Saturday 31 October 2009

Conversations with Homeless People

I'm warning you now, it'll be a kind of lengthy post. :)
Before talking about the title, I should first point out the awesomeness of last weekend- Three day weekend, two birthday parties, one in Wolverhampton, one in Dewsbury. Much cake and generally amazing food was eaten, and much catching up was done with the ever-more-immobile Aunty em :D Thank you, by the way, t'was lovely. Hasan, as ever, was gorgeous, and his rendition of a Dark Dark Tale was spine chilling. Once back in Dewsbury, further junk food was had, plus another cake and my mum's generally awesome cooking. Catching up was also done with parents and brothers, which was rather lovely. And I found that Archie had a cold, and my dad was administering human eye drops to him... apparently you can... *shrugs*
The downside: being pelted with peas by ten little shits (from either Earsheaton or Chickenley) in Asda, who had peashooters and weren't afraid to use them against brown people invading their chav turf. Grr.

Minus what shall be referred to as the frozen vegetable incident, great weekend. Aherm.

So I ended up in Leicester city centre today, and decided to just wonder round. My theory was if I got lost a few times and re-navigated my way back to the bus stop, I'd get a better idea of where everything was. I *think* it worked. Wondering round by myself was nice :) I haven't really had a day when I've been free to do anything, without a schedule, for a while now. Time to think, and all that. I bought several pointless items- junk food, and Clockwork Orange on DVD, because it's one of the few things I want to watch before I read the book.   
Going into Cafe Nero for a panini, I went to sit down and was stopped by a Bosnian woman with two babies. She had some paper asking for help because she needed to buy food for her kids. I gave her some money, however naive it was.
I was waiting at the bus stop to come back, when an Asian guy approached me- it was a slightly more disturbing exchange:
Guy: Sister, do you think you could help me with 70p for the bus?
Me: (He looked slightly dangerous, so I thought I'd just give him it) Erm..yeah. Hold on.
Guy: You a student? Just been shopping? Bet you're tired, bless you.
Me: (Smile and nod etc) Here's 70.
Guy: So...what do you think of them illegal drugs, then?
Me: (Alarmed) What?
Guy: Skunk, weed, all that stuff...You think they mess with your head?
Me: I guess they do, yeah.
Guy: Yeah, I did em for a while, but then I got schizophrenia. Now I'm on tablets and stuff.
Me: (Looking for some kind of escape route, yet strangely interested) There is a debate about whether cannabis causes schizophrenia. (Yes, I realise the ridiculousness of starting this conversation with him, my head was screaming at me). I...stay away from them myself...
Guy: Yeah... it's bad for your head. Anyway, thanks for this sister. Bye!
And he walked away, leaving me a little bit unsure as to how to react to that. People at the bus stop were all pointedly pretending to read books whilst silently judging me. Woo.
I don't even know where to stand with stuff like that. I always take pity on people who ask for help, because with that woman, what if I was the reason her kids went hungry that night? Or if this guy actually was a bit mental, and homeless? My mum says I'm too soft though, and shouldn't have even talked to him. I guess she's right. *Sigh*. Not cut out for city life. 
So yeah. Now back at halls, reflecting on how most of the money I spent today was given to supposedly homeless people.And I didn't get cookies, though I will tomorrow when I go to Asda. Got oreos as a temporary substitute, woo!
Over and out, hello to all etc.

2 comments:

  1. VERY naive.
    ...But this frozen vegetable incident Hummus...care to elaborate? =P

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  2. Lol I love it how you went for seven years being unable to talk to people and now you can converse with the nutters! Consider it progress!
    And my god peas hurt!

    Bry x

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