19 April 2016

“Scum” at the Dickson shops… really?

| Steven Bailey
Join the conversation
27
Musician and local icon Sydney

In recent weeks there has been lots of community discussion about people busking, begging and generally loitering at the Dickson shops. Last week I was listening to a local radio station, and during this particular segment listeners called in to complain about being pestered by the local ‘riff-raff’.

Listeners complained of being harassed and even assaulted on their way to the local shops. Of course this behaviour is to be condemned, and I must admit that sometimes I get a bit shirty with the young tourists who relentlessly nag people to sign up to a charity. I respect them for the job that they are doing however, as it must be a hard gig.

I have never had a problem with any of these people at Dickson, and over the years I have gotten to know many of them as friends.

So last week, I decided to take some time out of my morning and have a chat with a few of the Dickson locals. I was struck by the generosity and humanity with which they shared their stories and struggles; their hardships and their sorrows.

Well-known 88-year-old busker, Sydney (pictured above), told me how his mother gave him up to an orphanage when he was a child, and how he searched for his father after fighting in World War II. He told me how he contemplated committing suicide one day but was talked out of it by his neighbour.

“I didn’t do it because I loved my kids too much, but I would have if they weren’t around,” he said.

Sydney plays the harmonica most days of the week outside of the Dickson Woolworths, and I was humbled when he told me that he gives all of the proceeds to charity.

“You’ve got to do something with your life, otherwise you’ll just rot I suppose,” he said.

Sydney is getting married in September this year.

One of the men who spoke to me I know quite well. Recently his mother died, he has a brain tumour, and has suffered learning difficulties all of his life. He told me that he can’t wait to leave Canberra.

“Some people are really nasty for no reason”, he said.

“All I do is sing for a few coins. I don’t know why the police told me to go away.”

When I asked charity worker Day Mattar how he copes with the constant rejection, he burst out laughing, put his hand on my shoulder and said, “Mate, I’m used to rejection – I’m a gay man for god’s sake!”

Many of the callers on the local radio station were calling for tougher laws and regulations to remove people who pestered them. I do understand their frustration, but the ACT already has many laws in place to deal with people who are making a nuisance of themselves. If you feel threatened, call the police. In the meantime, maybe you could get to know some of these people – they’re not all that bad.

Join the conversation

27
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

chewy14 said :

RDS said :

Thank you for writing this article.

It bothers me when I see people (even friends) complaining about buskers, or people who ask for money, donations or for you to sign up to charity groups. Some need to remember that if people had not stooped to a low point in their life and thought they had an alternative, they probably would not choose to sit outside in the sun, hot or cold each day and ask people for money over and over to be rejected, in some cases abused and given dirty looks. It would be humiliating and hard to deal with.

The way I see it is – if you want to and you have loose money to spare you can help out and if you don’t want to and don’t have time you can walk off. There is no point in degrading or complaining about people who aren’t harming anyone. Of course, some people like to complain about anyone and everything. I think it’s a disease and you have to wonder why it bothers them so much – is it because you’re a privileged, stressed out snob?

If someone is bothering you by asking for money or cigarettes and has done this on more than one occasion – why not laugh it off and tell them that they asked you five minutes ago?

It is a business owner or manager’s responsibility to politely ask them to busk a bit further away.

If you are being harassed by a junkie then you can notify security or notify police. Do not engage with them at all even to say no or make eye contact. You don’t need to.

You’re missing the point.

In Australia we have a significant social safety net that will help anyone who needs it. It may not be ideal but there is definitely help available for those who want it. These people may have had a hard life or made bad decisions but that doesn’t give them the right to harrass others in a public place. There is a clear alternative available.

And for many people it’s not so easy to just laugh it off or ignore them. Some of these beggars can be quite persistent and intimidating. By behaving the way they are, they do harm other’s ability to peacefully go about their business. They aren’t necessarily passively begging.

And as for the Chuggers, they literally have no excuse. They are preying on people’s conscience to give money to charities when in reality a large proportion of that money is going into their own pockets or their employers. They should be outright banned.

