New Cross Station "Can I have spare change?"

New Cross Station "Can I have spare change?"
by Thaismina Kennedy

Here, I am going to write about a man I suddenly became an acquaintance with. He hasn't told me his name yet, but we talk every time I see him outside the station asking for change. I remember seeing him throughout my first year here in London, sitting on the same seat, with a little cup of coffee in front of him where people can drop a few coins. Now the coffee turned into money. Ironic because those coins may buy a coffee later in the day.

Every time he'd ask me for change, I would either say sorry, and walk past, or give him what I could without looking at him as if I was sad for his situation, but at the same time didn't want to be part of it, so I quickly went on with my business. But everything changed a few weeks ago. I have to say this project has opened me more to talk to them because I am genuinely interested. Before, I knew that was the reality of their world, and not much passed through my mind other than "I may have some change".

Now, the day I started talking to him, it was cold, most likely about to rain. I was listening to music, but I still heard him ask "some spare change?" Rather than just saying, "sorry, I don't have any, I stopped, opened my purse, and checked. During those few seconds, I gathered my courage and asked him how his day was going. He told me it was the same old, but all he wanted was a bit of sun because he missed it. He is from Jamaica, where the sun shines until dark. indeed, in England, the weather is always a good conversation started. Thus, after this, he kept on talking about different things that involved his day to day life, and his life before the streets. With the passing of days, I tried to walk in front of the station around 12pm, because I realised that tend to be the time he is around. In the coming weeks I found out:

• He wants to swim in a pool
• He loves Caribbean pea soup with meat (not chicken)
• He liked to go for walks but his feet are swollen so finds it hard to move around
• He needs glasses because of his diabetes, is restricting his sight
• He had a heart attack and that is what lead him to his situation today.

I mainly wanted to speak about the last discovery, it broke my heart. it made me realise that life has different ways of treating people in tight situations, and also, the response of people to these possible events always ends up being different.

Wind Rush 

 The heart attack he had come about from a political issue that can be traced back to post-WW2. After the war, England needed to rebuild its economy and infrastructure, therefore, in what used to be colonial countries, people were given the opportunity to come to England a help rebuild it all. Now, those who were promised papers but never got any, are being taken back to their home countries with no objection. He was one of those people. He received a letter saying he was going to be taken back to Jamaica after living in England for over 35 years. This situation took him over the edge and he had a heart attack. After being in the hospital for months, he was labelled as disabled because half of his body is not as responding as the other. This got him fired, which ultimately made him lose his job and his house.

I decided to write this to show a story that begins and continues with a political background. Homelessness is indeed a political issue, and here, there is a clear example of how it is true.