Obloquy

So, last night, I was walking towards the Whitechapel Art Gallery clutching my copy of Word magazine. A beggar, sitting at a wooden bench outside the White Hart, asked me, “Spare a bit of change, love?”

I once read something about how honest, genuine homeless people do understand if you don’t want to or can’t afford to give them money but they do not want to be ignored. They hate feeling invisible. Generally, I don’t give money on the street as charities like Crisis urge the public not to but at the same time I do not want to be rude.

So I shook my head and said, in the nicest, sincerest way I could, “Sorry mate”.

To which the beggar replied, “Are you a lesbian?”