Summary

The short story “DHSS” by Doris Lessing begins with a young woman begging for money at the Underground entrance. She does so reluctantly, because she needs the money to feed her children and the DHSS is on strike. She appears surprised when the woman she stops gives her a ten-pound note. She then enters the supermarket opposite the Underground, angry that the woman who gave her the money is still watching her. A man sitting in a car has seen the incident and now follows the woman into the supermarket.

As the woman approaches the check-out desk and wants to pay, he places his own money into the check-out girl’s hand. The woman is angry, but the man suggests they have a cup of coffee in a nearby cafe. The woman follows and, eventually, accepts the coffee and sandwiches the man...