The Beggers are Back

It is now March and I've noticed the increase numbers of the "begging community" in our neighborhood. This community is made up of truly poor people asking for handouts to con artists. It is hard to tell the difference. Well, their numbers have greatly increase as the weather has become warmer. They must be like snow birds in the winter and fly south to stay warm. They all have a strategy to hit up expats. They never, in my experience, ask a fellow national. Tonight I was accosted by one of the common strategies. A "mother" with her rather chubby well dressed child in her arms pulls on your arm for money and follows you for quite a distance. I've seen the "community" hang around my Shekou neighborhood because the area where I live (Sea World) is full of expats and the stores, shops, and restaurants that cater to expats. The "community" head for their homes sometime late at night. When I walk to school to set up my classroom, around 7:00am, they are not many around. This is one of number of problems living in this neighborhood. I expect the number of the "community" to grow rather large as the economic downturn is hitting this area rather hard. Til later!