Message #43086

[George]

Going back to the parallel discussion about beggars being organized, this is not only to be found in the Far East. Up till the late 1700s Scotland had a legally recognized "beggar class" which was even issued its own uniform! These colourful characters appear in some of Walter Scott's novels of the time.  
 

That is really interesting Tom.. !  Our beggars here in the States are not required to wear certain clothing, or are they known for carrying specific utensils, nor are they legally required by the government to speak and act in a certain way depending on what type of beggars they are..

Here, our beggars simply hit the Goodwill for any old clothing. They act any way they like, when ever they like, and the only notable utensil is the carrying of beer or wine bottles.   I suppose the use of shopping carts rather than baskets can aid in ID'ing them as well  .  I suppose they are colorful characters in their own way!

They certainly do not have any of the positive attributes that Pin mentioned of Beijing beggars, or yours from Scotland  !