November 10, 2024

8 thoughts on “Short, Tired, Greedy Beggars

  1. Hi John,
    Well I’m back in the USA. I was hoping to catch up with you but as things transpired we ended up spending lots of time chasing around for things. We had a great two weeks but I can hardly wait for the day it becomes months and not weeks. We don’t generally have too many kids hit us up for pesos in Calbayog (unless they are relatives, lol) but when we go to Manila we run into a lot of panhandlers. The wife usually decides who is worthy and who isn’t and I follow her lead. I haven’t got a clue how she makes her decision though. Sorry we never got out your way. I would have loved to check out the Ciriaco and say ‘Howdy’ to you as well. I’m catching up on your blog as I didn’t have adequate web access from Santo Nino to see what was going on in the world.
    Mark G.

    1. Well Mark I guess next time, but it’s your turn to buy the drinks now. I was going to buy this time. I hate to turn down a kid that really needs the money, but the problem is they go tell their friends and the next thing you know, you’re surrounded. I don’t get up to Manila much, by choice.
      I hope my recent entries don’t bore you, or anyone else. They have not been too exciting and a lot of goo-bally gosh.

    1. I live in Samar, but, as the name on the blog indicates, I am from Texas.
      I hope that you continue reading all the posts and you love them all.

  2. Good Morning John,

    Yesterday I spent the day running around with the driver of my truck looking for parts. Amazingly we managed to find everything needed but it took some persistance and thinking on both our parts. The driver was surprised that I asked for and recieved a six hundred peso discount on the parts that I bought. During the course of the day we went to many parts stores. One place we went was a street lined with surplus parts because I wanted to find an original spring shackle for the military truck instead of an aftermarket one. After much searching they produced a rusted piece of crap. I asked the price and it was much higher than a new one. They were dying laughing when I told them to close your eyes and pretend that you don’t see any white devils around and then give me a price. They reduced the price but it was still a piece of junk so I bought the new one. In fact the discount that I recieved almost paid for that part. The last two places that we went I was tailed by the most persistant broom selling street girl that I had ever seen. It almost got to the point where I was getting annoyed because she would not back off. The clerk was laughing when I told her that unless you have blue eyes and call me daddy i am not giving you any money. She kept fabricating stories about different family members being hospitalized. She will be quite a scammer someday! I never give money to these children but sometimes I buy food for them. If I gave money to them I would be swarmed. Sometimes dealing with persistant street vendors puts me in a foul mood. I guess it is a small price to pay for living in a nice place.

    1. Sometimes it pays to be persistent, but I’m not much of a discounter. If I don’t like the price, I just say, “No thanks” or “Forget it”. If they offer less, then maybe. When I’m with Lita, I let her do the bargaining.
      I never came across anyone that persistent, but I am a little annoyed that these children are brought up thinking that “ALL” foreigners are rich. We had a black couple here about a week ago and he was telling Lita that the kids thought he was rich because he was black.
      That story about family members in the hospital has worked on many foreigners over the Internet, so maybe she has been coached.
      Maybe I’ll start offering to buy them food instead of giving them money. If they are there to help their families buy food, then that just kind of cuts to the chase. They can just bring the food home instead of having to worry about buying something later.

  3. I was standing by the park across from Jolly Bee with brother in-law smoking and kids would come up to me and ask for pesos. I do not carry pesos because the wife pays for every thing. So I would offer to give them 2 dollars in change and they would look at it and shake their head no and say pesos. My bother in-law would just laugh at them.

    1. I can kind of understand why this didn’t want the American change. I’ve got about $15 in change and no one here will take it, not even the bank. If it’s bills they will though. I try not to carry change either, but it’s unavoidable when I’m downtown paying bills. Like I said though, I don’t get many kids asking anymore. Maybe I’ve just been lucky lately. I’m only downtown 2 or 3 times a month anyway. I should go more, maybe 4 or 5 times per month at least.

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