Part 1: The People in My Town Think I Have Money

Sorry, I haven’t given an update in a long time so I’m going to try to catch up in the next week.

I guess when you travel in certain countries you expect that people are going to come up to you and ask you for money.  And even in upper east side NYC, there were a few guys that stood on my corner asking for money.

Of course, there are reasons to say no, and some of them might be valid.  You can say that the person getting the money is going to waste it on alcohol or on drugs, or that there are shelters to help homeless people get back on their feet (I’ve never actually seen one but that is the rumor).  I think there was even an article a few years ago that explained how much money a person begging on the streets could expect to get per day and it was more than you would expect.

Here I find the begging more frustrating and the defenses against giving less convincing.  I guess I assumed that after being in my town for a while people would stop asking.  I thought eventually I would know everyone and be the weird American that everyone says hi to but then makes fun of behind his back.  But after 10 months it still hasn’t stopped.  I get really mad when I go out to buy some bananas or something I need to cook with and someone comes up to me in the market and asks for money.  After I say no the first time, they try again and again.  I then don’t really want to pull out my money to buy what I was going to buy right in front of them.  It seems like my choices at this point are either to say something really strong to get them to go away (and then I, and by extension all Americans, am cheap and heartless) or to just walk away.  Usually I just walk back home.  Other times the person will talk to me a while first, and I’ll get excited that someone actually takes an interest in me and why I am here.  I start thinking that maybe I’m going to make a new friend.  Then they ask me for money.

I guess there is nothing that unexpected in this, but I thought it would go away after a certain amount of time.  I am realizing it won’t.  In another year I will still be the American and all Americans must have money.  This despite the fact that I make half or one-third of what the school teachers here make, and I have a lot of debts waiting for me back in the US.  Of course, those are pretty lame excuses when they are still poorer than me.

In terms of the defenses, there are no shelters here or safety net for those less fortunate.  Some of the people that ask for money are alcoholics and are in pretty sad shape.  Others aren’t and are just really poor – they walk around barefoot – and I’m guessing that when they want money for tortillas they will actually use it to buy tortillas.

I still say no.  My defense is that if I give to one I will have to give to all.  Plus that I am doing enough in other work I do for the town.  But despite my rationalization it’s not pleasant.