Phone is ringing, oh my god.
I have become increasingly worried about the attitude towards the mentally ill on this forum
(stop me if I've already done this)
In an unprovoked assault upon my character, Karl Wiggins described me as being like, er... hang on... 'one of those old winos you see down Camden market.' He then goes on to describe his behaviour towards them; he points at them and laughs.
I'm sure that John Bird - the founder of the Big Issue and co-founder of ABCtales - would not find that type of behaviour at all encouraging. The majority of 'old winos' do not end up desperate on the streets by choice. They normally have a history of distressing mental illness. Surely these people deserve our full respect and support rather than a mocking gesture and an uncaring belly laugh.
Another less important member o four community similarly referred to me as the sort of person you change seats on the bus to get away from. If that person would just take the time to engage in pleasant conversation with one of those unfortunate souls I'm sure they'd find a decent and honest human being in need of a helping hand.
(I'm sure I've done this before)