| I never was one that needed money or had to | | | | hour, so I often ducked into the subway to |
| work because my parents left me with a | | | | warm up. My begging day is twelve hours and |
| generous annuity. Most of my life was spent | | | | at the end of that long cold day I had |
| traveling around the world making love to | | | | accumulated just fifty bucks. The working |
| beautiful women. None of them captured my | | | | conditions of a beggar could not be worse. |
| interest for long. They were only interested | | | | |
| in sharing my annuity and found nothing of | | | | The most painful part of a beggar's life came |
| value in my inner being. Wherever I went | | | | from the people that despise beggars. Cries |
| people were interested only in what I could | | | | of: "Go get a job you bum" were always |
| do for them in terms of money. I began to | | | | ringing in my ears. I was often spat upon, |
| doubt my self worth. Alcohol seemed to solve | | | | and the wetness of saliva became a part of my |
| my feelings of inferiority until I took a | | | | face. Policemen and store owners were always |
| look in the mirror and saw a filthy looking | | | | chasing me away; they had me be constantly on |
| creature staring back at me. There had to be | | | | the move. The swift blow of a policeman's |
| a better way for me to feel worthy, and after | | | | club on my rear end was the most discouraging |
| years of searching I found the answer. It was | | | | part of a bad day. The store owners were more |
| by begging for a buck. | | | | tactful, they didn't want an eyesore in front |
| | | | of their door, so they gave me a dollar to |
| One of the hardest ways to earn money is by | | | | take my body elsewhere. My biggest fear was |
| begging for a buck. Most people think it's an | | | | to be set on fire by a gang of sadistic |
| easy occupation, but they are wrong. Speaking | | | | youths. I heard stories that beggars were |
| from my experience as a beggar, I can say | | | | being doused with gasoline and burned alive. |
| that it is a tough Job getting someone to | | | | There was no way for me to avoid that |
| voluntarily hand over a buck; there were | | | | nightmare; I could only hope it never |
| times when I stood on a corner in ninety | | | | happened to me. |
| degree weather for twelve hours to make only | | | | |
| thirty dollars. In order to make people feel | | | | I often ask myself why I chose such a |
| sorry for me I had to bundle up in rags. | | | | difficult lifestyle when so many more |
| Nobody hands over money to a well dressed | | | | respectful avenues were open to me, like a |
| beggar. The sweat produced from a hot day and | | | | decent job. I always get the same answer, and |
| the piles of rags on my body turned those | | | | that answer makes me continue being a beggar: |
| rags into a soaking wet garment. The opposite | | | | There is no feeling that is as wonderful as |
| was true in the winter. I had to stand on a | | | | the feeling I get when some kind person hands |
| corner in freezing weather dressed only in | | | | me a buck. At that moment of enlightenment I |
| dirty underwear. The underwear was full of | | | | come to the realization that I am worth |
| holes to complete the effect. It was | | | | something as a human being, even if it's only |
| difficult being in the cold for more than an | | | | more then a buck. |