Beggars, Prostitutes

This morning at the bus stop there was a gray, bent, skinny old man asking for change. Not unusual. I told him "Uncle, I generally don't give money but are you hungry? I'll give you these crackers." He took them, then went over to the garbage can to dig around. Many people collect discarded plastic bottles and sell them to recycling centers for a tiny profit. But he wasn't doing that. Out of the slimy can he found a half-eaten steamed bun and ate it quickly. Then he pulled out a plastic cup with a straw that had a couple sips of milk tea at the bottom. Drank that too. After witnessing this I thought I'd better get him something a little better than crackers.

How destitute does one have to be to beg?

Or scavenge for half-eaten, mostly-drunk trash as sustenance?

I have often thought about beggars. How did he get to this point? Is she a grown-up orphan? Drug-addict? Vagabond? Has he been begging from infancy? (I have seen many babies with moms begging.) Does she have a family?

I have often wondered about prostitutes, too. What happens when she gets 'too old'? Onto the streets? Are the old lady beggars former prostitutes?

Not much room for me to be conceited if I give any thought at all to these people.