"¡Oiga, Señora!" So it begins. Our regular supermarket beggar, after greeting me with her enthusiastic smile, almost paws me as she gets up close to tell me her tale of woe. She has an electricity bill outstanding: €20. She doesn't have twenty euros. What's more, she has had a warning letter. If she doesn't pay, they will cut her electricity off. Can I not spare her €20? I am very sympathetic and give her some small change but my €20 notes remain in my purse.
Usually it's the story of the empty bombona, the gas canister. She is unable to cook for her little boy as she has no gas. I feel as if I should magically produce a bombona out of my Mary Poppins hold-all. Except that I am not Mary Poppins. But, seriously, this is a new step in begging, asking for quite specific amounts to pay bills. When the homeless in Manchester ask for money so they can get into a shelter, it's usually along the lines of "I just need a little more to get into a shelter tonight. Can you spare me some change?"
Maybe "Soy-muy-pobre" has been on a course of assertiveness training or possibly "How to Beg Effectively".
As we sat in the sunshine in Pontevedra yesterday, sipping Albariño wine and eating tortilla and calamares (it really is a hard life this retirement business) we were approached by several beggars, in all shapes and sizes. There was an almost portly man, just holding his hand out and asking for a little money. Another stood stubbornly waiting, maybe trying to shame us into giving him something. It didn't work; he has clearly not studied "How to Beg Effectively". He did however leave us with "¡que aprovechen!" - enjoy your meal. So at least he had been brought up with manners. Oddest, to me anyway, was the rat faced, skinny almost to point of emaciation woman. I almost said old woman, but she might well have been only in her forties. She went with nervous, bird like movements from table to table, barely stopping at each one. Not much of a life!
Back in Saddleworth, UK, it's not the beggars but the sheep rustlers that are causing a problem, apparently. Phil is on a mailing list with the local police, who warn him about things that are going on: a spate of burglaries in a particular area, cartoon types of cars being targets for theft and so on. The latest communication, along with a reminder to people to keep their dogs on a lead during lambing season, contains this plea:
"We have recently received an e-mail from a local farmer asking for
assistance during the next few months. At this time of year it is easier
to steal ewes as they are heavy with lambs. If you see anything suspicious
near to farm land or any vans parked up in field gateways that you may not
recognise please could you note the registration number and then call 101."
Who knew that sheep stealing was a regular feature of our area? There was also a reminder that farmers are within sir rights to shoot any dog discovered worrying their sheep.
Goodness me! It's like being in the middle of an episode of The Archers.
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The rat-faced woman has got better and better dressed over the years and now has a dog, which is also well dressed. She knows her regular contributors well and often stops to chat to them. It's just a job. She lives in an abandoned place down by Veggie Square.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, I know where you mean, just opposite Hotel Ruas.
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