Big Trouble in Scotland for Big Issue Vendors ...

Scotland's tiny and picturesque communities of the Royal Burgh of Forfar, Kirremuir and Angus would seem to be the last place at where there would be any kind of trouble for The Big Issue vendor. An ex-Scot vendor from there, called here Jock McGill, 31, (not his real name) sent me the latest scandalous story of what's going on at "The Gateway to the Glens." This is what he said: "Listen to me mate you seem to care about bigissue vendors being one yourself. I visit your brit blog at the library. You are doing a good job mate. Read the story i send about the stuff the newspapers have told about the vendors. Some of it is true I am sorry to say. Much of it is not. Big issue supports the cops and they shit on us because of only being vendors. I am finished with big issue from now." Now read the news story that Jock sent ...

http://www.kirriemuirherald.co.uk/news/VENDORS-39BANNED-FROM-SELLING-THE.3502297.jp

Read about Angus: http://www.angusahead.com/VisitAngus/ExploringAngus/VisitForfar.asp

I might also suggest that both vendors and the public take a peek at the following forum and post whatever comments you think would be helpful to the pros and cons of The Big Issue ...

www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=719225

And as if Big Issue vendors aren't already enough in the news, then yet another correspondent send yet another belated link for me to add more about vendors at thebiggerissue.org

http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=36643&sectioncode=1

Hello 2008, Goodbye 2oo7. Your's Monty.

I'm Here At The Legend of "Tom Brown's Old School Days."

Rugby is where rugby was invented

and first played in England in 1823.

William Webb Ellis is credited with

being the inventor of the game and to

which the World Rugby Cup is named

after him -- Webb Ellis Trophy.

Rugby is also the home to one

of the nation's most noted and

famous prep schools called Rugby

School. The school is out right now until

the first of the year with perhaps only

an handful of boarders still here over

the present Christmas holidays.

I was surprised how Rugby School

wasn't in a particularly elegant or posh

town that I thought it would be. I think

Harrow College at Harrow-on-the-Hill,

which I visited earlier this year, was more

classy as a prep school town than what I've

seen so far of Rugby, which began in 1567

and Harrow in 1572. While the creme

de la creme of English prep schools, which

I have visited too, is Eton College that was

founded in 1440 by Henry VI.

While at Rugby, I shall

also visit the nearby New Coventry

Cathedral of Sir Basil Spence's fame

and modernistic design that came about

after the Nazis bombed the original

cathedral of Coventry during WWII ...

And, Welsh painter Graham Sutherland's

artistic and religious masterpieces of The

High Altar and Tapestry are also to be

found there at England's now most

modern Anglican cathedral. While the

newer Liverpool Metropolitan Catholic

Cathedral of 1967 is the newest built

cathedral in England, I believe ...

Must close for now, but will write

perhaps more about my stay here at

Rugby in the next fews days or so ...

+Greetings, Monty.

Let me now tell you abit more

about the actual Rugby School.

It costs a parent over £27.000

per annum to send their off-spring

to the public school (which is private

and non-state in the UK). Pupils

there are called "Rugbeians" and

must, if a male, learn to play Rugby

while at the school unless otherwise

excused.

There are 782 boarders and day

students or pupils with 8 houses for

boys and 7 houses for girls. There

are 103 teaching staff. Students age

11-18 are the standard age group.

The annual cost of running the Rugby

School is £17 million per annum.

The problem with Rugby, like other

noted English prep schools, is it

suffers from being so expensive

and overpriced to send one's son

or daughter there. Thus, such

rich Asian and American parents

are turning more and more to prep

schools in countries like New Zealand

to send their off-springs over sending

them to England. In New Zealand,

such prep schools are now rated

better in many cases than those in

the UK not only for greater value

for money but also being safer with

a more disciplined environment in

which to boarder their kids ... Even

noted prep schools like Philip Exeter

and Andover at America's New England

are also attracting more rich foreign

parents over and above those that

traditionally paid for a British prep

school education for their kids.

