Professional Beggar

I saw her lingering at a distance. She was barefoot, wearing a long, brown, shabby overcoat. She looked quite neat, her hair rolled in a bun. She met my gaze and her eyes lighten up. I felt uncomfortable as I was trying to break off the glance. She started to walk toward me. She walked as if she had something squeezed between her legs. I’d thought she had a bad case of hemorrhoids or worse, she just had an abortion gone wrong. Kidding aside… When she was nearing, I realized she was quite old. She looked tired but hopeful.

“Iho, magandang umaga.”, (“Son, good morning.”), she said in whisper-kind-like voice.

“Ako po’y iniwan ng aking kamag-anak. Umuwi sila papuntang Nueva Ecija na hindi ako kasama.” (“My family left me. They left for Nueva Ecija without me”).

“Hingi po sana ako ng P187.50 pamasahe pauwi.” (“Please give me 187.50 pesos for my fare going home”). Her eyes almost brimmed with tears.

I felt pity for the old woman. I reached out for my wallet and handed out two crumpled P100 bills.

“Maraming salamat,po.” (“Thank you, very much”), she blurted and went off.

It felt good having to help someone in need until… the next day. I saw the same old woman by the street, talking to some people. I heard she was asking some money from those people. The people took pity on her and gave her money. The old woman, met my gaze but quickly broke off. She must have recognized me from the other day. She quickly scurried off. I approached the people whom she talked to and asked them what did she ask. They told me she was asking for 187.50, for a fare ride to back to Nueva Ecija. I told them that she was asking the same thing from me the other day. Their jaws dropped after what I have told them. When they left off, I started to feel so stupid. I have been bamboozled by a professional beggar!

Professional beggars! This is just a term that I just coined. You will find them along the streets of Ayala Avenue, in Buendia, along the busy business areas in Makati. They’re so good, that they could pass as actors and actresses. They would look so pitiful, they would ask for money for fare back to whatever province. Some of them carry small children as props to add to the “pitiful” effect. You can be fooled if it’s your first time to encounter them. My friend, Bryan, had his most blunder encounter with this professional beggar. He was riding on a jeep and from the window, he saw this old man, bent low, crouching and holding his belly. His face seemed to be in agonizing pain. My friend stopped the jeep, went off and approached this man. The old man told him that he had a disease somewhere in his belly and it’s causing him pain. Needless to say, my friend got his wallet and gave his crispy and whopping P1000 bill! He even prayed for this old man. When he left off, he thanked God to be able help a man in need.. until a week after, he saw again this old man, along the same street, doing his act! Now, go figure what happens next.

Sometimes I wonder why all of these people are here in this world? Are they just desperate to have money? Who are these people? Where would the money go? To their families? To a syndicate? (Just remember Slumdog Millionaire). Why can they stomach fooling people to make a living? All these questions. Sometimes, these things angered me but I guess, I can’t pinpoint any reason to, or put the blame on society, or to the government because I might know only a bit of the bigger chunk of the ice. Who am I to judge these people? I really don’t know. But what I do know is that on my next encounter with a professional beggar, I’ll just ignore and go on with my business.