Banker Beggins

Crowds standing on elevators and climbing steps emerge from the underground each morning to hit the concrete sidewalks . Pedestrians flow in and out and around and around each other as they go to their work places .

Each morning the streets of London paint a similar picture .

The homeless greet the morning rush hour with a blank image of sorrow and surrender . The passers by are well dressed in their suits carrying brief cases and brolleys . Many of them feel threatened by the no fixed abode crew who have been thrown on the hard road of life begging for money from them .

The less fortunate ones are not always drug addicts or alcoholics .

Some are victims of circumstance who have come to find work in London .

However finding a job and somewhere to live in London is easier said than done . Many end up homeless sleeping out in parks , bus depots ,or in shop doorways at night or in other places like cardboard city , the Bullring or some derelict building . If they are street smart or lucky they may find a squat or a golden key that provides accommodation in the city .

During the day this homeless breed end up begging on the sidewalks .

It has become their only means of survival . With a cardboard sign that reads hungry and homeless they place them selves in the view of the morning rush .

Those with lucrative lifestyles and a steady job have a need to give something .

It eases their conscience and keeps those with scruples at ease with themselves .

This is where the story of Bill Beggins begins .

Every morning Bill got up early to press his business shirt and organise his paperwork for the day . Then after a light breakfast he put his suit and briefcase along with a well polished pair of shoes inside his Roller parked in the drive .

After this he would return inside to get ready for his other job .

He put on some dirty old jeans with holes in the knees , odd socks and boots with holes in the soles . Over his tattered shirt he wore an old coat with black burn holes in the elbows . Once dressed he left in his car for Central London

He always parked in an alleyway and after locking his car Bill Beggins walked the same route along the Banks of the Thames to his usual spot .

There he would sit with a cardboard sign around his neck that read .

"Help . Hungry and Homeless "

Bill begged there until nine every morning and then he would gather up his

takings and walk back to his car . There he would shave with his mobile battery travel shaver and change into his business shirt and suit and make his way to the bank where he had a reputation as one the most respected bankers . He was regarded by many as The Bank Of England .

Bill Beggins handled billions of pounds controlled by some of the worlds biggest corporations .

No one ever knew about his other life as a beggar on the streets of London until the morning his Roller was found left abandoned in a park .

Bill Beggins body was found later that day hanging under a bridge in London .

Around his neck was a cardboard sign that read ,

"Too Greedy For Life "

His death made the headlines and for a long time the cold streets of London felt a little more friendly and a new focus on the plight of homelessness had been raised .

The End

By Paul McCann