My last comment:

My stay at Rugby was worthy.

Anthony Blair's Christmas Conversion To Catholicism Is A Religious Coup!!.

Once called an High Church Anglican,

former British prime minister Anthony

Blair has now became a Roman Catholic

like his wife Cherie and his kidz. There

had been much media speculation for years

about him converting from Anglicanism to

Catholicism. Now that its happened as of

last Friday, it is hard to reconile how

the Holy Catholic Church could accept

him as a member in light of many who

see him as a war criminal, like I do,

and also a pro-abortionist and stem-

cell advocate and pro-gay that Anthony

Blair is. Such is against the teachings

of the Roman Church to say the least.

I hold no religious prejudice what-

soever. To me, whatever one wishes

to believe in the form of one's faith

or creed or belief is fine with me, even

if I might personally disagree with what-

ever the person may or may no believe.

As an avowed and affirming Anglican,

I have always suspected Anthony Blair

was a "dodgy Anglican." Much like what

one Catholic priest told me of his view

that Cherie Blair was to him a "dodgy

Catholic." As a pair, I have no doubt

The Blairs have always been "dodgy" in

the public and political arena. I don't

believe a word of anything the pair

say, either.

Anthony Blair's reception as a convert

couldn't have come at a more propitious

time for the Catholic Church in England,

where Catholics now outnumber Anglicans

for the first time since The Reformation.

Indeed, the Holy Father is being called

upon to make room for the ever-increasing

numbers of disaffected Anglicans who want

to join the Catholic Church due to their

personal revulsion and chagrin over, inter

alia, the issue of gays and gay unions in

the American and English church. Not that

Anthony Blair was a disaffected Anglican

per se in joining the Catholics, but

rather he joined for domestic, family

and faith reasons to be more like his

own wife and kidz. But above all, it's

a religious coup for the Holy Catholic

Church to have a former British prime

minister go from the Established Church

of England to the Priest's Confession Box!

It appears that Cormac, Cardinal Murphy-

O'Conner, Archbishop of Westminster, has

played a pivotal role in ensuring that

Anthony Blair would be accepted and

welcomed into his new church as a full

member.

Whatever, I was taken aback by the

Christmas Homily the Cardinal gave

about the need to make new immigrants

more welcome in England than they are

now. Perhaps His Eminence needs to

go visit places like Peckham, Lewis-

ham and Elephant and Castle to see the

onslaught of Third World immigrants

thankz to the political ilk of Anthony

Blair. I now almost see more blacks at

Elephant and Castle at England's south-

east London than I did during my visit

last year to South Africa's Cape Town.

We're overwhelmed, my dear Cardinal, with

too many useless immigrants and vexing

foreigners and so it is hard to welcome

what we've already got thru no choice or

say of our own other than New Labour's

mindless and blanket policy of open door

immigration to what appears to be in all

too many cases the human scum of the

Third World and beyond. Your Eminence,

most immigrants have come not to give,

but rather to get whatever they can get

by fair or foul. For a moment, I almost

thought, too, you were echoing Anthony

Blair's self-congratulatory comment: "My

policy to Africa was right!!." Personally,

I think Anthony was dead wrong and still

is. While, I see no reason why we should

unfurl anymore welcoming mats to useless

immigrants anymore ... See what they have

brought us and it isn't a pretty picture,

Your Eminence!!

For those interested to know, top Catholic

Cardinals and Archbishops are said to be

paid €3,500 per month, so noted recently

The Times' Holy See correspondent Richard

Owen. With such pay, the princes of the

church also receive such helpful perks as

rent-free housing, official limousines,

and duty-free goods at the Vatican shop.

Nice ... very nice.

UPDATE: I have been looking for the re-

ligious term or word for those who covert

from protestantism to roman catholicism

as now seen in the case of Anthony Blair.

I finally found the term or word in The

Oxford Dictionary of The Christian Church,

by Divinity Professor F. L. Cross, Oxford

University Press, 1958, 1492pp. Page 5 gave

me the clear answer: The Act of Abjuration.

