Begging

Evil

OMG, the begging children here are relentless. Whether to give money, or anything at all, to begging children is always a moral dilemma. I think most Western travelers now fall into the school of thought that giving anything only perpetuates a culture of begging that's damaging in the long term.

I was in Cambodia earlier this year and that's another country where begging children are everywhere. But I've observed some differences in the begging styles and techniques among children in the two countries.

In India, it's straightforward: kids run up to you, hold out their hand, and ask for money. Sometimes they will make a gesture, lifting their fingers to their mouths to indicate that they're hungry. These kids are persistent. They'll following you for a full kilometer before giving up. Sometimes the kids will run up to you and say, "Shampoo! Shampoo!" Apparently, some tourists have been giving them the little shampoo bottles they get from the hotels.

In Cambodia, the kids have developed fairly advanced techniques. I don't know if it's because they've been begging longer or what. But even this cold-hearted New Yorker couldn't help but be taken on a few occasions. The key with Cambodian kids is that they don't outright beg for money. They usually throw in a little twist, a little juvenile charm. For example, a kid might come up to you and ask (in English): "Hello, where are you from." And you'd answer: "New York." Then the kid will say, "Ah, New York. Population of New York state is 19 million. Capital is Albany." Then they give you this giant, happy grin. This little technique is especially impressive because they can do it with international cities as well. I've heard kids recite the population of cities in Australia, Germany, UK, Canada, and others.

The fact that they know these things probably means that they go to school, or they're sitting at home memorizing tables of capitals and populations. Most kids in Cambodia have surprisingly good English. Sometimes I would just sit and talk to them to help them practice their English, even though I didn't want to give them any money.

There was one occasion where I was sitting down to have lunch by myself. In the middle of lunch, this Cambodian kids walks up to my table and tries to sell me a book of postcards. My immediate reaction is to be annoyed. But he flashed a big ol smile at me and asked, "What city are you from?" I said, "New York City." To which he replied, "New York City. Population is 8 million minus one." There was a pause where neither of us spoke. Then he continued: "You know why minus one?" I asked why. He said, "Because you are here!" I couldn't help but buy some postcards from that kid even though I didn't want or need any. That's a sign of a good salesman!