TheBigIssue– changing
lives since 1991
Giventhatyour publicationhas a significantimpacton
changingthelivesofitsvendors,Ithoughtyoumightalsobe
interestedinhearing howit’schanged mine.
Inadditiontoinforming andentertaining methroughits
articles,as a resultof anadvertisementsomeyears ago,my
energysupplier hasbeenGood Energyever since.
I gettheveryinformativeupdatefromTheConversation
everymorning,IlovegoingtotheVictorious Festivalwhenever
possible,alsospottedinBI,and myyoungestdaughter and I
tookpartinTheBigSleepOutatTheOvala coupleofyearsago,
givingus alovelymemoryof doing a goodthingtogether.
Mostrecently,GraemeVirtue’s ‘Eyeofthebeholder’ review
[Film,April 9 - 15] drewmyattentiontotheBFI Player,and
we’vesubscribed,providinguswitha wealthofinterestingand
brilliantlymadefilms and programmestohelp passthetime
spentindoorscurrently.
Thankyouverymuch; I wonder which aspect of my life you
willchangenext?
Mark Krisson
Humantouch
Yourarticleaboutsocialechoand PhilRyan’swonderful
words,“IwillsharewhatI’m good atwithothers,”is his,and
your,contributiontohumanity[JohnBird,April 23 - 26]. How
o�tenarewehearingthatword,humanity? Almostnever.
Insteadwehearwarlanguage,‘thefrontline’,‘thebattle’,‘in
ourwar against...’.
Weshould,allofus,resistusingthislanguageandreplace
itwith somethingthatshows humanvaluesthatexpresscaring
foreachother,keepingourcollective spirits up, applauding
thosewholook a�ter us.
John Gardner
@davmac
I'm soglad I signedup for a @BigIssuesubscription,
ifonlyforthis gem from @Aiannuccithat,inthreesimple
sentences,captureseverythingthatfeelswrongandsurreal
aboutthe#lockdown– “But,no,thisisnoholiday. Ofcourseit
isn’t. Instead,eachofus sitsina strangeand prolonged silence
at the epicentre of a not-so-distant scream.”
SarahElizabeth
Oneofthemostheartwarming and heartbreaking
storiesoverthisoutbreakwasaninterviewwitha BigIssue
seller. Theonlything hewasworried aboutweretheold people
whohetalkstointown,becausethey’d told him he was o�ten
the only person they spoke to.
That’stornit
Ijustreceived mysecond postalissue,andit’sentertaining as
always. IlaughedwhenI read Richard Bradshaw’scomments
aboutinadvertentlywashing hiscopy[Letters,April 16 - 22],
becauseinmyhurrytoopenthepackaging I rippedtheentire
magazineinhalf! Maybeitwasthein�luence of Joe Wicks
being super strong on the cover...
LizSearle
@SharonGChiara
Supporting @BigIssuemeans supporting sellers sothey
cancomeback postCovid &enjoyingthemagazine. Such a
wide range of content, thought-provoking, insightful & funny. ��
knowthreepeoplewhogotdogsduringthe
lockdown.Legally,I should add. Thesearenot
dodgyunderthecoverof darkness deals. They’reall
responsiblepeople. Allthreewereplanningonthis
beforetheworldchangedandtheywerejustwaiting
onthepuppiestogettheir jabs andbeready.
Thetimingis good forthem. Notsimplybecausetheyhave
alotoftimesparetogettraininginplace. And puppies dolike
training attention. Peoplearereadyforthegoodcompanythat
dogscanbring. Morereadythanever. Wehappilydevoted alot
of spacelastweektoourvendors andtheir dogs. Inthistime
ofisolationandseparatenessthedogsareincredibleandtrue
companions. I’m surealotofyouarewishing restrictionswere
lessened alittlesoyoutoocould geta dog NOW.
I havea dog. I’vewrittenbeforeaboutToastie. He’s a Springer
Spanieland heis,ofcourse,thebestdog. Oneofthegreatjoys
ofworking from homeis having him around allthetime. Heis
sitting atmyfeetas Iwritethis. If I getuptogetsomewater,he’ll
follow. If I headoutoftheroom,he’llstand staring atthedoor
andwaitonmyreturn. We’reacoupleof swells justnow,me
and Toastie.
EarlierintheweekI dida liveonlinevideointerviewabout
thechangeswe’veintroducedtoTheBigIssuesincecoronavirus
meantourvendorswereremoved fromthestreets. (I should
addthatIwilldothis anytime,with anyweb,TVor radiohost.
I donottireofexplaining howandwhywe’renowo�fering
subscriptions; howwe’renowinshops; howwe’vedigitaloptions
including anewapp. I fearothers maytire,buthereI stand).
Duringtheinterview,Toastielethimselfbeknown. Attention
turnedtohim andtherewas much moreinterestinToastie’s
interventionsthanmine. It’snotunexpected. Hemakes more
sense,frequently,andI won’ttreatyoulikea kingifyouthrow a
ballfor metochase. Notallthetime.
But,as I saidtoToastie,thiswillnotlast. Justasthe
unpleasantpartsoflockdownwillpass,thehorrendouslife
stealing,thefriendship quashing,themoneyworries,thewayit
keepsus from justbeing among people(oh,tobeabletomingle
freely),sotoothegoodthingswillpass.And for alotofusthatis
timewithour families andtimewithour faithfulpets.
Weneedtobemindfulofit. Dr Roger Mugford,ananimal
psychologist,warnedthatourdogshavebuiltupa “huge
reservoirofover-dependency”inrecentweeks. Weneedtostart
worknow,saidMugford,sotheydon’tgetanxiouswhenthe
changecomes. Wehavetosociallydistancenowsowecandoit
betterwhensocialdistancingloosens.
Itold Toastieweweregoingtohavetodothat. Thenwe
wentupthehilltotheviewthatcarriesallthewaywesttothe
mountainsof Arran. Anditwas a still,warmnightjustasthe
lightturned,andToastiewenttohavea lookwherehethought
hedetected somethingofimmediateimportance. So I said
again,Toastie,we’re going to have to do that.
Just not yet.IThe dogdays oflockdownPaulMcNameeiseditorofTheBig Issue
@pauldmcnamee
[email protected]EDITOR’S LETTER30 APRIL-06 MAY 2020 BIGISSUE.COM| 07