The Walking Poor

By Pelham

The Walking Poor: an analysis of several societal groups and how they interact as well as an autobiographical/observational novel.

The author of the text formed part of the walking poor group for some fifteen months, and during this time he spent many, many hours contemplating the functioning of society as a whole, and how all of the elements of society relate to each other.

The Walking Poor contains the author’s conclusions in this respect, along with personal anecdotes detailing what it meant to him to be walking poor and a member of society in general.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fomite
• Release date: Jan 4, 2019
• ISBN: 9781944388881

Book preview

The Walking Poor

The Walking Poor

Pelham

Fomite

To L.K.

Contents

Untitled

Conclusion

About the Author

Also by Pelham

The Walking Poor wonders why a café would advertise that coffees cost ninety nine cents and then proceed to not bring one cent worth of change to an individual’s place at the counter when said individual pays with a one euro piece. The Walking Poor stops to pick up every one (or two) cent piece that he sees on the street (the Walking Poor walks in a stooped manner, which allows him to see everything that is on the footpath before him), but he never uses these one (or two) cent pieces to purchase goods or services. Rather, he collects these one (or two) cent pieces in his apartment because he once cast a spell (a love spell) which required the use of a found coin. The Walking Poor, who casts spells (love spells), wonders whether the value of a coin used for a spell (a love spell) alters its effectiveness. In using a found one cent piece the spell proved ineffective – perhaps a one or two euro piece would have proven more effective. Ever since this failed spell was cast, the Walking Poor has continued collecting every one and two cent piece he sees on the footpath before him. Five and ten cent pieces are somewhat more valuable than one and two cent pieces, and hence, these coins are kept in the Walking Poor’s wallet and spent.

The spell that did not achieve its desired result (the return of a lost love) was the simplest to conduct that the Walking Poor found online, and it required the use of the freezer of the individual conducting the spell. Since conducting the spell, the freezer of the Walking Poor has frozen over and is no longer able to be opened, hence, the love spell continues, the Walking Poor assumes. If the Walking Poor was able to open his freezer he would open it and remove the components that made up the spell. If he recalls correctly, the spell consisted of a lemon cut in two with a piece of paper with the name of the lost love contained within the two halves of the lemon; the lemon was then tied up with a red ribbon. The Walking Poor has forgotten how the found coin was used in relation to the conducting of the spell. The spell, clearly, is not of ancient origins, for the freezer is a relatively recent invention.

The refrigerator contained within the Walking Poor’s apartment came with the apartment, and the freezer component of the refrigerator is what was used in conducting this particular love spell. It was arduous for the Walking Poor to find red ribbon, for the Walking Poor is red-green colour blind. He asked several individuals what colour the ribbon he had purchased was, and the first ribbon that was purchased, it was ascertained, was more of a pink rather than a red; the second ribbon that was purchased was more of a red, it was ascertained. The question as to the colour of the ribbon was sent via email: the ribbons were photographed and then attached to said emails. It is possible that the quality of said photographs was poor, but it was evidently crucial that the ribbon used in said spell be red, to maintain the sanctity of the spell.

The Walking Poor is poor for a variety of reasons; he walks – for this is a cheaper option than taking public transportation – and hence, the title of ‘walking poor’. The ‘walking poor’ don’t work, and hence, they are differentiated from the average beggar. The work of a beggar is to beg, that is, the occupation of a beggar is to beg. The average beggar does not have rights to touch government funds for he is employed as a beggar. The Walking Poor, on the other hand, is not employed and is, hence, on permanent sick leave. The sick leave is validated by an accredited doctor, a psychiatrist, and as we know, no one questions the ‘wisdom’ of a psychiatrist. The doctor of the Walking Poor has advised that he will afford him indefinite sick leave for various reasons that the Walking Poor does not understand. The Walking Poor has done research, and he has learnt that one can only be on sick leave for a three year period. On advising his doctor of this fact, the doctor advised him that this is not the case if his particular case does not improve.

Some refer to beggars as the ‘poor’, but in actual fact the ‘poor’ are those who live on a low wage, a wage lower than the minimum wage. Beggars are not the ‘walking poor’, for beggars do not exactly walk but rather stagger. The Walking Poor swaggers, at a swift pace, and he can afford all that he requires on what the government provides him. Some beggars are seated while they beg, and hence it is clear that these beggars cannot be described as ‘walking poor’. The Walking Poor lacks respect for those who beg while seated: if we are going to be employed, we commit to said employment position, and commitment to begging demands staggering, sometimes in public transportation vehicles, sometimes on the street. The Walking Poor finds that beggars in public transportation vehicles are respectful: there are no intimidating tactics utilised by public transportation beggars; if they attempted to intimidate any travellers, they would be extremely outnumbered by other travellers who would presumably come to the aid of any traveller intimidated by a beggar.