No, actually, I just don’t agree with you. Some people are unemployable because of their past, their habits, their lack of experience, appearance and education or their mental health issues. There may be many circumstances where for some reason or other their benefit is not enough to sustain them or they cannot wait to be housed. I do not care about why they are not receiving benefits, if they are or why they’re asking for money – I just think that people need to be more compassionate.

I don’t have a problem with the buskers a Dickson. They’re not “begging” for money. Most of them are pretty good. The beggars, that’s something else. 2 years ago, a Saturday @ 11.30am I walked past one of these milk crate sitters outside Woolworths. An individual who I had told politely on previous occasions not to ask me for money or smokes. He’d seen me use the ATM, and as walked past him perched on his crate with his cap on the ground he said, “You must have some money for me?”. My response was not so polite, out of frustration I guess. I continued walking back to my car, unaware that he was following me. Like all “coward punches”, I never saw it coming. I woke up in the Macca’s car park, glasses smashed, jaw throbbing, lips cut. Witnesses say he used his right elbow to smash me from behind, hitting the left side of my jaw and knocking me out cold, then kicking me in the back while I was out, before running away. He’s still there 2 years later, begging, like it never happened. Guess I should just “get over it?”

chewy14 said :

Bennop said :

I think you are missing the point. My understnading is that a large percentage of beggars, homeless, and long term welfare recipients experience mental health issues that significantly effect their ability to lift themselves out of their financially vulnerable situation, or use what resources they do receive in a “smart ” manner. Just because a saftey net exiss does not mean it is useful for everyone.

As for chuggers, if they didnt work for the charities, i suspect they wouldnt use them. And is it *really* that hard to keep walking, or walk around them?

Yes, some of these beggars might have mental health or other issues and as I said the welfare safety net is not perfect. This doesn’t excuse their behaviour or make it acceptable in any way. Supplementing their income by harrassing others shouldn’t be encouraged just because they waste their money or aren’t able to access the services available. That’s an argument for making the services more accessible.

And some of the chuggers don’t just sit there as you walk past, they deliberately get in your way and refuse to take no for an answer. And that’s coming from a man who isn’t small in stature, I’d hate to see what they do to other people who are more vunerable. They prey on people to line their own pockets rather than to raise money for charities. As I said before, they should be banned.

Well, on both those issues I guess it is an isue of what either of us consider permissable and/or tolerable. I consider them both tolerable. Bigger things matter.

Bennop said :

I think you are missing the point. My understnading is that a large percentage of beggars, homeless, and long term welfare recipients experience mental health issues that significantly effect their ability to lift themselves out of their financially vulnerable situation, or use what resources they do receive in a “smart ” manner. Just because a saftey net exiss does not mean it is useful for everyone.

As for chuggers, if they didnt work for the charities, i suspect they wouldnt use them. And is it *really* that hard to keep walking, or walk around them?

Yes, some of these beggars might have mental health or other issues and as I said the welfare safety net is not perfect. This doesn’t excuse their behaviour or make it acceptable in any way. Supplementing their income by harrassing others shouldn’t be encouraged just because they waste their money or aren’t able to access the services available. That’s an argument for making the services more accessible.

And some of the chuggers don’t just sit there as you walk past, they deliberately get in your way and refuse to take no for an answer. And that’s coming from a man who isn’t small in stature, I’d hate to see what they do to other people who are more vunerable. They prey on people to line their own pockets rather than to raise money for charities. As I said before, they should be banned.

chewy14 said :

RDS said :

Thank you for writing this article.

It bothers me when I see people (even friends) complaining about buskers, or people who ask for money, donations or for you to sign up to charity groups. Some need to remember that if people had not stooped to a low point in their life and thought they had an alternative, they probably would not choose to sit outside in the sun, hot or cold each day and ask people for money over and over to be rejected, in some cases abused and given dirty looks. It would be humiliating and hard to deal with.

