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My
name is Steve and I'm 22. I've been in London about 7 years. I
hitch-hiked down from Scotland when I was young. Life in London isn't
all it's cracked up to be. If you can't live life in the fast lane
you're in trouble. Being on the streets, it's not a good life down
here, its pretty rubbish. As far as growing up is concerned, I never
really had much of an education. I left school when I was 9, I was in
care from the age of 9. Most of my growing up was done down here, I've
been down here for 7 or 8 years just trying to make a go of it, but I
haven't really had much luck so far. Basically, it was because I
didn't like school, I just never want back, I hated school, I just
wasn't into it at all. I came to London when I was 15. I've seen a big
change in London in the past 7 years. When I first came, things were
alright, you could make money, people were genuine, alright, kind with
you, but now its full of arrogance, people walk past, you ask them for
change, and their telling you to f.... off and stuff like that, its
not very nice at all My hobbies are karate, boxing, golf
and chess. I've got quite a big range of interests, and I do begging
of course. The average I'll make on a good day begging, on a really
good day is about £40. Sometimes I make more, but not very often.
Begging just really went bad in London, it's just not good anymore.
The time I normally wake up varies really depending on what time I go
to bed at night. Last night I went to bed at 5 o clock this morning,
and I woke up at 1.30pm. If I'm awake all night, I just sit down here
with my friends, we have a couple of cans of beer occasionally, have a
laugh and a chat, keep ourselves occupied, keep our minds occupied.
We'd rather smile than cry so we try our best to keep ourselves
amused. I've got a lot more acquaintances than I have friends. An
acquaintance to me is someone who I class as a friend, but not like a
friend-friend, if you know what I mean, like someone I've known for
years, an acquaintance is someone I get on with but I haven't known
them for all that long. John, sitting over there, he's a friend of
mine, I've known him for a few years. My girlfriend, I've known her
for about 3 years, I've been going out with her for 2 or 3 months now,
things are going okay. My opinion of the new government, if
you'll excuse the pun, it sucks! Tony Blair is full rubbish, he's
going on saying he's going to end homelessness by the new millennium,
and he's just full if rubbish, that's something your never going to be
able to do. Your never going to end homelessness regardless, you've
always got new kids coming on the streets. The new criminal justice
bill, its just all these new laws and a lot of it is just targeted at
the homeless. If you're seen looking like you're begging, you don't
even have to be caught begging, if your seen looking like your
begging, with a sleeping bag around you in a street doorway you will
get arrested under the Vagrancy Act, you can be done for obstructing a
public highway. Me personally, I find that's downright out of order,
its not fair at all. . |
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