The other day while relieving my stress on the stoep I heard someone ask another for R10.
Now hearing someone ask for money is common to me for I live opposite a superette.
But my first reaction to someone asking for double digits was to giggle to myself and at the beggar’s audacity. A few days later, at another shop, I again heard someone ask another for a R10 note. And I giggled to myself again. I proceeded to order my middle-cut hake-and-chips parcel and waited for the chips to finish in the fryer. As I stood there waiting I started thinking of how dramatically the price of fish and chips has gone up in less than a year and I remembered these men asking for R10 on the stoep of two separate shops. I realised just how badly the cost of living has affected everyone.
I suddenly was overcome with a very deep feeling of sadness realising some of us can’t even afford to lend a helping hand to the less fortunate. In my personal experience I never baulked at randomly giving someone R2 change on leaving a shop.
But then I started thinking about doing so with R10, but also how it would affect my ability to afford a loaf of bread the following day, a thought that made me feel uncomfortable.
The fact is, life has become so expensive, so who are we to judge those trying their luck at begging for more change?
Many of these so called beggars used to have full-time jobs before the pandemic hit, and now they have to do their best, put their pride in their pockets and ask for R10 to be able to afford something decent to eat.
However, in both cases mentioned here, the people asking for money had their requests declined quite rudely. Yes, being asked for money isn’t a pleasant experience, but we need to remind ourselves that life for those less fortunate than we are has become even more expensive than what we are experiencing.
I mean, a loaf of bread is already closer to R20, even though it may well be what that person asking for a R10 may wish to buy with it, or perhaps half a loaf.
It’s easy just to say no and be oblivious to these people, but maybe we can be a little kinder and offer what little change we do have to spare.
We may think these people walking around asking for money and loitering outside shops do so for the fun of it, but in more cases than one may think it is the only way they can survive.
For those of us with full-time incomes and even double household incomes it’s easy to budget or restructure our budgets to survive these tough times, but what about the man and woman who has absolutely no income?
It’s easy to ask people why they aren’t working or to tell them they should go and look for work, but I mean if the average Joe with a relevant education is struggling to find a suitable job, what gives you the right to judge those who don’t have higher qualifications?
I will certainly set aside an extra R10 when I can afford to do so.
