This is Day 28 of the 30-day Traffic Koans contest. Details on how to enter can be found here: https://steemit.com/traffic-koans/@jedau/traffic-koans-halfway-update-1505319420-6600256
An armed robber rushed towards a woman and brandished his firearm.
"Hand over your jewelry!," the robber demanded, aiming the gun at the woman.
Terrified for her life, the woman complied, then raised her arms to signal her surrender.
The robber examined the jewelry while still pointing the gun at his victim.
"Is this," he stuttered, biting down on the ring. "Is this silver?"
"Uh... yes?"
"Don't you have any platinum with you?"
"Uh, no."
"Not even white gold?"
"Sorry?"
"Ugh, fine," the robber said, returning the jewelry. "Here, I think you need this more than I do."
The other day, I wrote about picky taxis who don't always stop for potential passengers. This time around, I wanted to touch upon one of the silliest things plaguing the streets. I'm talking about picky beggars.
@therealpaul discussed this phenomenon in a post not too long ago, and I've commented there about how syndicates employ disabled people and street urchins as beggars. Some go as far as kidnap kids and use them as beggars. You could easily tell by how aggressive they are in asking for alms.
It's a common advice to give food instead, but many try to negotiate with you to instead give money. Food won't feed the syndicates running the operation after all. There have been reported cases that when given coins, they throw it back and demand paper bills. Pretty soon they would be demanding cryptocurrency, I'm sure. I have seen these beggars firsthand, refusing the food and asking demanding, quite violently, that they'd be given money instead. It's like robbery by using sympathy.
Some beggars who aren't part of these kinds of operations feel entitled to alms as well. They look like able-bodied individuals who could easily work legitimate jobs, they're just too lazy or feel like they're owed their due.
Oh! Just the other day I saw a news report about a new scam that involves people faking that they were run over and ask for recompense. They're taking begging to a whole new level it seems. Really though, job creation and proper welfare should be the solution, but it seems like it isn't enough. Re-education about how to properly go about things is key. The government is sometimes almost as bad as the syndicates that run these kinds of operations.
Have any stories about panhandlers to share? I'm begging to hear all of them. I tell you what, I'll give the chance to win SBD as alms :D
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Here the most common tactic is to claim they are short on their bus fare to a particular destination. They can be quite aggressive with it. One of them asked to pat down my pockets once when I said I didn't have anything. My response was quite blunt!
That excuse wouldn't slide around these parts. As long as you have clothes on your back, they feel you have something to give. They're quite the communists haha! I really don't know who would agree to be pat down!!
Hehe, yeah they always feel you have something to give.
I think he thought I might be a woos who would accept it!! Lol!!
Maybe he's projecting his desires on you, dude. Come on! You could've given him something!
The back of my hand that's what I could have given him!!!
Doesn't the front of your hand need it though? I mean, I'm not sure, but I feel that the front of your hand would miss it terribly. What you could do is to just lease him your whole hand so that the front and back side of it wouldn't need to be separated. Sound good?
Oh no dont get me wrong. He would be getting the front of it too. I would probably deliver a double slap with each side!
This one is from Spain. It hit the news not so long ago. They had and international art exhibition there in, I guess, Barcelona or Madrid. Before closing the gallery for the day, a homeless beggar dragged himself into one room of the gallery, emptied a bottle of liquor to warm himself, laid down on the floor, covered himself with newspaper, and fell asleep. In the morning, some journalists came to report on the exhibition and thought that the still sleeping homeless beggar was an exhibit, an art piece thus, and reported about it as a great art piece that is exhibited on this exhibition. Really, it is tragicomic.
Than the beggar got the real deal. I don't quite remember who, I guess the organizer of the exhibition offered the man to become a real exhibit on that particular exhibition that actually went moving around the planet. His job was to be the exact stinking drunk exhibit, covered with newspaper just as he was found (he was allowed to wash himself in-between, though). His job lasted for a year or so. And, he travelled the planet's biggest cities, and was paid real money - even fiat is good for such purpose.
Now, imagine your beggars' syndicates there making an ICO offering, and then demanding from you to pay in their cryptocurrency on the latest iPhone. Or, if they are smarter than they will care for their image, and have some used former version of some smartphone - just to fit their position of a beggar.
Or, maybe your state should offer Bollywood producers to make a film in your country, they pay really good. Or, some other film producing company, and use the beggars as statists (a really good paid job in Hollywood - some get paid just for waiting to be called).
But absurdities aside, I agree, proper welfare should be a more appropriate solution. There are some small scale UBI (universal basic income) experiments around the planet that worked really good, like in Canada, for instance.
Haha! I guess for a year he wasn't considered a beggar since he was on a payroll. They should've helped him by instead investing it on his behalf. The beggar wouldn't know how to efficiently spend the earnings so it would just be wasted.
Your story made me think of this: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/27/pair-of-glasses-left-on-us-gallery-floor-mistaken-for-art
We do get some Hollywood films shoot here from time to time, but they hire professional actors for beggar roles. It's too much of a risk to use beggars, I guess.
