The beggar
I was walking along dela rosa street after walking a friend to her apartment. We came from a play in greenbelt which was until almost 10. Then, 2 blocks away from my right turn to greenbelt, a teenager approached me. It's either he was a teen or an early twenties. He looked that of the lesser-male-possibly-slightly-gay type. A conversation ensued:"Um excuse me po, could I ask some help with directions?"
"Uh wuzzat?"
"How many greenbelts are there?"
"There are 4. you don't know?"
"I see. I was supposed to meet up with friends at the greenbelt near the church last 730. But I didn't know which greenbelt the churche was. I got left behind. I lost my wallet po kasi and my SIM is malfunctioning. I was wondering if I could borrow a bit of money just to get back home to San Juan. I'll pay you back po tomorrow, double pa if you want."
At this point I was keeping my eyes peeled for anyone approaching or looking.
I was slightly expecting some action. Anything that happens at evening in makati is always half-dangerous.
"hmm.. how much ba u need?"
"Um, hanggang San Juan po, mga 90 pesos po. Sorry po sa abala."
I motioned him to walk with me towards the intersection of M cafe and Dela Rosa.
I gave him 90 bucks before I crossed the street.
He thanked me, then as I went my way, I told him off:
"Etong 90 bucks. Forget about returning it. Next time, don't get lost, and be a little more convincing. If you're lost, you should ask for directions. What the hell were you doing from 730 to 10 pm?".
"Um, hindi ko po kayo niloloko."
"Ey kid, you're begging, so you don' t have the right to be defensive. If you're telling the truth, then take any spat when a stranger offers help."
With that, the guy walked towards Ayala with a shameful look on his face. My eyes were following him to where he was walking towards. He was probably going to get a cab there. I've always known myself to make looks that pierce when some suspicious person is near, but this evening's incident really called for a much sharper one.
It actually costed that much to mock someone with impunity. Wow, I guess I might try that again, but this time, not with a begging yuppie. Pretty pathetic kid actually. If you were trapped in makati with no wallet and your SIM's malfunctioning, try begging for 5 bucks then use a payphone to call home or something -- well, that's what I'd do.
Even if he was telling the truth, I would have told him to fuck off just the same for making such a crumby story. Looks like my karma meter's tipping positive again.
posted by Urban Warrior @ 12:04 AM
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