I am fed up with beggars.
I don't mean dirty, smelly old men sitting in doorways or even youngsters asking for the price of a cup of tea in the street, I mean the people who now infest our supermarket entrances, particularly at weekends.
My local 'Morrison's' and now my local 'Tesco' both suffer from this disease and I find it utterly hateful. The constant waving of tins under one's nose, children offering to pack one's shopping while being accompanied by a collection bucket or, as happened today, being met by an avenue of 'food bank collectors' which was impossible to avoid, is a shocking intrusion and something that needs to be curtailed. It is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate passed such people without appearing, or even being, rude and I don't like it. Can I do anything about it other than shopping elsewhere or on other days ? It seems not.
Why the supermarkets are so willing to allow their customers to be assailed in these ways is a mystery. Perhaps I'm unusual in finding it offensive but surely I'm not alone. Today's experience in 'Tesco' will almost certainly be my last at that store - I shall shop elsewhere in future and I hope others do likewise.
Begging is not nice to see at the best of times but when it's done in an organised way by people and companies that should know better, it's grotesque. For God's sake, let's call a halt to it.
