Dear LPG,

I have written before and I am still sifting through all the pictures that I took while holidaying in Florida.  I have to say that the one I have sent this time left me a bit speechless and gives a whole new meaning to begging. 

Not everyone is rich and people have been begging since time immemorial all over the world.  Here in England we pass them in the street and offer our pennies especially when it is cold and miserable.  Many people I know take the view that they are reluctant to give money because a beggar will spend it on drugs and drink rather than things that will really leave them in a better position, and I have a friend who would rather give a hot drink or sandwich than money because, that way, he feels more secure in the knowledge that the beggar will get something positive out of that gift.

I was driving past when I looked through the car window and saw this man as we passed him on the side of a Florida road.  The car stopped at traffic lights and I was in tourist mode with my mobile phone at the ready.  I got my mobile phone focussed the lens and clicked, but I had to ask the Americans I was with how often people begged for petrol, because my understanding left me wondering how, if you can afford to run a vehicle, you would need to beg for petrol to get it going.  In my head I was holidaying in a part of a country where winter is mild and the people need to be more worried about hurricanes than the cold.

I was told that it was not the most uncommon sight over there because public transport is not that safe and nothing is really local, not even the shops.

So I offer a picture of an American beggar and find myself smiling a little less than when I first took it as it begins to give me a different sort of ‘food for thought’, and I hope that it might do the same for those who read my message.

PY, Catford