@Seed,
Quote: man thats awesome. that is def. what keeps the heart young right there
Yeah; it was also the spiritual beginning of a hobby of mine.
Everyone knows about the beggers of India.
Because of the ratio of dollars to rupees,
by their standards, I (or any American) was very wealthy there.
Western visitors are (or were in 1984) looked upon as tho
we 'd just gotten off a flying saucer from outer space,
except that we were immediately petitioned for handouts.
(I don 't know if thay do that in Iraq or not.)
For the Indians, a rupee (if I remember, there were 12 ? to the dollar) was a big deal.
Thay worked hard and long to get a rupee.
I observed that giving away cash especially American cash,
or giving rupees blew their minds, and cost me very little.
Once while taking more pictures (maybe the same day),
in mid afternoon, I was surrounded by large numbers of boys, looked about 12 years old,
a few hundred of them, just let out from school, on their way home.
Thay set up a chant: "school pen! school pen! " a request for a pen
to be used at school, addressed to visiting foreigners.
Thay are requesting the cheapest "laundry" pen available; probably a Bic,
with the customary blue ink. Thay went on their way.
Then a straggler from the group came up, and he went into the same chant.
I remembered that I had colored Flair pens that I used to mark
significant information in reading materials, for future reference.
I laid a red Flair felt tipped pen in his outstretched hand.
Neither before nor since,
have I ever seen such joy bursting from the face of a boy ( or anyone ),
as tho he were holding the world 's most valuable asset in his hand.
I don 't usually claim to be a mindreader, but THIS TIME,
I think I coud do it:
"THAY COME IN RED ! "
That was fun; I don 't think I had paid a dollar for the pen.
I started having fun with the dollar to rupee ratio.
With some uncertainty about the safety of Indian cuisine,
I had brought some food from New York, and Zip Lock Freezer Bags
to keep any possible bugs out. While in a cab, sightseeing with my friends,
I threw out a Zip Lock Freezer bag loaded with $50 worth of rupees,
a Milky Way bar for ballast, and a note on an index card bearing
a postage stamp with the American Flag on it.
These were hundreds of rupees in the plastic bag.
As our cab went along the road, I saw 2 women leading an ox.
I threw out one of my rupee filled bags.
It kicked up the sand in front of them; looked like an incoming mortar.
I saw one of them venturing forward to investigate.
A little while later, I saw another woman, maybe in her 30s,
standing at the side of the road at a bus stop, looking down the road
(probably) for a bus, waiting to go wherever she was going; maybe to work.
I threw out another bag, similarly loaded; it slid and skidded along
the ground and hit her in the feet. She looked like she was not expecting that.
In a way, it was kinda like a roadside bom, in that she was at the roadside,
and got hit with a bom full of Indian cash & a Milky Way bar thrown from a cab.
As I said, a rupee is a big deal to them.
In New York, in public places like the Bronx Zoo or the American Museum
of Natural History, I throw children dimes n quarters
or paper cash, if there is a table in front of them indoors with no wind.
I have chartered hot air balloons for my social group,
from which I have dropped dimes, quarters n half dollars into grass below
for nearby children to enjoy, like an Easter egg hunt. Thay look good shimmering
in the sun lite on the way down. Its a lot of fun,
IF it results in creating
JOY. If not its wasted;
for instance, a few times I 've given a few $$ to bums looting garbage cans
to get the cans n bottles for 5 cent deposit refunds. Each time, it was received
the same as if I 'd given him or her last week 's newspaper; i.e., no joy; it was a waste.
Anyway, it can be fun n keeps me young.
Where r u from, Seed ?
David