The way I see it is – if you want to and you have loose money to spare you can help out and if you don’t want to and don’t have time you can walk off. There is no point in degrading or complaining about people who aren’t harming anyone. Of course, some people like to complain about anyone and everything. I think it’s a disease and you have to wonder why it bothers them so much – is it because you’re a privileged, stressed out snob?

If someone is bothering you by asking for money or cigarettes and has done this on more than one occasion – why not laugh it off and tell them that they asked you five minutes ago?

It is a business owner or manager’s responsibility to politely ask them to busk a bit further away.

If you are being harassed by a junkie then you can notify security or notify police. Do not engage with them at all even to say no or make eye contact. You don’t need to.

You’re missing the point.

In Australia we have a significant social safety net that will help anyone who needs it. It may not be ideal but there is definitely help available for those who want it. These people may have had a hard life or made bad decisions but that doesn’t give them the right to harrass others in a public place. There is a clear alternative available.

And for many people it’s not so easy to just laugh it off or ignore them. Some of these beggars can be quite persistent and intimidating. By behaving the way they are, they do harm other’s ability to peacefully go about their business. They aren’t necessarily passively begging.

And as for the Chuggers, they literally have no excuse. They are preying on people’s conscience to give money to charities when in reality a large proportion of that money is going into their own pockets or their employers. They should be outright banned.

I think you are missing the point. My understnading is that a large percentage of beggars, homeless, and long term welfare recipients experience mental health issues that significantly effect their ability to lift themselves out of their financially vulnerable situation, or use what resources they do receive in a “smart ” manner. Just because a saftey net exiss does not mean it is useful for everyone.

As for chuggers, if they didnt work for the charities, i suspect they wouldnt use them. And is it *really* that hard to keep walking, or walk around them?

RDS said :

Thank you for writing this article.

It bothers me when I see people (even friends) complaining about buskers, or people who ask for money, donations or for you to sign up to charity groups. Some need to remember that if people had not stooped to a low point in their life and thought they had an alternative, they probably would not choose to sit outside in the sun, hot or cold each day and ask people for money over and over to be rejected, in some cases abused and given dirty looks. It would be humiliating and hard to deal with.

The way I see it is – if you want to and you have loose money to spare you can help out and if you don’t want to and don’t have time you can walk off. There is no point in degrading or complaining about people who aren’t harming anyone. Of course, some people like to complain about anyone and everything. I think it’s a disease and you have to wonder why it bothers them so much – is it because you’re a privileged, stressed out snob?

If someone is bothering you by asking for money or cigarettes and has done this on more than one occasion – why not laugh it off and tell them that they asked you five minutes ago?

It is a business owner or manager’s responsibility to politely ask them to busk a bit further away.

If you are being harassed by a junkie then you can notify security or notify police. Do not engage with them at all even to say no or make eye contact. You don’t need to.

You’re missing the point.

In Australia we have a significant social safety net that will help anyone who needs it. It may not be ideal but there is definitely help available for those who want it. These people may have had a hard life or made bad decisions but that doesn’t give them the right to harrass others in a public place. There is a clear alternative available.

And for many people it’s not so easy to just laugh it off or ignore them. Some of these beggars can be quite persistent and intimidating. By behaving the way they are, they do harm other’s ability to peacefully go about their business. They aren’t necessarily passively begging.

And as for the Chuggers, they literally have no excuse. They are preying on people’s conscience to give money to charities when in reality a large proportion of that money is going into their own pockets or their employers. They should be outright banned.

Thank you for writing this article.

It bothers me when I see people (even friends) complaining about buskers, or people who ask for money, donations or for you to sign up to charity groups. Some need to remember that if people had not stooped to a low point in their life and thought they had an alternative, they probably would not choose to sit outside in the sun, hot or cold each day and ask people for money over and over to be rejected, in some cases abused and given dirty looks. It would be humiliating and hard to deal with.

The way I see it is – if you want to and you have loose money to spare you can help out and if you don’t want to and don’t have time you can walk off. There is no point in degrading or complaining about people who aren’t harming anyone. Of course, some people like to complain about anyone and everything. I think it’s a disease and you have to wonder why it bothers them so much – is it because you’re a privileged, stressed out snob?