The Walking Poor dresses well, in second-hand outfits. Hence, he is often harassed by street beggars, street beggars who stagger. He is moved by female street beggars, but he does not give in to the demands of staggering female street beggars, for, as he says to himself, he is poor also, although perhaps not as poor as beggars, who clearly fail to understand how to capitalise on a system that is set up to support those who do not wish to work. Certain staggering street beggars utilise intimidating tactics, and one cannot be sure as to the response staggering street beggars desire. Some desire the swiftest possible response (if the response is to be negative) while others wish for their entire story to be heard, and the Walking Poor never stops to hear the entire story that a staggering street beggar has to offer, for he always has somewhere to be, and something to do. He always walks at a faster pace than do staggering street beggars, and he refuses to slow his pace to that of staggering street beggars or to stop completely to hear the story of staggering street beggars. It seems as though certain staggering street beggars wish for those to whom they speak to slow to their pace or else to cease their walking completely. When the Walking Poor does neither of these things, certain staggering street beggars respond with anger.

The Walking Poor, when not wishing to speak, speaks at an extremely low volume, which he believes is inaudible. He believes that, perhaps, the staggering street beggars to whom he does not wish to speak do not hear his negative response to their demands, and hence, the staggering street beggars believe that he has ignored them, and most staggering street beggars do not appreciate this. But (!), he does not ignore any staggering street beggars, he merely refuses their advances in an inaudible fashion. The Walking Poor sometimes receives angered responses from staggering street beggars – this does not bother the Walking Poor, for given his walking pace, he is shortly out of sight. The Walking Poor is astonished by the fact that staggering street beggars do not realise that his clothing is, in fact, less expensive than their own, and his haircuts far less frequent.

The Walking Poor has a dire phobia of hairdressers and from behind he is sometimes mistaken for a woman. At the supermarket, a place that he loathes, he is sometimes advised to act in a certain manner while lining up, but on being addressed as ‘madam’ he does not always act. When the employee of the supermarket who had given the command to the Walking Poor is before him, he or she normally notes that the reason why the Walking Poor has not reacted in the desired manner is because, in fact, he should have been addressed as ‘sir’.

The Walking Poor does not appreciate formal titles, yet he also despises the informality with which one is greeted by strangers (at stores, for example) in his homeland. In his homeland the currency is not the euro, and hence, it is clear that he either comes from a continent other than Europe, or a European nation that does not make up part of the ‘eurozone’. The Walking Poor is ashamed of his origins, and this is one of the reasons why his doctor has him on indefinite sick leave. The Walking Poor, it seems, has identity issues, most likely an identity crisis. He knows who he is, and what he is, but he loathes all of the factors that make up a part of his identity. He would like to make up part of a downtrodden class, but he is the opposite of this. The closest that he comes to being part of a downtrodden class is being vegan, but he doesn’t feel discriminated against due to his veganism, and he doesn’t understand why certain vegans feel that they are discriminated against.

The Walking Poor is a solitary creature. He does not like company. He does not like seeing people, friends or other. At the supermarket, the classiest person becomes instantly loathsome; this goes for employees and shoppers alike. The Walking Poor does not necessarily have class, despite being constantly well-dressed (except when he sleeps). At the supermarket he knows when he needs to avert his eyes so as not to be offended by the non-vegan products on the shelves. He has not learned how to avert his eyes when in the queue, and hence, he is often filled with hatred for those before him in the queue, for they are purchasing meat, sometimes entire chicken carcasses, and milk, milk being crueller than any meat product, milk being an endless cycle of the worst of all cruelties. The Walking Poor is deeply offended by supermarkets, and the individuals in supermarkets, not due to their lack of class but rather by their purchases, and the staff working behind supermarket checkout registers scan entire chicken carcasses as though they are doing nothing at all when in fact they are scanning the dead body of a creature that was murdered for no reason.

The Walking Poor believes that it is, perhaps, his solitary nature which leads to his not being discriminated against for his veganism. If we see people, conversation is a necessity, and when we see people, food is very often present.