Thanks! I'm glad you think of it that way :D This is one of the koans I wrote while being disillusioned of the promise of this series, so I'm glad it still translated well.
I'm not familiar with The Big Issue, so it might be a UK thing. That's too bad about him, but at least he didn't give you a hard time for it. Maybe your beggars are just friendlier than ours. Considering currency conversion, if they ever come here with what they have, they could easily pass off a low-income citizens.
Lol, yep I think you're right there! The Big Issue is a magazine specifically for the purpose of giving homeless people a way to earn a bit of money. They can sign up to sell the Big Issue - and then rather than sitting on the pavement, they can stand there and sell the magazine. I'm not 100% sure of the ins and outs of it, but it seems like a cool idea to me.
That's a great idea! Way to put them to work! I think it's awesome because it follows that "teach a man to fish" mantra. Who knows, once they get a taste of hard work, they would venture out on their own. If there are no initiatives like that here, I would try my best to get something up similar to that. All credits go to you of course :D