12 June 2006

Beggars


I hate beggars. I do. Absolutely, totally, and utterly.
I realise that this is a truly callous statement, but to be perfectly honest, I really don't care. I realise that there are social reasons why some people may be forced to beg because they cannot support themselves any other way, but I believe that these cases make up only one case in a thousand.

I know I'll get a lot of flak for this, but again, I'm pretty solid in this belief.

What I'm attacking today is professional beggary (if that is the term). People who go around in neckbraces for six months, moving from traffic light to traffic light, trying to get money off people. I hate women carrying children with their handbags in tow trying to weasel money out of motorists.

I don't for one second believe that they can afford handbags, decent clothes and nice shoes if they were really in need. I think that if they were truly hungry they would get off their arses and go do some work, no matter how menial it is.

I refuse to participate in encouraging the emotional blackmail that these people utilise, and I firmly believe that if they are capable of standing at a traffic light in the hot sun for a whole day, then they're bloody capable of doing some manual labour cleaning houses or washing dishes.

So, in summation: Get a job!

Following on from that, I'd also like to criticise the whole valet phenomenon. Valets are a form of theft, so far as I think. For one, I am perfectly capable of parking my own car myself. If I do happen to be in a hurry, I'll give my car to the valet. I do not, however, appreciate the fact that if someone does not tip them, they have the audacity to knock on your window and demand you pay them a dinar for their services.

Excuse me?

One dinar for parking my car and then getting it for me again? If you've had to run uphill to find my car or had to go through some trouble getting it, fair enough. But I'll be damned if you saunter down ten metres down the road to get the key, saunter back, and then ask for money while I'm standing next to my vehicle.

I guess what I'm truly up in arms against is how people try to get money for nothing. A particular incident riled me the other day when I was parked at the Zara centre. This guy was giving me "help", telling me to park my car this way and that (which I didn't need, ask for, or look like I needed). By the time I got back to my car, three hours later (which, by the way, was FILTHY), he asked me for money.

"What for?" Quoth I
"Because, you know, I've been standing here since seven in the morning" Quoth he.

Did I miss the logic anywhere? See, another thing that riled me up was the fact that he'd washed all the cars in the lot, except mine (because it's a 78 model), and then asked me for money. Why should I feel bound and bequeath to give you money for washing other people's cars? You can offer a service, and yet you chose to ignore my vehicle because you somehow assumed I wouldn't pay you or something? Well, far be it from me to disappoint you.

So, all ranting aside, I hate people who try to get money off me for nothing. I venerate those who are nice to me, and I adore those who help me or do me service. But I work and earn the money I make, and I'll be damned if some git is trying to blackmail me into giving him something.

Man, that felt good.

Back to being a bastard, now.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I really can relate to this and to your feelings. What's even more absurd about the whole scenario is that people look at you as if to say "You cruel heartless beast!", if and when you do not give money to beggars. That's peer pressure at its highest, and I loathe it.

I help when I want to help, on my own conditions and when I please. That's the meat of this comment. And btw, we have a mutual friend, I just recently found out.