Since the weekend there has been a woman sleeping rough in the private parking area behind our house. Part of it is made up of some open-sided but covered spaces, like a big carport, and she has tucked herself up into the corner of the covered bit.
Now rightly or wrongly, since we noticed she'd started sleeping there, my DH and I have been buying her the odd meal if she's there when we go/from our garage. She spends most of her time asleep and we just leave eg a sandwich, a piece of fruit and a drink in a bag next to her for her to find when she wakes up. She doesnt seem to have any warm clothing and the nights are getting a bit nippy now so last night I covered her over with a coat I was about to take to the charity shop. My DH caught her awake yesterday and had a chat with her, and tried to persuade her to go to a hostel - again, rightly or wrongly we both feel she's more vulnerable as a woman sleeping on the street.
I've just come back from walking the dog and bumped into my next door neighbour who boasted that he's been round there with his hosepipe at full stretch and blasted her with the power jet to "get her to move on". I told him I thought that was a horrible thing to do, she's a human being and there but for the grace of God go any of us. I've been round to see if I can find her to make sure she's okay but unsurprisingly she's gone.
I am shaking with rage. How can anyone think this is an acceptable way to treat a vulnerable person - any person?
I don't actually think I'm BU, I just needed to vent.