"ABJURATION. The act of renouncing any idea,

person, or thing to which one has previously

adhered. Acc. to canon law it is an external

retractation, made before witnesses, of errors

to Cathloic faith and unity, such as apostasy,

heresy, and schism. There are examples of it

in the reconciliation of penitents during the

first centuries, in the history of ecclesiat-

ical legislation of the Middle Ages, and in

practice of the Inquisition, which imposed

abjuration on formal heretics as well as on

suspects. Today, the term is usually re-

stricted to the public retractation imposed

on those abandoning an 'acatholic' faith,

esp. Protestantism, in order to be received

into the Catholic Church. Acc. to the 'Form

for the Reception of a Covert,' used in the

RC Church in this country, only an un-

specified abjuration is required after the

formal profession of faith. It is enforced

as a guarantee of the sincerity of the

conversion and as a help for future

perseverance."

NOW FOR MORE ON THE BIG ISSUE

As I write on this the day after The

Feast of St. John the Baptist, I arrived

at Vauxhall's Big Issue H.Q. at around

7:00am to buy 100 copies of the 2oo8

New Year issue, No. 776. I soon found

out, however, that I had in fact wasted

my time and money by going there since

the edition was not to be released until

January 2nd, 2oo8, for vendors like

me to buy and quickly sell at their

pitch. Last year and the year before,

I got my New Year issues right away.

This year was not the case. Why? From

what I could see there was still

stacks and stacks of the now old 2oo7

"Festive Special" still waiting to be

bought and sold by vendors. Thus, the

focus was to sell those first before let-

ting the 2oo8 edition be bought and sold.

Next to those stacks, was even bigger

stacks of the now already printed 2oo8

New Year edition, No. 776. What this means

is that the 2oo8 New Year edition will sit

for another 5 or 6 days before either the

vendors can buy them or for the public

to read such ... In the meantime, we're

stuck with a magazine that is now almost

two weeks old and such is like trying to

sell a newspaper today that is already

dated and close to two weeks on the

stand ... My customers said to me today,

"I've got that, when is your next issue

coming out?" I told them it was already

out, but that I was stopped from buying

such until next week. Most customers

who hadn't bought the "Festive Special"

told me to keep it and gave me the money

for the magazine instead. The Big Issue

focus, no matter what, is to get rid of

all those 2oo7 "Festive Special" issues

still stacked and unsold before letting

the 2oo8 New Year issues out for release.

That, despite being told only last week

that such would be released on the 27th,

which is today, and that's why I went to

Vauxhall to buy such ready for my customers

to enjoy. Alot of publications release

their New Year edition well before the New

Year itself arrives. But not so at The

Big Issue this year. It's way too long

to expect vendors to continue to flog a

magazine that's been on the streets for

almost two weeks now ... Yes, the big

whigs didn't print a sell by date for

the "Festive Special" like most editions

are of The Big Issue. With or without a

sell date, the public still quickly become

wary of seeing the same front cover for days

and days on end. What's worse it doesn't

help vendors to capitalise on potential

New Year income and sales without a New

Year edition that is now just sitting in

some warehouse or storage for the next 5

or 6 dayz. Is it the process or the

product or is the product or the process?

The product is there, but the process has

been manipulated to prevent the product

from being sold. In the news business,

it's otherwise called "embargo." That's

what The Big Issue has now done!!

I had planned to work at my Long

Arce pitch right through until

New Year' Eve, like I've done in

previous years by selling the New

Year edition. But it's pointless

this year without the 2oo8 edition

being for sale right now. So I

simply finished business today and

will now go off to "Tom Brown's Old

School Days at Rugby" and stay there

at the famous prep school with two

old friends of mine along with my

young Canadian grand nephew at Oxford

who will also stay with us for the New

Year at Rugby ...

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY, Monty.

Isadora Duncan, 2oo7.

