Panhandlers. Beggars. People who spend their days asking the age-old question “Brother, can you spare a dime.” Every big (and some small) city has them and their approach is always the same… “Excuse the interruption. I lost my job, have no place to live, have no food, have 8 kids and need any money you can spare.”
They work the corners and ATM machines. On the subway, they move from the front car all the way to the back telling the same story over and over. They follow the exact same formula day in and day out with the same result. It has become so commonplace that people don’t look up or even blink at some of the saddest stories you can imagine.
Recently on a seemingly usual ride on the F train in New York City a man stood up and announced:
“The next stop is the 23rd street station. Connections can be made to the X,Y,Z trains. Up on the street you will find Barnes & Noble, Staples, Starbucks and The Container Store. Please be sure to pick up any newspapers you have left behind to help keep our subway system clean. Thank you and have a nice day.”
Every (now smiling) passenger was totally focused on him. He delivered a message that was concise, valuable and totally relevant to the people listening to it. He did it with energy and a friendly smile.
His delighted audience paid him generously for it…. see this article in full and more good stuff on uxmag.com
Now why are you reading this story about New York subways in my homegrown Philippine living blog? Simple. Although there seem to be some folks out there who try to deny the fact, or don’t want it written about, there are a lot of homeless and poor people in the Philippines. Sadly, begging is a way of life for some.
I’ve seen some folks who have it down to a science, going up and down a street ringing door bells and handing the home owner a pre-printed “sob story” letter, often with a note from their barangay captain or mayor attesting to the fact that they are indeed in desperate shape. In seven months, though, I have not had one of these “solicitors” ask for work, or offer to do common tasks like sweeping, painting, trimming the hedges, etc.

photo credit: Ed Yourdon
Yet when I go to the store or a restaurant, etc., I often see men who “hang out” and help people park and un-park their cars … guiding drivers in backing up, flagging down on-coming traffic so the customer can pull out into traffic, and so on. I never fail to give these guys a small tip … I appreciate both the fact that they are, in fact, offering a useful service, and that they aren’t simply “making standby” … sitting on their haunches watching the world go by and hoping something good will happen to them.
So when you have acquaintances or strangers, in your home country or in the Philippines, approach you for “help”, do you just hand over some money, do you refuse and turn a cold shoulder, or to you help them find a way to become a “service provider” instead of a beggar?
This post has been updated on 10 January, 2010, more than one and a half years since I wrote it, and if anything, I see only negative changes. I wonder, out loud, what it takes to make work attractive?
I also, with the changes in the Western world economies going through the upheaval they are now undergoing, a great deal of this same sort of problem even in my fellow Americans.
I wrote an article on my personal experiences along these lines … making a job out of nothing … back in January of this year, and, although it was popular, more of the comments I received seem to be about the meaning and use of the Spanish word “bote” than about the actual subject at hand.
What do you think? Should a person with no work take a “lesser” job, even informally, or “on-line”, or otherwise “non-traditionally, should they wait until the mill of the system of laws grinds them up exceeding fine?
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