Excuse me po. I’m Lovely, an out-of-school youth, selling candies (at 2 packs for Php20 or 1 pack for Php12) for your support to my daily financial needs…
The above sentence was part of a computerized text printed in a piece of card. It was handed over by a teenage girl in jeans to my Mom while inside a bus in Manila. The girl didn’t even do some sales talk. All she did was just roam inside the bus and let the passengers read the card. My Mom bought some candies, and so did the others. Maybe they were convinced by the last sentence in the card which was a bit amusing but very true:
…It’s better to sell than to steal.
Quite a clever strategy for selling huh? 🙂
You know, just by my two-cents worth..
I think that what they are doing is ‘technically’ okay, and its true that its definitely better to sell than steal, but if it all boils down to those who are “really” forcing them to sell… its still not worth buying from them.
Do you get what I mean? I’m just kinda thinking that there might be some hidden agenda in those kinds of stuffs. I’ve seen a lot of these strategies.. where a kid is usually accompanied by some guy in ragged clothes, sitting in one corner til the kid has exhausted all the people in that area.
Sigh.. too much rants.. Hehe.. A, well, I just pity the kids who are under sindikatos.
I know I might sound mean, but I don’t usually read the notes given by these children. And it’s really an inner emotional anguish cause you really really feel bad for them and their lost childhood, but you also don’t want to support begging, syndicates and the bending of morals…
It’s a sad situation in our country… really.
I have a problem actually with the last sentence? What is this a veiled threat? It comes across as, if you dont’ buy from us now, we might be forced to steal tomorrow.
At anyrate, the government really should provide more financial muscle to the department of social welfare, no one wants to go to them cause they really don’t have the means to help these people.
Frankly, there are times I give and there are times I don’t. Kakaawa talaga, yet sometimes you feel that you are being duped.
Sweet: I’m not that suspicious when people sell you with a product, I just think if these bad guys want to get something for nothing, then I don’t think they have to involve a product to carry on with their plans. Well, a product would make it look legitimate though, but I mean that would be too costly for their selfish needs. What bothers me are those beggars who make themselves dirty to attract sympathy and I know some of them are really being used by so-called syndicates.
Well, I was also wondering how much that kid was getting for those candies, if she was indeed being used by a syndicate then that is truly sad. I don’t also want to be biased against all street kids selling stuff because there are really some poor kids who help their parents earn a living by selling on the streets. I’ve seen some kids selling bananas, eggplants, fish, etc.
btw, I haven’t tasted the candies yet, hehehe…
Alternati: Well, I haven’t encountered kids selling me that way (with a printed card), but I think it would depend on how I size up the person, and also on my mood. 🙂 Sometimes, I feel generous I buy, sometimes I don’t.
Some mothers are even using their own kids, you see them with their little kids, dirtying themselves and lying on the sidewalks. I’ve seen on TV a mother who took her sickly baby from the social welfare so she could use it as props for begging. Yes, it is really sad.
Virus: Well, it does sound like a veiled threat…like a mild blackmail even. 🙂 That’s why I found it a clever line, being used for selling. tsk tsk…
Me too, sometimes I give, sometimes I don’t… I tend to size up the person, sometimes I also ask the kids questions, like where his parents are, where do they live, etc. and more often than not, when you ask them these questions, they ran away, though some kids also answer me….I got this practice from my bro, who always makes conversation when a kid begs from him.
I think it’s better to give them food, like biscuits or bread, than money… so at least you’re sure it goes to their stomachs and not to some sindikatos (if ever they were being used by such).
Sweet, Alternati and Virus: Hey thanks for the insightful comments… you made an otherwise lame post interesting. 🙂
It wasn’t lame to begin with.. 🙂
sweet: thanks! 🙂