Rough Sleeper

We went for a meal on Pimlico Road in West London. It was a get together for my wife's family.

After the meal we walked past a young woman sleeping rough on our way to the tube station. She was preparing her bed for a cold night in a shop entrance . The shop was a boutique affair selling overpriced tat to the foolish.

Mrs Emigre wanted to give the young woman some money. It was cold and she was vulnerable on a West London street. We approached and offered money which she declined. She was at most 20 and spoke good English with a Scandinavian accent. She wanted to know if we lived in the area. If we did a blanket would help. We didn't and we were no help.

My wife and I stood for a moment feeling useless with the realisation we were intruding. The woman was preparing for a harsh night in the cold and we were invading her privacy. She had not asked for our help and her story was none of our business. She sounded well educated .Was she a student ?. We will never know.

We walked away confused and chastened. We had enjoyed a nice meal in a warm fancy restaurant . With good intentions we had stumbled heedlessly into someone's life. Our intervention was unintentionally patronising.

If someone asks for help give without expectation of thanks or the warm glow of altruism. Every rough sleeper has a private narrative that should remain private unless offered in friendship.Someone can be made homeless by a storm in the Philippines or grotesque inequality in Neo-Dickensian London. Whatever the cause everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.

I hope one of the wealthy denizens of West London has a spare blanket for an extraordinary woman.