The Beggar's diary 11.07.2007.- As he orders his free morning coffee, the girl behind the counter gives him an accomplice smile and winks at him. She puts a cookie next to the coffee. Will this be a day of fortune? He decides he will not go to the Spiekerhof anymore. A woman on the street crosses him and touches him with one finger. She knows Filch and says: "The rumor is that if you touch The Beggar, it brings good luck". Filch finds this funny and does not contradict her. Spread the rumor! Aren't we all fools?

Back to business, he says to himself. He is selling sugar (labeled SPM07) for 1,5 euro when somebody offers to pay for one of his drawings with a story about a famous person. Filch is doubtful, but his curiosity wins. Yes, ok, he wants to hear it. This woman tells the story: she saw Bob Dylan at a party and she went up to him, said she loved his music, and asked if he would smile at her. He didn't want to, but invited her instead at his table. They spoke about her work and he grew more interested, and even invited her to his room, which she declined as her boyfriend was at the party ("what if her boyfriend had not been there?" Filch wonders). They said goodbye and kissed each other on the lips. Filch thinks his drawing was worth more than a story about Bob Dylan and feels a bit disappointed. But he doesn't tell her about his disappointment and he doesn't back up on their deal. "Bob Dylan!" thinks Filch. "You fool!"

Today he is good at business. He sells a pen for 65 cents, after some hard bargaining. He sells another little bag of sugar, labeled SPM07, for which he asks either 5 euro or 50 cents. The buyer is confused, but still sharp enough to choose 50 cents. He's feeling lucky, and he approaches two Japanese tourists and asks if they want to take a picture of him. They don't hesitate and just say yes, and this is when Filch says they have to pay him to take his picture. He must explain who he is before they agree: another 50 cents. He has one umbrella left, and he wants to sell it now that it is starting to rain again. He places himself at Saturn, the shopping mall, and again the security guard approaches him. But this time he is bolder and tells the security guard that everything is okay: he is special, he is Filch, he can beg and trade on private property because he is an SPM07 sculpture, and without waiting for further questions from the guard, Filch proceeds. A woman proposes the following trade: an umbrella for her pair of sunglasses . "How appropriate!" he thinks, and he hopes the sun will shine soon. Another woman wants to trade his very last umbrella for hers, but Filch is not convinced. Her umbrella is of a flashy green hue, and she explains that she is a doctor in psychiatrist and that this umbrella was given to her by a pharmaceutical company. Filch, now wanting to take any chances, explains that he's part of SPM07. She smiles. He opens the umbrella at her bidding and sees the name RISPERDAL. A tranquilizer, she explains. "Do you get an umbrella every time you prescribe a box of this medicine?" he wants to know. She smiles again. He finds her very nice, as he considers himself to be a very calm, reliable and sane person.

He stumbles upon a Red Cross vehicle at the Syndikatplatz and asks if he can, being a beggar, give blood. They reply: "As long as you are not from Great Britain, because there they have BSE." Filch knows BSE and finds the last two meetings very strange. Is this a coincidence? He asks if they would pay him to give blood. NO. They are firm. No negotiations possible. Candy, maybe? "OK, we'll give you some food … and gummy bears," they say, laughing. He continues wandering the street, a bit confused, thinking about insanity ...

ps.: I forgot:

Filch did push on with his plan (see yesterday's post) of making a story of the different words people suggest to him in order to compose the story.
This is what he has gotten so far:

Time goes unnoticed.
Happiness will begin after tomorrow's swimming contest or maybe before noon.

Zeit fliesst rasend.
Sandskulpture sind unglaublich fascinierend. Hektisch

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