Chapter 1: London Pride

“Mommy mommy look at that man!!! What’s he doing there mommy…?” What can be more genuinely and purely innocent than this curious little 5-year-old boy, pointing at the man lying on the street and eagerly staring at his mom for an answer.

It is yet another typical gloomy and cold London morning, as I was listening to Amy Winehouse on my iPod and taking my routine stroll down the street when this high-pitched and excitement-filled voice caught my attention. There he was, a homeless man in his 50s, or so I presume if it were not obvious enough, sleeping on the street with sheets of newspaper underneath and absolutely curled up like a cooked shrimp in a cocktail.

“Now you see Danny, this is what happens if you don’t go to school. People sleep on the street if they don’t work hard to get a good life…”

It is such a shame that homeless people, beggars and drunkards are all over London, quite often we do come across one every now and then. Ironically, I caught a glimpse of an empty Fuller’s bottle next to the man lying on the street, which reminds me of the tagline of this English lager – London Pride.