S I G H !!!!!!!

Hating seeing this "discussion" degenerate into........... whatever. Have my own s_it to deal with right now so haven't been a_sed really, lately, but............ here we go .................

My personal viewpoint:- the woman in question ALWAYS confronts me whether I go in OR out of SB's. Any day I have happened to go there, there she is, walking in front of me and waving her arms around. I am getting closed to telling her where to go, bigtime!
Years ago (not that many) the BI sellers used to stand and wait to be approached, mainly, maybe calling out "Big Issue" but NOT getting in your face! ....... and that worked for me - I actually bought an Issue once a week. If I recall correctly, they were only outside once or twice a week. One male seller, particularly, was very nice & pleasant and my sons used to look forward to seeing him, buying the magazine (which they would not read, as too old for them, but I would - IF anything was interesting to me) and also helping him (cos they have been brought up to know that there are always people worse off than ourselves)
One day, my youngest insisted on giving the guy a big hug, "because you need one" and it was a very emotional 5 minutes or so, for all.
I (and mine) DO care but the constant "hassle" outside SB's is becoming VERY annoying. My sons still recall years past when the "nice guy, who didn't hassle you" was outside. He has stuck in their memory, for good reasons. This latest BI seller woman will be stuck in their (and mine) memory, for many years to come, as someone who is BLOODY ANNOYING! (esp as we are not rich ourselves and count the pennys!)
Its getting too damn much EVERYDAY & I verbally mutter this when confronted yet AGAIN!
I also have had the approach when at the Cashpoint.
I am ALL for helping the homeless and other dis-advantaged peoples, as and when I am able to, but when I have it shoved in my face, day after day, to help, I more often than not, WON'T!
Lately - IMHO - apart from the BI seller - my local SB's is not up to par, in general, despite the refurbishment two years ago (almost) I tend to go elsewhere for my groceries, because, it's NOT GOOD for my general needs.
I don't drive, and I use many of the local independent shops, often, though sometimes they are more expensive, & take the "pee" with some of their prices (I know overheads are bad, but really, some of them take the total mick!) & if I think they are asking too much for a particular item, I wait and go elsewhere, but I do spend money on "something" in many local businesses, most often daily or as and when I can/need. I "look and shop around" for bargains, in supermarkets and independent shops.
FH SB's is a joke now, considering the rebuild, IMHO It's not a supermarket, it's a "Buy what we want to sell, cos you find it convenient, and don't have time to cut up a carrot" place. No improvement on the smaller one that used to be there, many times worse in fact, (IMHO) as, they keep on doing away with certain products/brands etc and change things about so often....... for TTD stuff it seems! ..... and the addition of a hassling BI seller, makes me avoid it like the plague, lately.
I wish we could have another "supermarket" in FH, instead of that one.
One where everyone can buy what they need, but really, I wish the shop leases would be cheaper so that Independent Shops could be able to run their businesses and serve the community.


SIGH!
sorry
guess it was my time to vent

Sue