Pause for Thought

I was travelling through London Waterloo this bank holiday evening. There were probably just thirty passengers in the concourse and it had that after-dark quiet atmosphere that public spaces get at that time of night.

There were two homeless women walking around politely asking for spare change. Now I will happily buy the Big Issue magazine but won't normally give change. I used to be concerned that I could just be funding a dependency or perpetuating a begging habit.

On a recent episode of Filthy Rich and Homeless, one of the younger volunteers was told to sit on one of London's bridges (I believe it was the Golden Jubilee footbridge near Waterloo) to beg for change. The guy made a comment about how the passers by were just treating him as if he didn't exist but recognised that he had behaved in exactly the same way in the past.

This weekend, I gave some of my spare change to the first woman who immediately bought something to eat and the remainder to the other woman who said something very reminiscent of the tv programme, "thank you, at least you acknowledge that I exist which is more than can be said for most people". I then watched her being ignored and looked at in disdain by many of the other passengers.

I stood there carrying expensive gadgets and the new clothes I'd bought that weekend. I was well fed and on my way to my own home. Compared to that, I gave them a pittance but I'd looked them in the eye and treated them like a fellow human being for a few seconds.

I have commitments that, were I to loose my job and the support of my family & friends, could very easily result in me not being able to meet my financial obligations. The world of the homeless is not that far away.

So the next time you see someone wrapped in a blanket asking for change, are you hurrying past them or past the possiblity of what could have happened to you?

Stonkin' Lyrics

I've bought Linkin Park's new album today called Minutes to Midnight. Now I know that Nu-Metal isn't to everyone's taste but there is a song called Hands Held High which has some rather mature and thought provoking lyrics about war:


It's ironic. At times like this you pray,
But a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday.

There's bombs in the buses, bikes, roads,
inside your markets, your shops, your clothes.

My dad, he's got a lot of fear I know
but enough pride inside not to let that show.

My brother had a book he would hold with pride
A little red cover with a broken spine.

In the back he hand wrote a quote inside,
"when the rich wage war, it's the poor who die".

Meanwhile, the leader just talks away,
Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay.

And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
Both scared and angry like 'what did he say?'


One of the reasons I tend to prefer this sort of band is the lyrics tend to be more powerful and meaningful than the empty plastic pop offerings. On first listen, this album is no exception.

Full lyrics available here and you can hear the song here.

A shout out to the blogosphere

I am one of those annoyingly skinny buggers that dieters detest. I can eat pretty much what I like and not put on weight.

Yeah, I know, feel free to throw items of office stationery at me.

I am a natural grazer and seem to balance input and energy requirements quite well. However, given that I have IBS and limited reserves, when I'm under the weather I can loose weight too easily. That's happened recently and I really need to put on about half to three quarters of a stone.

Dodges flying stapler.

I've searched the inter-webby. There are a squillion pages (really there are, you count them) about loosing weight, there are pages about bulking up for body builders, there are also pages that say helpful things like "eat more" but I've not been able to find any straight forward non-contradictory resources about foods that are still healthy but will help me gain weight.

Apart from asking for a referral to a dietician, any thoughts?