If someone is bothering you by asking for money or cigarettes and has done this on more than one occasion – why not laugh it off and tell them that they asked you five minutes ago?

It is a business owner or manager’s responsibility to politely ask them to busk a bit further away.

If you are being harassed by a junkie then you can notify security or notify police. Do not engage with them at all even to say no or make eye contact. You don’t need to.

Grimm said :

the obvious junkies who harass people for money constantly at Dickson shops. “Spare some change bro?” and if people answer “No”, they often become abusive. Those people ARE scumbags.

You hit the nail on the head. Even when I lived near Dickson, I’d much prefer going to Belconnen to do my shopping because of this.

How many people honestly have a huge problem with the buskers? Even if they are terrible, you can just keep walking.

I’d wager the “Scumbags” people are talking about are the obvious junkies who harass people for money constantly at Dickson shops. “Spare some change bro?” and if people answer “No”, they often become abusive. Those people ARE scumbags and the police should be moving them on.

Charities that’ll accept coin donations or a one-off tap of the paypass card, without taking predatory measures to poach clients, yes. I’ll donate to them.

Buskers, if they’re putting in an effort, yes, if it’s a song i like, double the donation!

Get in my face at all, forget it. I find myself at plenty of shopping centres and other public spaces due to my work and am damn sick of people that won’t take no for an answer pestering me. Nowdays I don’t even acknowledge their presence and just keep walking. My partner has been known to hiss at them too. So fed up!!!!!

Now interview the couple whomwere vociferously airing their dirty laundry in public, guy from Lyneham who has Tourettes and very little impulse control (and thus, no idea of what is appropriate to do or say in public), or any number of other less palatable personalities.

I don’t condone seeking more police powers to move people on or take uncomfortable peorsonalities into custody, but don’t go trying to paint the issue as entirely the problem of intolerant people.

All of these people have lives that are very different to ours: some are victims of circumstance, some are paying the price for poor decisions they made in their past, some are simply messed up people who need little from us except patience and a bit of breathing space.

There are also some people in our community who view anyone different to them as nasty creatures not deserving of respect or dignity (cf: car drivers vs cyclists). Those are the people first on my list behind lawyers when it comes to my advanced eugenics program. These uncouth jokers from Dickson are pretty harmless in comparison.

Affirmative Action Man7:58 pm 18 Feb 15

What evidence is there that Sydney & Steve give their money to charity ? What charity do they give it to ? My experience is that many people asking or begging for $$$ are pretty flexible with the truth – the one constant is that they all have a beautifully worked out sob story.

Lovely story and Sydney sounds lovely, unfortunately I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing him.

I can see where people are coming from with their annoyances though; personally I work, live and ‘play’ in the city, and if I need a big grocery shop then I will head to Dickson Woolies. It is just getting old being harrassed day in day out.. Going to work, coming home, walking to lunch, going for an afternoon stroll, grocery shopping…etc. I can’t seem to be left alone. If I were to give everyone money who asked, I’d end up there with them! :-/ Especially those charity workers – I have to give them more than a nod, I have some quite literally JUMP in front of me, and when I apologise and say I’m in a hurry, they keep trying to stop me, shake my hand, engage me in conversation…

I enjoy having buskers – especially when they are actually talented. It’s the beggers that practically sit in the door frame of the supermarket, perhaps even just a legal distance they need to stay at from businesses? Especially on a busy evening; there is one at the entrance, one at the exit and one sitting on the bench by the tree.

And yes Paul Costigan – I’ve come across that gentleman a few times when I’m trying to have a quiet Sunday breakfast at an outdoor cafe. Too far.

No problem with people busking as long as they aren’t too loud or annoying other people.

Big problem with the chuggers or people actively begging (ie. Harassing passers by).

I want to see Sydney’s fiancée!

