GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY CRACK

It’s not easy living with pigeons. I’m talking about Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds here. A flock of them have taken up residence on the local roundabout. They are fed by members of the public who either can’t or won’t read the signs that are displayed alerting them to the fact that feeding the pigeons is bad for the pigeons, attracts rats and is a general hazard/inconvenience for everybody. The signs also clearly state that it is an offence to do so.

I see the would-be bird-lovers daily with their loaves of Aldi bread standing among the throng of avians with looks of derangement on their faces, almost as if they are struggling to deal with the winged masses that they are inviting. 

Of course, there is no one to stop them, no one to enforce the law and prevent the spread of vermin and excrement as there are no police on the streets. They are tucked up in their patrol cars waiting to engage in a high-speed pursuit to get the old adrenaline going.

The pigeon infestation and those that promote it are a metaphor for a bigger social ill, Crack. Yes, the eponymous drug that has taken London by storm. Addicts are rife at the moment in my neck of the woods. Easily spotted by their Olympic level speed as they scuttle along to get their fix. Their caved in faces missing teeth are also a dead give-away as is their tendency to be skeletal.

They can be seen fixing in doorways and benches, they clutter up the place and recite the ubiquitous mantra “got any spare change”.

I stopped to speak to four of them hunkered down in a doorway next to the supermarket and asked them about their lifestyle. One of them told me to “F*ck Off!”, one was too out of it to respond, one uttered incoherent gibberish and the fourth actually engaged and made some valid points.

Like the pigeons they are attracted to the area as the have a choice of commuters going about their daily routine, to ask to simply give them money. They have a weekly Soup kitchen, and the dealers make use of the ample parking to meet the demand.

And, like the pigeon feeders, there are no police officers around to intervene, move them along or indeed arrest the dealers.

So, Pigeons and Crack Heads do what they do unabated. The pigeon feeders’ actions encourage rats, and the addicts encourage drug dealers. The Pigeons won’t leave as long as they are getting a free meal, and the addicts won’t move on as long as they get sufficient small change to cover their costs.

That’s supply and demand I suppose. I wish they would all simply fly away