PS. As I hopped on the 87 bus, I

saw perhaps half a dozen or more

Big Issue staffers tossing lots of

bungles of 2oo7 and 2oo8 issues into

the back of a stationary van with

the name "West Wallasey" on it, I

think ... It was now about 7:45am

and it was still rather dark as I

saw the last of Vauxhall ... As I

darkly glimpsed the staffers doing

their thing, it almost looked like

they were card-carrying members of

a local Working Mens Social Club

instead of being assembled at some

magazine headquarters ...

Ah, yes I also did achieve to-

day my goal of getting in 2,000

quid by the end of the year for

my Xmas fund raising period. I

did the sum by just over 7 quid

mind you ... But £2,007 feels

mighty good and I would have

earned more if those 2oo8

New Year issues had been

sold to me this morning at

Vauxhall for me to sell and

make even more cash for the

remaining dayz of 2oo7 at my

pitch. Instead, I'm now off to

Rugby in the next hour or so for

the New Year ... And yes, two grand

does sound hot, but such is still

cold peanuts compared to what I once

earned as a news photographer in

America and elsewhere ...

It's Now Christmas Eve In Olde London Towne ...

From about 7:30am on this Christmas Eve

morning and until around 3:00pm, I manned

my Big Issue pitch on this critical day before

Christmas Day. Up until midday, there was

little foot traffic at Covent Garden's Long

Arce at where my permanent pitch is located.

The street was bare this morning of last minute

Xmas shoppers compared to last year's crowded

sidewalks and big shopping bags loading down

those walking by my pitch. But despite such little

activity, I was doing just fine thank you very much.

My "Festive Special" of this week's issue was

selling steadily as more folkz began to hit the

street as the morning ticked by toward 10.

Plus, I was getting if not big donations at least

a steady flow of 1 and 2 quid coins being tossed

into my jacket top pocket ... The more the

merrier I kept saying to myself. By 3, I was com-

pletely sold out of all my issues having brought

extra copies in anticipation that I would have

a good day of business and donations. Indeed,

I did and most gratefully, too.

Then came Archie, Bengy, and Jason all

seemingly lost to the world. Archie, who is

in his early 20's, was so hypo he was like a

uncontrollable train coming dead at you.

While Bengy, in his 20's like Archie, had

been beaten up some hours earlier on the

streets and he looked like a physical wreak

with a huge black eye on the left side of his

smashed face. While his right side looked like

it was all grazed with purple abrasions and

dried blood and blobs of black dirt. Clearly,

he'd been knocked to the ground has he was

attacked by 3 or 4 loutz or yobz. What for

Bengy didn't say. After him, followed lanky

Jason with no front teeth and who was the most

damaged and lost. He had no wingz to fly!!

His tongue was half out and his hair seemed to

be standing on his head. He first talked only

monosyllabically: "Victoria," then "Crisis," then

"Shelter," then came a torrent of words and ob-

scentities from his cruel and unkind mouth:

"IWANTAFUCKINGBUSTOCRISISAND
IWANTTOGETTOVICTORIATOGETTO
CRISISTOGETMEFOODFORMYFUCKING

SELF ..." The look on his blinking eyes was

almost scary and so telling, psychiatrically . Jason

could almost be a type of pyromaniac if given

fireworks aside from suffering from obvious

gobs of differing psychonerosises, it seems to

me. Perhaps age 25 to 27, Jason isn't going

to make it socially, economically, emotionally,

mentally, or psychologically. He'd be better

off with a cyanide tablet to put him out of

his own misery and our's ...

The three of them had two thingz in common

aside from them all being male. They wanted

to go to CRISIS for Christmas and they were

all certifiably homeless. I told them where to go.

I was glad I could help them in my own little

way. No sooner had they gone, I then saw this

woman approaching my pitch. She looked like

an ugly and overweight piggy on two feet.

Because she's a female, it doesn't mean she

possesses one iota of femininity. Such was the

case I encountered with Miss Piggly Wiggly.

