[Osem]

We see very few rough sleepers around here but a few years ago there was a homeless alcoholic guy who used to regularly sleep in the doorway of our old job centre. I often used to sit on a small green area nearby with my 2 young lads and had seen him many times before so this particular day nothing seemed untoward as I read the paper and my lads ran around on the grass. It was only some time later that I discovered from the local paper that, later that same day, a passer by had become suspicious that he had not moved at all and found he was dead. Apparently he'd died in the night and his body had been lying there all day as people, including me, went about their normal routine. I suppose I'm thinking that rather than being the stereotypical no good, lazy, unemployed waster people tend to assume, he could well have started out just like the guy I talked to today. Maybe that's how most of these people find themselves in a downward spiral leading to despair, alcohol abuse and worse.