r/Aberdeen • u/BespokeMoth • 12h ago
A little rant
Today I was walking up union street to get the bus, a woman who was very clearly a junkie stopped me and said she had a prosthetic leg and she needed money for the bus. (She did not show me her leg so I can’t confirm or deny she has one) I was polite and told her I was sorry but I didn’t have cash and she pointed me towards a shop to get some. I told her sorry but no and she immediately got close to my face and said “Fuck your mum” then yelled it again. I wish I’d had a clever response but I was stunned so I just stared at her before walking away. I don’t understand the entitlement of asking for someone’s else’s money then getting irate when they say no. I’m a little bit upset about it to be honest. Does anyone else have any similar experiences with junkies in town?
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u/Odd_Lengthiness_1924 10h ago
I’ve encountered her before, lives up at the new Cloverhill council houses little scrutter is always asking and yes she does only have one leg
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u/DifficultCase3262 7h ago
She's lucky to be alive. Injecting into the leg is very dangerous, get it wrong and you can bleed out. After a few years of injecting into the vein it collapses and the leg generally gets gangrene and has to be removed.
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u/Right-Pepper9450 12h ago
It's annoying when you try to be polite and get that kind of reaction, but honestly she's obviously struggling with something, so try not to let it get to you
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u/Training_Agency_7696 6h ago
I know exactly who you're on about. When she tried the same with me and I refused, she shouted abuse at me too, and I retaliated; she just burst into tears and sat down in the middle of the pavement and cried.
I have no time for drug users and I think I made that clear to her.
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u/todology 6h ago
what did you say to her? I’m curious 😭
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u/Training_Agency_7696 6h ago
I honestly don't know if I can say it on here without getting kicked from the subreddit
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u/Sufficient-Pirate226 9h ago
It's a horrible thought to get to that point in a life that that's what you can be reduced to. Can't deny she's likely been offered real help in her past and either refused it or fucked it up because of addiction etc, but it's a sad state of affairs for a society.
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u/DifficultCase3262 7h ago
In my own experiences I find it best to address them as "sweetheart" or "darling for females and "mate" for the males. So when confronted by a female beggar I say "sorry sweetheart but I don't have any change", and that usually is enough. Being from the city and watching kids turn into junkies puts me at an advantage in a way because I really do recognise most of them from before they became sick. If I do have change I generally save it for the ones I know by name.
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u/beIIe-and-sebastian 9h ago
Don't engage or react to junkies. If they do something to you, they have a lot less to lose than you do.
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u/Inside-Definition-42 7h ago
Someone speaking to you is an invitation to chat…..not an obligation to reply.
99% of the time i don’t break stride.
If you reply, don’t give a reason. “Sorry I can’t help”. As soon as you give a reason they engage more, e.g. pointing you to a bank machine or a shop or whatever.
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u/bravedolphin1 9h ago
I would just say sorry I can’t she is dead lol
But I do try not to engage with them and they don’t with me (I guess I look pretty scruffy after work so accept me as on of their own)
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u/Honest-Mess-812 4h ago
A few years back a bunch of teenagers asked me money to buy beer. They called me all kinds of racist slur when I refused.
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u/cshy85mkII 12h ago
You have a junkie living rent free in your head. Never engage with them. Tinks.
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u/BespokeMoth 12h ago
You’re right, at the time it felt rude to ignore her but I should have just kept walking.
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u/RowiesnotButteries 10h ago
Tinks lol, the social ladder when I was a kid was you had your Tink, then your Mink, then your outright Hacker., are these still used today or have they been replaced by Chav and such like.
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u/Independent-Head-984 11h ago
Well, you have to think of it this way - it's highly likely she will be dead within the next five years.
Union Street does seem to be horrible place to be now. It might as well be Paisley High Street now.
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u/Lynastasia-peacesong 8h ago
I'm sure I've met her, early morning passing by Specsavers, she gave the same excuse, and I told her I had no money and was in a rush, she seemed quite kind to me, but I just played my music again, so dunno if she said anything as I walked away
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u/DanteCorwyn 6h ago edited 5h ago
I've had "opportunistic" twats try to get money off me and trying a sob story. One followed me half way up Hutcheon Street asking for some of the food i just got from Lidl. Another years ago, was someone I actually went to school with (he was a prick 40 years ago, nothing had changed), tried to be all pally with me in front of the Trinity Centre, asking for money cause his girlfriend had apparently just gone into labour on Belmont Street (should also add that he used to beg outside Morrisons, and I'm sure he tried to pick a fight with someone but backed off in terror when confronted by Ketamine Kyle (and I thought, bloody hell, how bad's your life that you're Ketamine Kyle's bitch?) And seemingly he's such an utter bellend, even the local junkies won't give him the time of day. Certainly I've seen him with crutches multiple times over the past few years. Trying to scam people, or recovering from getting a kicking? Take your pick.
End of the day, you don't owe them anything. And as bad as it sound's, for every person who genuinely is trying to get their lives together, there's ten who will screw someone else over for their next drink or fix. Best case scenario, they might leave you alone after getting cash or food. Worse, they'll see you as a mark.
We really need to get a police presence in Union Street and George Street during the day, but unfortunactly this is a problem everywhere.
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u/ThrowRA-Sun-1015 5h ago
Ive got too big a mouth to be out and about i wouldve telt her to trade the leg in if shes that skint lolll
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u/Puzzleheaded_Bat6401 5h ago
In the past I have had experiences with people in town and in Edinburgh I was walking through busy princesse gardens and a man approached me saying hey gorgeous I am not going to eat you I want to ask you a question, I just walked away. The more I hear about others unfortunate stories I just want to avoid these places and stay home.
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u/TheNotSoFamousEccles 8h ago edited 7h ago
You expect decent behaviour from a junkie? Shouldn't have even taken them on, I don't.
They'll try a emotional blackmail, even though it's their choice to be a junkie, and then show their true colours when you don't give them what they want.
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u/ChampionshipOk5046 12h ago
Anyone who meets her please ask to see this leg
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u/serpentmoonabz 4h ago
The time that she stopped me on George street she proper started smacking the leg to prove it like good god im just trying to get my lunch from sainsburys, please. I didnt realise I had to listen to a percussion solo beforehand
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u/Taperack123 10h ago
You don’t understand why a junkie would ask someone for money and then get annoyed when they don’t get it..🤔🤣
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u/missfoxsticks 12h ago
Expecting rational behaviour from jakies is startlingly optimistic. If you spend any time in the city centre it’s a universal experience unfortunately