She was trying to find her daughter who she

says may be a runaway from home. I told

her that I had no idea about her kid. I asked

if you had any photos of the girl and whether

she'd reported her missing to the police. She

ignored my questions and said she feared

the girl was sleeping with an older homeless

man and she wanted to stop that from

happening to her daughter. When I asked

her how she'd come to such conclusions,

she declared that she was once married

to an homeless man who worked for

The Big Issue. I told her then and there,

that her problem was her business and

not mine. I had no plans to get dragged

into such a messy situation as the course

and vulgar woman started making wild acc-

usations against all and sundry at The Big

Issue ... Still determined to try and get

the last word in, she demanded to

know if I knew so and so and so and

so's address and the criminal records of

hims and hers. Seeing that she wasn't

gaining an instant ally, she mouthed

off to me and then left in disgust at me.

Is this what our English Christmas has

now come to? What a pity!! Whatever,

I was at my pitch to focus on making

the best of the last day of business for

the Xmas fund raising period for me from

December 9th to 24th. I had bought 135

copies of Big Issue's "Christmas Special;"

and 175 copies of its "Festive Special."

The total number of copies was 310

with a total wholesale investment of

£257.00. As of this Xmas Eve, I have

taken in £1,805.00 over the past 15

days. Thus, I've made £1,548.00.

Bravo!! I'd aimed for £2,000.00

by this time, but I'll now aim to get

that figure by my last day of this year

being December 31st, 2oo7.

Will, I make it? You bet!!

Now let me tell you of one magical

moment above and beyond anything

else that's happened this Xmas at

my pitch. It happened yesterday.

He came and gave me a wrapped

present of new wholly gloves and

I thanked him for it ...

When I read what was written on

the gift, I was quite moved. It said:

"Monty, my friend. I am thinking of

you at Christmas." It was signed,

Daniel age 6 ... As he gave me

the present, his mom and dad

stood by simply beaming at

Daniel their young son ... And

I was beaming at Daniel for the

magical moment he'd brought

to me and my pitch. That's what

Christmas is all about, isn't it?

To me, Christ dwells in Daniel

and his loving parents and they

dwell in Him. And if He dwells

in you and you dwell in Him, then

it doesn't matter about the lack of

Xmas foot traffic to benefit the

greedy store owners or the female

without femininity or Miss Piggly

Wiggly or the lost souls I saw in

Archie, Bengy, and Jason today.

Or whatever profit I made or how

many Christmas issues I sold.

All is simply transient without Him.

Kind regards, Monty,

Christmas Eve, 2oo7.

Pretty Close To £1,500 Pounds So Far This Xmas ...

It's the shortest day of the year, yet for me it's been one

of the best and busiest days of this otherwise somber

Christmas on the last Friday before Christmas Day. It

started early for me this morning at just after 7:00am as

old customers and friends seemed to pop-up from nowhere

all together and leave me overjoyed with their gifts and

cash ... It started with James Bradbury who not only gave

me 50 quid but also $US100.00 to go towards my dash to

America should I go to see Contessa Maria there after her

broken hip has now been fixed.

Then it was Paul and Neil Davenport who gave me two

fifty quid banknotes as crisp as the morning frost. Thank

you so much you guyz for your kind generosity!! And

before I knew what had hit me, there was another old

customer of mine who I'd not seen in ages. She was none

other Sue Kelly with a lovely Xmas card with yet another

£50.00 enclosed in two twenties and a five. Next came

Maureen Garfield, an American lady from Maryland and

who lives in London, who promptly handed me a brand

new 20 pound note. As the day wore on, I was bedazzled

by the money rolling in and the gifts galore. By 12 noon, I

had 27 cards and 19 gifts. While, Cymru Television then

came and interviewed me on the spot or at my pitch for all

to see ... Talk about being a celebrity!! Some folkz thought

for a moment I was. Remember we no longer have 15 minutes

of fame, we get only 15 seconds thesedays just like me today.

