Roughing It

There are an awful lot of people begging on the streets of Manchester, London and Paris. It's difficult sometimes to know what's best to do when asked for money. A few days back, on our coldest day in Paris, we passed a couple of guys, one looking middle-aged, one quite young, lying on the pavement opposite the Louvre in the late evening. They both looked completely out of it - we guessed due to alcohol. I commented that I couldn't see how they'd make it through the night.

But they did. In a couple of sleeping bags that we saw them in next morning, around 10.00 when we went back to do some shopping. They still looked smashed. We didn't give them anything on the grounds it wasn't likely to help them. They still haunt me. I wonder if they'll get through the winter.