I was leaving the Hyatt this morning with a couple baskets full of Christmas baking for Mai-Ann to take in and share with her staff tomorrow. Not a block away and we are waiting for a light to turn when a young boy, maybe 9 or 10, comes banging on the car window selling Santa hats; I really don’t need a Santa hat.
After the knock and the initial pointing out the wares, the immidiate next approach to middle-of-the-intersection sales is put the fingers to the mouth in an unmistakable gesture that screams “I’m hungry, I need food.” Now I’ve read the playbook and I’m pretty good at steeling myself against the usual progression of tactics. NOTE: Early in our life in India Mai-Ann and I decided that the best way for us to deal with the poverty and begging etc is to make donations to organizations we believe in and to only occasionally break down and donate to an individual on the street. I like to think this is practical more than cynical, but I guess it’s a bit of both.
Back to my young Santa hat seller, one really important strategy to maintaining resolve is to never look closely at the eyes. I screwed up, and he was real good; those eyes . . . his chin barely tipped the door but the whole face was in the window for me to see, those eyes, could tear your heart out. THEN he saw the cookies – all wrapped in clear cellophane and beautifully presented in wicker baskets – the moment he saw them and realized what was there was unmistakable as all the child that was in this young boy on the streets suddenly flooded his eyes alongside that oh-so-powerful look of hunger and longing. Aaaarrrrgggghh. Still, I maintained my resolve; I have seen “Slumdog Millionaire” after all.
My resolve weakened significantly when he went around to the driver’s side, pressed his face up to the glass, and started staring longingly at the packages right beneath his nose on the back seat beside me. They’re cookies from the Hyatt – overpriced and nothing but sugar – really lousy bang for your buck when it comes to feeding the poor . . . right?
My resolve was pretty much shot; but what am I gonna do – open gift packages to give the kid a cookie? Just then traffic started moving and I was saved, sort of. Come on, it’s December 22, three days before Christmas. Aaaaaarrergggghhhh!
Change of plans. Next stop the bank then the orphanage. Nothing will be completely right as long as children are begging on the streets, either from genuine self-need or because they are being used by others. Still, a little peace for me and hopefully a little extra for the kids at the orphanage this Christmas.
Blair's India 