BeggingYourPardonYou are on the archive wiki. The new wiki is here. Right, latest news: got a cute little Chii figurine from Outers, put up lots of pictures in my flat, ordered some furry pics from Caliban and got my car back. As to the title: last week this 17-ish white surfer dude stops me outside my office building with "Excuse me, Miss, I'm stuck in town and I need R12 for busfare back home to Melkbos". So I give him the R1 that I've got in my pocket and say "good luck, dude". And think nothing more of it, other than "stupid surfer dude". Then last Friday, he stops me again, this time on the Parade near the bus terminus. He only got as far as "Excuse me, Miss" before I stopped him with "Not a chance, dude, I already gave you money". He looked at me blankly and walked off. I was bemused all the way home. Then, again, yesterday in St Georges Mall. He comes up to me, starts saying "Excuse me" and I go "Dude! Seriously!" before he ignores me and walks off. I turn around and shout after him "Dude! What the fuck?!". I'm pissed off all the way to Outers, and not even the chocolate dipped ice-cream from Steers helps. So I tell Phleep about this, and I say "How the hell does this dude keep managing to get stuck in town? Does he spend his busfare on weed?" and Phleep goes "He's obviously a beggar". And I'm thinking "But he's white". So now, my question to myself/you my dear reader, is this: Am I seriously naive? Does my Northern Suburbs upbringing predispose me to assume that only non-whites are beggars? This dude looked pretty clean, not like a skanky street-kid at all. I've always thought of myself as not a typically naive surreptitiously-racist white person. But I find myself going "He can't be a beggar, he's white. If he is a runaway, what's he running from?" Admittedly, in the Northern Suburbs there are very few black people, and very few beggars. At least, there weren't when I was growing up there. And Table View / Milnerton / Bothasig is hardly Oranje. I seriously thought this guy was just some bored teenager who comes to Cape Town to find something to do, and doesn't have the money to get home. I guess I'm just used to the "spare change" streetkids. Another thing about beggars that annoys me is that they're your best friend till you give them money, at which point they completely forget your face, and ask you again 5 minutes later. We need Ankh-Morpork guilds here, so that I can get a chit or something to say "Sorry, I've already been begged from, move along". In other news, cat-sitting for Cara and Andrew's new kitten this weekend. Yay! Tiny cat action!! They also have a pool, so if it's hot, I'll be in it allll day. But alas, I've been told "no wild houseparties". I think if there are any wild houseparties, they want to share in the fun ;-). But their tiny cat is really cute. It's tiny. I always forget that they actually start out that small. Looking in my social diary a few days ago, and I realised I don't have a free weekend till the end of January. That thought actually scares me. I'm not really a people person, I need some down-time to mope and veg. Thank god for the upcoming holidays. Comment: Beggars... (by MyrdemInggala on 2004-11-16 17:02:59)There are plenty of white beggars in town, at least in the Gardens area. I have observed that they play on other white people's tendency to be less rude to / dismissive of white beggars, and are more likely to accost them with a lengthy, elaborate life story (or entirely fictitious account of a broken-down car). Naturally this has about the same effect on me as a proselytizing Hare Krishna. I think that the dude you describe is the same dude who tried the same thing with me, twice, outside my work (were some of the first words of his dodgy sob story "Do you live around here?" and "I'm not asking for money, but..." followed by asking you for money?{confused} He has a little speech). My colleague's theory is that he's a drug addict. Considering the air of manic desperation he has about him, I'm inclined to agree. Comment: and beggars (by MoonFlake? on 2004-11-18 15:26:27)Although many beggars are in fact runaways and drug addicts, it's not unknown for ppl to prefer it to real work. I'm reminded of the story of a white beggar who was taken pity on by someone i know, offered a real job, and walked away from the job after a couple of weeks. His reason? He could make more money begging and he didn't have to wear a uniform, get to work on time, or work if he didn't feel like it. Also, the beggar in table view who was caught leaving her corner and getting into her Land Rover. So really, for some ppl begging seems to be more of a career than a last resort. |