One of the familiar characters on Vilnius main streets is a rather strangely dressed diminutive lady who accosts you for money as she walks along. So what, you might think, there are lots of bag-lady beggars. But this lady has rather a painted face, and rather smarter bags, and indeed clothes, than the usual beggar. Her face is usually painted with rouge spots on her cheeks, and for this reason I always think of her as a kind of doll in fancy dress. She is never threatening, unlike those gypsies who offer you a bunch of heather and then curse you if you don't give them money for it. Though she does have a wheedling air about her similar to those gypsies.
Anyway, she is always interesting to look at, though I doubt whether she really belongs to the so-called deserving poor. One day I had no change and ended up giving her the smallest note I had, which was quite a lot. I found myself following her in the queue for a coffee and cake in Ponia Laime* like the respectable Austrian fur coated lady she suddenly became. I felt a bit of a mug, treating her like a beggar, like those occasions when you suspect that any money given goes straight on booze or drugs. But then I thought, good for her. If I were really some middle-aged lady down on her luck and reduced to begging, why shouldn't I have a binge in a cake shop, when I got some money. So I have always had a soft spot for her. Nobody I know seems to know her story.
I never had a camera with me, or really liked to snap her unawares, so I was quite pleased to spot a photo of her by Tomas Cernishevas in the Lithuanian Press Photographers' exhibition. You can see his website here .
* Lady's Delight, a traditional coffee shop and restaurant which used to be on Gedimino, the main street in Vilnius.
