|
EDGES MAGAZINE Issue 17 |
April/May 1999 |
| SCOTTISH STEPHEN
MOVING ON I am an avid Glasgow Rangers fan. Glasgow is my home town and I have supported them all my life. Glasgow is a very rough place and its not a very nice place to be homeless in. At the moment I am enjoying my time away from Glasgow.  My
favorite rock band is Oasis. I like Oasis because I find their music
uplifting and it brings me up and I just enjoy them really. My
favorite food would have to be pasta. Whilst at high school I gained four GCSE's in English, Science, German and Math's I got four straight C's, but I could have done a lot better; I missed out on a lot of opportunities and other exams. I spent a lot of time skiving school, and rather than concentrating on my work I enjoyed time with my friends so I just failed. I am now 21 years old. Since I left school I have just been going in and out of basic factory packing jobs, dead end sort of jobs, low wages is what I've been really used to. I've never particularly had a career, I've no ambitions to be anything so that's it really. Working in a factory can be very boring, there's no variety involved in these type of jobs and it's the same work every day and therefore a very low wage, but at the end of the day its money and that's what I'm working for - the money. I think life is there to be lived, at the moment each day that comes, especially with coming in to the new environment I have experienced homelessness - out on the streets, it was only for one night. I slept under a bridge in a place called Nelson; its not so far from Burnley. It was very cold, I was very hungry, I had no cigarettes and it was very strange. The police were driving by every so often, telling me to move on, but at that time of night because the place is so small there's no 24 hour hostels where you can walk in, in the middle of the morning and get a place, you have to wait until about nine the following day, so it wasn't a very comfortable night for me. At the moment I am living in a hostel. It's a hell of a lot better than being on the streets - definitely. I have got my own bedroom, I've got facilities to the kitchen and every landing, and there's a lounge that opens at 5 o clock so I can watch TV. All you have to do really is a bit of cleaning, each person every day so it's not too bad. I'm just using it as a base at the moment, to start afresh, get a job, get my own place and maybe find someone special. I was born in Glasgow, but from the age of 5, I was put up in Edinburgh until recently, until I moved down here. I am enjoying life away from Scotland at the moment. Since I've been in Blackburn I have seen that there are definitely a lot of problems, and a heavy problem with drugs at the moment, probably a lot more than Edinburgh for the size of this place. I know Glasgow is a very rough place, that's actually the drug capital of Europe, but I think there is a lot of bigger problems with drugs in Blackburn than there is in Edinburgh with drugs. From my experience so far I've met a lot of people who walk around high as a kite every day. I'm not being disrespectful, but I just don't fancy associating with them or anything, I keep myself clean, keep myself out of trouble and speak to a few of my decent friends. |