Christmas has finally arrived for me after all the doom

and gloom of the past two weeks. I'm now about even

compared to my figures from last Christmas. Whether

today's blockbuster is just a one day oddity, I'll soon see

tomorrow being the last Saturday before the big day.

If I do well then, I shall feel alot more optimistic
about Xmas 2oo7 ...

Then came Nick Alfrey with a twenty for me. Fiona Sloss,

too, gave me such. The list goes on and on today with a

total of £431.00 given to me by those wonderful cus-

tomers of mine in the 7 hours I was at my Big Issue

pitch today. If only every day was like today,

I would then soon be a millionaire!!

Others who have given to me of gifts and cash during

this Christmas period include some of the following: Jill

Ferguson, Dan Ryman, Nigel and Fiona Ballard, Paul

Martin-Davies, Jon and Linda Annetts, Peter Roberts,

Shirley Ginsie, Jonathan Stoleman, Sham Gulpur, Ann

Morris, Jan Allen, Jan Mol, Kevin Cloud, John Lroughair,

Kyle Davidson, Richard Offer, Steve Foley, Mary Anderson,

Jenny Shoemaker, Gary Simms, Lloyd Dobson, Sharon Tate,

Marge Renfrew, Eric Chippendale and numerous others who I

don't know by their names. In any event, I'm simply so grateful

to all of the those folkz for finally making my Christmas seem

once again so special like it should always be ... My aim now

is to break the £2,000 mark by Christmas Eve ... His blessings

I'm assured no matter what!!

Keep warm, Monty. Three Dayz To Xmas, 2007.

You Cannot Even Prick Their Conscience To Give ...

It's the last Thursday before Christmas Eve and all

is dead quiet at London's Long Arce. So quiet, it's

almost deafening!! By mid-day, thingz had livened

up abit at my Big Issue pitch. But signs of a good

Christmas seem pretty elusive for me and most

vendors I've talked to in the last 24 hours.

As the lunchtime office workers came out to

grab some grub, it was hard to see a happy

face among the gloomy specimens that

rushed on by in the freezing cold. You

cannot even prick their conscience to

give, because most of them have no con-

science to prick ... All they care about is finishing

the day at the office and hoping to collect

some kind of Christmas bonus to spend

on themselves and not on others ...

Certainly, not to spend or give money

to street vendors, especially those from

The Big Issue.

This year there is a noticeable decline

in what I call "impulsive givers," who

are those who see someone in need

and without a second thought give

them something on the spot. Im-

pulsive givers are also usually

happy givers and are then happy

to have given a helping hand ...

I don't think I've seen even an

handful of such impulsive givers

since the start of The Big Issue's

Christmas Special. And now

with the Festive Special -- with

a front cover almost identical

to last week's Christmas Special

that has confused some of my

customers thinking the Christmas

and Festive issues are the same

when they are not!! -- the death of

the impulsive giver is enshrined

with tombstones all along Long

Arce ... and now frozen stiff

and lifeless for the walking

and talking as they go by

the imaginary tombstones

of death ...

And, perhaps the epithet for this

miserable Christmas in England

is RIP -- Rest In Peace!! We'll see,

however, if such is to be. I did

see later this afteroon a few more

folkz with Christmas shopping bags

and perhaps by tomorrow and

the last weekend before Christmas

Day, that we'll see somekind of

stampede to do the last minute

shopping at Covent Garden

and the West End. Such won't

help The Big Issue street

vendors that much, but it may

bring an extra person or two

to decide it would be nice to

give a little to a vendor here

and there. Frankly, I doubt

such will happen if the kind

I seen over the past week is

any indication of any kind of

goodwill on their frozen

faces and cold-heartedness ...

Surprise me please and make

me happy by showing me other-

wise!! Whatever, it's messages

like Michele Zini from halfway

around the world that brings

such joy against the grimness

of this London's Chrismastide.

I, therefore, leave you with

some of Michele's warmth

and happiness ...

