Interviews. By Uncle Monty.

Street Interviews.

By Uncle Monty.

Photos By Alex Albion.

Part 1 of 2.
***
What folkz say and think about The Big

Issue, and its thousands of UK street

vendors, was a mixture of good, bad, and

the indifferent. But, the bad and negative

public comments seemed to come thru the

loudest and the most often from the mem-

bers of the public. I randomly and informally

approached folkz at five English towns - Bath,

Shrewsbury, Eastbourne, Cambridge, and

Ceneral London - to do my open street

interviews with them, off and on,

over a period of three months.

***

What struck me the most was the verbal

hostility against The Big Issue by those

who are the remotest from it or have no

contact with such. And, who also had no

desire to learn about homeless people and

the national problem of homelessness

and marginalization in today's

almost Third World Britain.
***

Eastbourne Was A Washout.

***

My questions are followed by answers in

"quotation marks" from those I interviewed:

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Describe The Big Issue in 3 or 4 words:
“What is it?” “Sold by the homeless.”
“Know nothing about it.” “To help street

people.” “Supports lags ... drug addicts.”
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Would you give a homeless person a job?:
“Not sure I would.” “They’re too lazy.”
“What kind of job do you mean?” “Yes,

if they want to work. Most don’t ...”
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Where does The Big Issue money go?:
“Provide aid on the streets.” “To get

the homeless off the streets.” “To give

jobs to those who aren’t homeless.”
“It goes to charity, doesn’t it?”
“Haven’t the faintest idea.”
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Do you buy The Big Issue?:
“Why should I?”- “Once in awhile.”
“Never have, never will.” “I have

my regular vendor. She’s nice.” “The

price is abit much, don’t you think?”
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Do you know anyone who is homeless?:
“Yes, my next door neighbours became
homeless after they couldn’t pay the rent.
He got sacked in the job. She got pregnant
again. Their kids were wild. No good kids,
I’d say.” “The only ones I see, but don’t

know, are them on the street with Big

Issue to sell.” "A homeless woman I

saw in the park I tried to help her, but

she started shouting and screaming

at me. So that did it for me ... "
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Would you give a couple of quid to a Big

Issue sellor without buying the magazine?:
“I always do.” “Yes, I would. I’ve done so
before.” “I buy to read it. No. The profit from
selling it is enough without giving a “tip” on

top." “Only if I have some change at

Christmas. Otherwise, no!"
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Is the problem of homelessness getting better
or worse or about the same or don’t know?:
11 said – "Better." 28 said - "Worse." 9 said

“The same.” 5 said - “Don’t know.” A few

others had no answer at all.
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Street Interviews At

Central London Was Rough.

***
Have you been homeless in the past 10 years?:
Only two said "yes" with the overwhelming
majority saying they had not been homeless.
One, however, said he'd been homeless as a

little kid during the London Blitz. He was

age 81, I think, he said.
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Do you know who is John Bird?:
“Vaguely.” “Who?” “Yes I do. He’s my
hair dresser.” “Old guy who talks about
beggars, right?” "I don't recognise the

name."
.
Do you know who is Peter Bird?:
“Never heard of him!” "No."

"Peter Bird could be anybody."

"Should I know him?"

"Is he gay(grin)?"
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Of the 50+ people I randomly picked on the streets

in five UK regions, all were old English born and

working or retired white folks with the majority in

the age range of 45 to 65. Males and females were

almost equally divided. My sample is not intended

to be a formal one nor of sociological form or a

academic poll of any sort.

.

I asked my Big Issue-cum-homeless questions

quite casually. My sample from Central London

will appear separately in Part 2. Add then another

34 people to my overall informal sample. Across

the country about 1 in 4 people refused to be

interviewed on the streets for my sample. The

interviews took place only on the streets and

not elsewhere. Immigrants, foreigners, the

homeless, and Big Issue vendors, were im-

mediately excluded from being interviewed

for sample purposes.

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Best to everybody, Uncle Monty.

+Animal Welfare Sunday, 2010.

Anglican Society for the Welfare of Animals
This year, Animal Welfare Sunday is on Sunday

3rd October 2010. See report from last year and

details of this year's theme ... www.aswa.org.uk/
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World Homeless Day, 2010.

www.worldhomelessday.org/

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Feedback & Comments

allaboutthebigissue@britain.com

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COPS THAT KILL. By Uncle Monty.

http://thebiggerissueorg.blogspot.com/2010/10/cops.html

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