2006-05-24 20:31 | fche blog politics strangers in the 'hood
While my soon-to-be-ex neighbourhood is not known for its poor, several eyebrow-raising incidents remind me how I won’t miss some parts of this place.
- The beggars hanging around the upscale grocery store’s main entrance, “selling” poverty papers.
- A beggar lady in her 40s, disheveled, walking right up to me just as I’m loading up Big Yellow Car with the fresh food loot. “Can you spare some change? I need to buy some bread.”
- The sight of a dozen “borrowed” shopping carts sitting in peoples’ front yards or on the street.
- Twenty minutes later, a similar nicotine-stenched lady at my front door, asking for a few dollars to ride a bus home. “I live at Birchmount & Eglinton.” After I turned her away, she walked rapidly down the street, stopping at none of the next twenty homes. It was as if I was specifically targeted.
The two lady beggars were operating well beyond normal etiquette. I hope it gets better rather than worse here, though soon I won’t be here to care.