I met this respectful looking guy outside the local Tesco store at Westminster station. I had asked him if he was homeless, ‘me’ he said, ‘no I’m just here to get myself a beer, would you like one?’ ‘No thanks’ I replied, ‘but I do want to get myself something to eat, so let’s go.’ He is nice old man and calls himself Steve. So once inside, I get a sandwich and packet of crisps and then I see this old lad Steve put his carrier bag down on the floor. He looks around as he does this, he gets a bottle of Heineken stuffs it into the carrier bag, covering it over as he picks the bag up, he picks another bottle off the shelf and steadily walks down towards the counter. My jaw drops to the floor, there was this nice old guy nicking a bottle of beer. I had to follow him, I could not help it. I needed to see what next, when he got to the counter the assistant scanned the bottle and said ‘That’s 1.70 please’. ‘That’s fine’ he said, ‘can i pay by card?’ ‘certainly’ she replied. ‘Put it in the card reader and enter your pin’, ‘Oh sorry! Your card has been declined.’ ‘But it can’t of,’ he said, ‘it’s my pension, it went in today,’ ‘ok’ she said, ‘try it again,’ ‘no sorry, still declined,’ ‘ok’ he said. Looking upset and standing there for a few thoughtful seconds, he said ‘sorry, I will have to leave it, then I will have to sort this out.’ ‘It’s fine’ the assistant said. ‘Have a nice day’ as he walks out of the door, he even nearly got me offering to pay for him. Had I not noticed the bottle he nicked, he should of at least got a round of applause or acquired an Oscar for that performance. Once outside he said, ‘I never pay for a beer when I fancy one. You just need a system, easy.’ Laugh! What a guy, he wouldn’t hurt a fly, he even shook my hand, saying he would see me around, as friends do. Then he went on his merry way, drinking his free bottle of Heineken and he did not even damage the bottle when he took the useless tag off. Bless him.
Earl Of Westminster 