Dearest Monty,
I'll be flying to Italy tomorrow for the vacations

and I'll be off emails most of the time...therefore

this is just a quick note in advance to wish you and

your beloveds a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2008.

I hope that you're well and that you received my

email a while ago with a few pictures from my trip

to Namibia...beautiful country!! Take care and

enjoy your holidays See you sometime in 2008!!

Best, Michele.
mzini@worldbank.org<
Subject: Merry Christmas Date: Wed 12/19/07 05:06 AM

Looking At London's Xmas From The Ground Up ...

The Big Issue street vendors are crying out loud as they

see little coming their way this Christmas in London. We

still have left Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday,

Sunday and Christmas Eve to avert what looks like

an all round bloody awful Xmas for most of them.

Today, I watched thousands and thousands of

scrooges go by at Covent Garden without giving

a dime or thought about giving just alittle ... Of

course, the "I, I, I," and the "Me, Me, Me" generations

rarely give since they've been reared as self-centered

creatures and not taught to give to others whether

it's Christmas or at any other time of the year.

So those under age 35 are by nature non-givers.

Also useless immigrants and vexing foreigners

rarely buy The Big Issue, so we can throw them

out of the window as non-givers, too. Those

with arms full of shopping bags have spent

their money on themselves and their loved

ones, so don't expect anything from them.

And those with no shopping bags -- and I've

seen more than plenty of them -- don't give

because they either have little money or are

so up to their dirty necks in debt they're

not only not going to give to street

vendors of The Big Issue, but they're not

even going to give a thought or damn

about them ...

So where does that leave most vendors

at this Christmastide? It leaves them

between a rock and hard place - period.

What I am seeing, however, from the ground

up at my Long Arce pitch is this: Folkz

who say last year gave me 10 quid for

Christmas are giving me a fiver this.

Those who gave me twenty are doing

much the same this year. While those

who gave my five quid last year are

either giving me a couple of quid or

nothing this year except perhaps some

loose change for me to pocket ...

It seems those who are well off and

generous are doing pretty much the same

this year, but there seems less of them

around from what I can figure out

this Christmas. Those either on normal

wages and/or debt ridden are the ones

who aren't giving so much to The Big Issue

vendors at present. I suspect if they're

not giving to vendors they are also not

giving to other charitable groups ...

Looking the other day at the financial

statement of The Big Issue Foundation

at The Charity Commission, I noticed it,

too, was thousands of pounds below

previous figures in the million pound

range of previous years compared to

today's mere six figure range ...

What vendors must realise, too, is that no-

body has to give them anything no matter

if they expect such or feel they're entitled

or worthy to receive at Christmastide ...

They're vendors, like two I saw today at

Holborn, who have just shown their pretty

faces again after being absent for months

at their pitch. Suddenly, they think if they

show up just days before Christmas Day

that they'll be showered with gifts and

money from kind by passers ... Maybe

that happened last Xmas or the

Christmases before, but this year it

ain't going to cut it ... Sorry babes, but

you're been out of the loop and so be

grateful now for whatever you get even

if it's cold peanuts and not hot porridge!

Tuff luck, ain't it? Poooooor things!!

Whatever comes out of this Christmas,

be it a feast or a famine in the end, there is

always tomorrow. If you stay focused on

what you do no matter what comes your

way, you will sooner or later survive

and may even flourish beyond your

wildest expectations. Don't depend on

other people per se, but rather depend

on yourself. Tomorrow is a new day

and a new day brings all kinds of

possibilities no matter if all you see

are cold peanuts ... The hot porridge will

comes if you hang on. Look at John

Bird, he's gone from eating peanuts,

so to speak, to daily hot porridge

because he stayed focussed on what

he wanted to achieve. You can, too,

no matter if you're a street vendor

shivering in the bitter cold of London's

cold streets and watching thousands of

Christmas scrooges go by of Dickensian

attitude and mindset ...

Cheers eveybody, Monty.

+I'Eiles avene angicane, 2oo7.