With regard to UBI, yeah, I'm keeping a close eye on those projects. I really do hope that one proves to be successful soon.
Haha! This is a superb koan with a fantastic punchline! Wow though, I'm amazed at the audacity of the beggars you're talking about. Again, it's not something I've experienced here.
I do tend to try and give some change to people if they're asking for it, and I always get a lovely, grateful response.
I guess though, if you've got nothing to lose... pushing hard for more is just something you might do without a second thought.
There is one guy here who is a regular seller of The Big Issue (is that just a UK thing?), and he is always friendly and chatty. One time I saw him though, he could hardly walk and his face was black and blue. He was coughing in such a bad way. When I gave him some money, he asked for a little more. The reason being, he wanted to buy some hot soup - he couldn't eat any solids. He'd been beaten up pretty badly by some low-lifes who just laid into him for no other reason than he was an easy target.
Thanks! I'm glad you think of it that way :D This is one of the koans I wrote while being disillusioned of the promise of this series, so I'm glad it still translated well.
I'm not familiar with The Big Issue, so it might be a UK thing. That's too bad about him, but at least he didn't give you a hard time for it. Maybe your beggars are just friendlier than ours. Considering currency conversion, if they ever come here with what they have, they could easily pass off a low-income citizens.
Lol, yep I think you're right there! The Big Issue is a magazine specifically for the purpose of giving homeless people a way to earn a bit of money. They can sign up to sell the Big Issue - and then rather than sitting on the pavement, they can stand there and sell the magazine. I'm not 100% sure of the ins and outs of it, but it seems like a cool idea to me.
That's a great idea! Way to put them to work! I think it's awesome because it follows that "teach a man to fish" mantra. Who knows, once they get a taste of hard work, they would venture out on their own. If there are no initiatives like that here, I would try my best to get something up similar to that. All credits go to you of course :D
For years our town had a total of one beggar. But Janelle is a special beggar, Janelle will come right up to your door and ask for money. Once she'd exhausted that avenue then she would stand in front of the local stores/gas station/restaurants...then finally this summer the businesses had enough. The main problem is that we have started getting a lot more business from tourists because of the wine trail which has become quite extensive over the past few years and our town is actually the largest along it without going out of your way. So loitering, pestering, begging Janelle was affecting business and they couldn't have that. So they all got together and banned her.
I heard that she moved to Geneva which is a much bigger place so she might have more luck.
A total of one beggar? That's actually not bad. How were they able to ban her? It would've been better if they educated her and put her to work instead, no?
Oh, many people tried to help her in constructive ways, unfortunately she was just the type to prefer begging and being a general pest. Basically the businesses wouldn't allow her in and she had no reason to stay around after that.
It's a very small town. The bigger cities around us have a lot more begging but I just don't come in contact with it that often.
Oh yeah, I know those types well. Here, there are a lot of impoverished people who are given welfare housing at a good looking location. But, because it's far from where they want to be, they decided to just rent out the free housing they were given to go back to the squatter's area that they were asked to clear out. Sometimes people are illogical.
I remember the bums in New York City were pretty polite for the most part-- the most hostility that I ever experienced on the streets of NYC though was from a street performer that was part of a dance group in Washington Square. I was with my daughter, who was 6 years old, and we watched these great dancers for just a minute when a guy came by with a hat to collect tips. I wanted to give them some money, but I actually only had a nickel in my pocket, so I dropped it in the hat. He took it out, held it up to show to the crowd, and announced that I had been so kind as to donate this nickel, or something like that, and acted like I'd ruined the whole thing with my five cent piece. I simply told him it was all I had, but he was overacting, like he was so angry, so I just took my daughter away from the scene. I kicked myself later for not asking for my nickel back, since he disliked it so much. He acted like I owed him money for having stopped in that spot, but otherwise it was a lovely performance from the street dancers in Washington Square that fine Saturday.
Oh man that sounds terrible! Street performers should really get context. With a 6-year old there who could easily misunderstand what's happening, it was a dick move to do. I'm sure that act would work well with the mature crowd, but throwing a child into the mix is no bueno. Also, he's one to complain. He's lucky you gave anything in the first place. I don't know why people feel entitled especially when paying is optional. Sure, buskers are owed their due, but their performing in a public space without any rent and no mandatory payment to see. Of course there are people who won't pay.
Thanks for telling your tale, Paul!
I did explain it to my daughter, that he was basically putting on an act in addition to the dancing; acting so upset at my nickel in hopes of embarrassing me in front of my child and everybody so that I'd whip out the paper bills, make me feel like I should redeem myself by pulling out a $5 or $20 tip to show my sudden audience that I wasn't a cheapskate. Such tactics might work on tourists, but I wouldn't bite, and also I really had already willfully given my last nickel to the performers-- his ploy simply would not work on me.
