntlement with regard to the homeless, based on recent events I’m now swayed towards to the latter.
I expect you are familiar with the experience which finally tipped me over: you’re on the tube in Zone 1, which means it’ll cost you a tidy sum to complete your journey. On comes a tramp with a hectoring sales pitch about who he is, how hard done by he is, and how it’s up to us but really we should make a donation. Should being the key word here. Because although I’ll credit these people with courage (to speak up in front of dozens of strangers really is commendable; in terms of communication skills and self-esteem it truly merits a position in Lord Sugar’s boardroom), they don’t appear over-familiar with the word ‘no’. To the contrary, I find myself saying ‘no, no, no’ so many times even I am on the brink of being intimidated – but that’s the only way to get the message through.
You’re not going to like me for saying this, but I think the homeless in London have come to resemble those annoying canvassers that stop you in the street so you can donate to charity, or the sleazy cold callers who try to guilt trip you into getting your driveway done. Their sheer persistence seems to have been learned from lessons in high pressure marketing. Enough to make you wonder whether homelessness is now something of a lifestyle choice. No, I don’t mean I have fallen for that statistic about homeless people earning more than the prime minister, but it does occur to me that some people who are homeless may have opted for the panhandling life because they chose not to handle the normal, boring jobs which nearly everyone else has to hold down.
Harsh, I hear you say. But why would homelessness continue to rise in London when there are now so many charitable organisations keen to help homeless people turn their lives around?
I never thought I would say this, but when ‘homeless’ turns into one of those labels that you are not supposed to say a word against, to me, Sid Ouarezini, it can only mean that it’s time somebody did.