VYBerlinaV8_is_back4:40 pm 17 Feb 15

I love listening to buskers, even if they aren’t very good. They liven the place up and should be encouraged.

The chuggers, on the other hand, should be, um, removed.

The beggars are a pain, but in the big picture are a minor annoyance at most.

pink little birdie3:40 pm 17 Feb 15

I usually purposely avoid Dickson shops because of the beggars (not buskers) outside the woolworths entry. It’s about as close to me as anywhere else so I don’t bother. It’s usually after hours when this is an issue.

Good stuff, Steven.

Well said Steven. I’m often guilty of trying to get past the buskers and charity workers with minimal contact, but this story really resonated with me. Sydney’s story is astounding. 88 years old and still out there playing music, and what’s more, donating the proceeds to charity. Pretty impressive.

Some of the buskers at Dickson shops are OK, some are great. Some – not so much. In other parts of the country busking requires a license, which is given after the busker demonstrates that they have some talent. Enforcing that here would be good.

With regards to the unnamed man who said “All I do is sing for a few coins. I don’t know why the police told me to go away.” .. If he’s the bloke I’m thinking of, singing along to whatever’s playing on his earphones, it’s probably because (last I heard) he wasn’t a very good singer. And that’s putting it politely.

rigseismic67 said :

Yes yes yes, difficult childhood leads me to what I am now. Same old story , have these people ever heard of breaking the mold.
Oh that’s right these people are all saints and we should never say bad things about those ‘battlers’

What’s so bad about a retiree busking, enjoying himself, and donating the money to a charity? Would you rather he was cooped up at home alone?

Well that is an inflammatory comment, rigseismic67! Built in assumptions that you are better than they?

I personally love hearing buskers at the shops, and will contribute a bit with the deliberate intention of encouraging them to come back. It makes a place much more lively.

The frequent appearance of collectors for charities is a little annoying. For some people it is a challenge to say ‘no’, and I suspect the collectors’ audacity in approaching people means that many donate out of awkwardness.

The appearance of the occasional apparently really broke person is possibly related to the fact that it gets harder and harder to access government services and jobs – unless you have the internet at your fingertips and literacy of at least average level (which mathematically you would expect roughly half of the people NOT to have). I do worry that the number of have-nots is increasing while I am comfortable with my job and my computer.

rigseismic6710:51 am 17 Feb 15

Yes yes yes, difficult childhood leads me to what I am now. Same old story , have these people ever heard of breaking the mold.
Oh that’s right these people are all saints and we should never say bad things about those ‘battlers’

Paul Costigan10:47 am 17 Feb 15

Being a long time Dickson resident, I agree with most of your comments.

The fly in tourists charity workers have dominated the place for a while now – but they remain friendly and you can walk pass them and simply offer a polite nod (knowing they are just doing a job).

most of the buskers are polite and all you have to do is nod (and the occasional coin if they are good).

While most of the buskers are good fun – there’s one or two who are just a little too loud as they are annoying for the cafes and others workers nearby who have to listen to it all day. There used to be one who would set up very close to a coffee shop and was so loud that made he made conversation almost impossible – but he seemed to have moved on.

There is one annoying person who begs by walking around who makes a real nuisance of himself as he walks up to people walking and sitting anywhere, including those sitting in the outside coffee tables, and asks for money. To make matters worse, he does not remember who has asked, so if you stay there for a reasonable time, he returns!

But these nuisances are far in the minority. Buskers generally add to the atmosphere and should be encouraged. Definitely no need for police actions 99 percent of the time. More good music welcomed anytime!

Thanks for sharing, Steven. It’s good for all of us to be reminded just how similar we all are, and we all deserve the benefit of the doubt.

Alexandra Craig10:22 am 17 Feb 15

What a cool guy Sydney is! I haven’t seen him before either. But then again I only really drop into Dickson of an evening so he’s probably gone home.

Holden Caulfield9:41 am 17 Feb 15

Bravo Steven!

I don’t always agree with what you say or the way you act, but this is a great yarn, thank you for sharing.

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.