I'm glad she was able to understand it. I would think scenes like those would stick to a formative mind.
I'm going to ask her if she remembers it!
Did you ask her? Does she remember?
I asked today, but she didn't remember the guy- she was six, so we figured she was still watching the dancers while the tip collector was trying to embarrass me.
My God, it's like your describing the beggars in Bucharest. The last time I was there, which was ten years ago now, my parents and I were walking down the street. Eastern Europe, much like the rest of the world that's much older than the automobile, was designed for pedestrian traffic, and we always walked when we went over there. I'll never forget one woman in particular that we passed.
From her appearance, I'd say she was a Roma woman in her 60's, dressed in all black (typical attire following a death in the family). Whether or not she was actually mourning someone is something no one will know, but I handed her a coin out of my pocket and set it in her outstretched hand. Not only did she throw it back at me, she spit on the ground as we walked past. Now if that isn't a picky beggar, I dunno what is!
There are beggars in Bucharest? Of course there are. I didn't know you trace your ancestry back to Eastern Europe. That's so cool!
Was she a gypsy? Maybe she wasn't a beggar at all and she threw it back because she was insulted haha! Spat on the ground? Oh man, were you... were you cursed? Are you cursed? Tell me now, man. I swear to God. Tell me now.
Yup! 100% Romanian, boss. And if she cursed me....well, I've yet to see it. I chalk up misfortune to poor planning and making less optimal decisions. But who knows? Perhaps I am cursed by a gypsy. -goes to find some wood to knock on-
Could it be that curses are really just psychological, and that poor decision making stems from that psychological distress? Hmm...
Hahaha I loved this KOAN, as any Venezuelan I can relate.
The phrase "Here, I think you need this more than I do." is incomplete, but if you add "stingy bastard" at the end. lol.
It is sad how the amount of beggars has increased so rapidly this year. Lately, to go out anywhere in the city tends to be awkward because of how frequent someone comes close asking for money... but that's a long story and I came here to tell some wild stuff.
This is a real story, something that could happen to anyone, anywhere any time:
He had just moved out to Caracas, was living with some friends, all of them were in their first trimester in college, only some kids trying to figure out how to live without parents.
After the second math test he was on his way home. The grades didn't matte, they were going to celebrate it was over. Turning on the corner in front of their building he's surprised by a drunken man in his fifty jogging towards him begging for money, the scared young man gives away the only bill he had, it was one of very little value (like 3 dollar cents at that time). The drunk gets angry and start insulting the poor guy, shouting why he thought people are worthless. When the student told him that was everything he had in cash and tried to keep walking, this drunk beggar went mad!. Pulled out a knife and fast but clumsily attacked directly to the face. Fortunately the student reacted and could defend himself but it was no way to escape, a fight was imminent between a naive student and a crazy drunk with a knife. It got bloody really fast, the student ended with several cuts in his arms, a couple in his chest and one deep cut in one hand but somehow he managed to knock out the attacker and go home in one piece.
He thought it would be just another beggar.... I know this story because I was one of the friends ready to celebrate the math test was done.
Oh man!! What a harrowing tale! Jeez... I'm glad all of you survived in one piece. Those types of aggressive beggars should really be arrested. That's inexcusable! Assault with a knife is already qualified frustrated homicide! They should just accept what's given to them. Heck, they should be grateful for people who give at all! Personally, I don't give alms most of the time.
I'm glad you were able to live through that and I hope your friend didn't suffer much trauma. Thank you for sharing that tale!
We offered a fella in the subway a place to sleep for a couple nights. In my mind, we were giving him a safe space for a while that would help him get on his feet. But, of course, that's far too little support. He slept in the bed for a few nights, and watched videos on his phone all day, until we needed the room again. We still see him around occasionally, but I don't think he recognizes us.
I think when life has been tough for a long time, escaping into entertainment becomes the only way you can deal with the depression of all the brain clutter.
Oh yeah, you're right about that. That's why the impoverished get caught up in hedonistic means because that's their only means of escape from the harshness of life. You guys are too kind! What was your reassurance that he won't murder you in your sleep? He doesn't even remember you? Man, smells like he feels a bit entitled, doesn't it?
I chalk it up, not to entitledness, but to the insularity that depression causes.
Well, that's another way of looking at it.
korea ♥love
Uh... thanks?
Why did you make a flag???
I didn't do anything to you !!!!
God will judge you for this act
Tell me, how is "korea ♥love" relevant to the post? I only flag based on what's stated in the guidelines. It's nothing personal.
You are free in what you do.
there isn't any problem!!
And I apologize that my comment bother you..
Thank you
Sure. Thanks for understanding! It didn't really bother me, I'm just not in the habit of letting things like that slide. You know, if you would just read the post and comment accordingly, I would be happy to remove the flag.
Your topic was about recalling the Traffic Koans contest.
Then she talks about begging.
(I hope that you remove the flag)
Thanks for the follow! I hope you enjoyed the below zero hilarity :D