Beggars, Bargaining, and Other Blunders

Mumbai
Originally uploaded by Jane A Rubio.

I got scammed on Colaba Causeway. . .bigtime. Here's how it went down. A woman came up to me holding a baby, asking me in English if I would buy some milk for the baby. (I later found out she was 12, but she looked like a woman.) I remembered how this happened all the time when I was here eight years ago. I started talking to her and then told her, sure, let's go to a store. So she told me she'd take me to a place. Along the way, it became 2 cans of milk, 2 bags of rice, and cooking oil. I agreed to all of it. When she had her bag packed and was leaving, the guy showed me the bill, over 1,000 rupees. It was my second day in Bombay, but I still knew that was ridiculous. I told the guy that was way too much. But then he went through it, said it was fixed prices, and by then the girl had left. I decided to say screw it, busted out my credit card, and paid it.

At some point, I decided to stop stressing or caring about paying too much for things when I'm in poor, third-world countries. When I was 20, I would be a really obnoxious bargainer and show off that I paid 70 cents for a cool shirt. If Pastor Timothy approved of what I paid, I felt so proud. It was all about my pride. But a couple years ago, I decided it was just too sick for me to be proud of myself for saving a buck, when that buck meant a whole lot more to that person spending all their time on the street trying to move their stuff.

And I guess I just feel disgusted with myself when I get the salesperson to bring down their price so much, highlighting their desperation and my power. It makes me sick. And I just don't want to fight. . .So what did I do? I paid it. But that was dumb too. Because it was WAAAAAYYYY too much.

This time in Bombay was not as stressful or as traumatizing as the first time. Lots of foreigners hate Bombay. They have a bad experience. Yeah, it's not cool when cute little kids ask you where you're from and what you're name is. Then they start asking you where you're going, and then they sort of show you the way. And then after a while, they'll ask for money. Yeah, it's disturbing when the old women and maimed people just stick out their hands and mumble and beseech in a language you don't understand, but when the little kid is speaking in English (and Spanish and French and German and Italian and whatever other language) and becomes your buddy, it's worse. And then just the sheer number and constant presence of people asking you to buy stuff or to take advantage of their services. It's overwhelming.

I wasn't giving money to beggars, just because of the sheer inconvenience factor. A million people pop out of nowhere and ask and then sometimes you literally can't move. That is also pretty traumatizing. Especially when the kids start to fight amongst themselves. But today walking around, I just said no, or even better, ignored them. But what's even better was a Gulf Arab woman, fully dressed in black, who was approached by a kid. She lifted up her arm and started yelling at him in Arabic. Something to the effect of "What the hell are you doing? Leave me alone. Go away." And it worked. The little kid ran away. Hey, who would have thought? I should just get pissed off at the kid for bothering me. . . Hmmmm. But ignoring them also worked.

Either way, it's all really crappy. Jesus says to give to everyone who asks. And if someone takes your cloak, you should offer them your shirt. I just don't think that would work so well on Colaba Causeway. Besides the fact that these kids don't see the money you give them. They're run by pimps, who maim them too, just to get more money. That doesn't mean you can't buy them food. And I should have been doing that for all of them, right? But I didn't. I just ignored them.

Living in Caracas and Sao Paulo and Rio is stressful because people are worried about random violent crimes, like muggings and car jackings. Living in Bombay is a different kind of stress. The number of people. The number of kids. The number of maimed bodies. And they live right there on the street. There's no section of town where they are confined. There's no section of town that is sanitized of them. Everyone is all together. It's unbelievable.

There's no way to do this right. People who live here develop strategies. I just have to keep asking God for forgiveness and have faith that His kingdom really will come.