Eric's Beijing Diary

Beggars. Lots of them. I have not quite figured out how to deal with this. Of course, there are beggars in the United States, too. I have met plenty of them at truckstops. My problem here in China is that there seems, sometimes, to be a subtile (or not so subtile) connection with the criminal element. One Sunday afternoon, I went to have lunch at Grandma's Kitchen, over by the Friendship Store. A beggar came up to me, and I have him one yuan or something. Suddenly, ten beggars came out of nowhere and demanded their share. This was too much of a good thing. From that point, I have made it a point never to give to beggars by the Friendship store. Beggars have been known to organize and work in teams, and then divide the loot.

The Bible says, "He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse." and also, "He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD." And God pays very high interest. But sometimes the beggar is a tool of unscrupulous men who are using them for their own purposes, and are not poor at all.

I was coming out of the coffee bar after a late night of studying. It was after midnight. As I walked over to my bicycle, a little girl, perhaps about ten years old, came running up to me, with a bunch of roses in her hand. Well, I didn't really need a rose, and all the other ones I purchased just sat on my dining room table until they were very faded. But I knew I wasn't going to get out of this, so I asked her how much they were. She said, "Wu kuai." I thought perhaps I could get a little better bargain, so I told her that was too much. She looked like she was concentrating very hard. Her mind was racing. I could tell this kid was going to drive a hard bargain.

I took out my wallet and said something about three yuan. She stood on her tiptoes and peered into my wallet. "I think you must have five yuan," she said. I'm translating, of course. This kid obviously didn't speak a word of English. Suddenly she became very excited. "I see a ten! You can give me a ten, and I will give you five," she said triumphantly, as if she had just solved the world's greatest problem. Hmmmm... why didn't I think of that?

Well, I knew I was had, so I paid up. What else could I do? The happy little girl took my money and ran away. My eyes followed her as she ran a short distance, and then sat down on a step to count her money. Almost one o'clock in the morning. I wonder what time that kid goes to bed.