Rules v. People, Part 2

What do you do when little kids try to sell you postcards you don´t want, men offer to shine your tennis shoes, women block your way on the sidewalk trying to sell you blankets and tablecloths bigger than your backpack, and destitute people beg for money?

The gringo response is to say, "No, thank you," or something similar to that and walk on. BIG MISTAKE!! Typically, we gringos think we are being "nice," by saying no thanks and walking on; or worse, by smiling at them and wishing them a good day, etc.

The Latin American attitude is to complete ignore them. By doing that, you are de-humanizing them. They don´t exist as people. They are like potted plants or trees. You do this, because once you recognize them as PEOPLE, now you´re on the hook. (See my previous blog on rules v. people.) If you do anything that might be described as minimal courtesy by gringo standards, by Latin American standards, you are inviting further contact. They will pester you relentlessly.

In Cuzco, one evening, I bought a beer. The little cafe had tables inside and outside. Inside, some people were smoking, so I decided to go outside even though it was cold. There´s no heat in Bolivia or Peru, at least in the buildings I occupy (!), so the cold outside is no different than the cold inside. Sometimes, some bars will crank up a woodstove and everyone huddles around it, but not in this case.

Outside, a boy about 12 came up and sat down next to me and tried to sell me postcards. I told him I wasn´t going to buy any postcards so he would be better off hitting up the few tourists that were still walking around at 9 p.m. (BIG MISTAKE! By talking to him, I was acknowledging he was a human being. I should have totally ignored him and treated him like a plant.) He remained seated.

We talked for about 15 minutes. After this time, he asked me if I was going to buy any postcards. I told him no, that as I had first told him when he sat down, I wasn´t going to buy any postcards. From his perspective, he had been patient and persistent, just like the boys trying to ride the teleferico and the young men trying to ride the bus for free. Because I was not forthcoming, he let out with a string of epithets in Spanish which I didn´t understand and which I didn´t want to add to my list of words and expressions to learn.

He´ll probably go on to become a star member of the Shining Path, or some other revolutionary movement, and kill people and blow up bridges, motivated by the gringo who played by rules rather than overlooking them for the sake of people.