Employment as a declaration of dignity

Abstract

Going back to the past before the last war, in the beginning of the Thirties, the sight of someone begging at City Gate, or in the tunnel of Marsamxett before reaching the ferries, was arguably part of the landscape. In the same times, on the bus headed for Sliema, a blind man with a violin, accompanied by a girl, used to get on board and play some popular music, and then the girl would go round to smilingly accept their donations. That man wanted to live with dignity. He gave a service, and for that service he was paid. This man was part of the environment in which I lived. That completely blind man supported his family , made the passengers happy during a part of the voyage, and used to earn sufficiently enough. In today's terminology he was 'self-employed' - having no employer, and of course in those times he paid neither the income-tax nor the national insurance. His mind was at rest, all that he earned was for himself and his family.