Desiree O
Tissue begging? Is tissue begging a new phenomenon? Let’s talk on this burning issue folks.
Tissue begging could be described as a social vice or anti-social behaviour thus, it is against the law for anyone to engage in this unwholesome behaviour.
The first time I heard about tissue beggar, I was confused what it was.
Prior to seeing actual tissue beggar in person, I had seen a couple of prepack handy tissues on a couple of seats on the Eastbound Jubille line between London Waterloo and Canada Water but I still don’t fully grasp with the motive behind this.
Last week, I was travelling on the Norther line Southbound between Stockwell and Morden, then I saw a man possibly an Eastern European with a backpack distributing tissues on vacant seats apparently the ones next to passengers without uttering any word.
A few moments later, once he has covered the whole length of the carriage I was sitting in, he embarked on collecting his tissues in anticipation that some passengers may have exchanged the tissue for money. He was displaying a small handwritten note to passengers, the content of which was begging for money.
Apparently, he does this from carriage to carriage and from train to train on different lines all day. He looks innocent or let me put it in another word … harmless but the truth is: begging is begging and as such it is a pretty awful sight on London Underground.
Can’t they find work to do?
Are they lazy?
Are they homeless?
Don’t they have entitlement to state benefits from the government?
Who are tissue beggars?
What could be done to eradicate the menace of tissue begging?
