ewwwwwwww...

He was a dirty little kid. Dark skin, ratty ass clothes and cheap sandals adorned him. After 6 months of travel, I was use to ignoring beggars. And here was another one, just a little kid, with his hand stretched out. I ignored him and continued on my way. After all, this was Rio! Copacabana beach was to the right of me, expensive ass hotels to the left and dotting the mountainside were the favelas.

I continued on my way when an older bum came up to me. Damnit! Leave me alone asshole! But this guy help following me. I finally looked at him and saw that he was pointing down to my leg……..on top of my shoe was liquid shit. Some of it had even gotten on my pants. And it just so happened that the bum had a stool (LOL) and was offering to clean me up.

At first I was confused…did I walk under a dog’s asshole and just not notice it? Then I remembered reading about this type of scam in Lonely Planet. One guy goes up to the mark and tosses something on him…ketchup, oil, shit…and while you’re distracted, they steal your wallet.

Use caution when walking around a dog's asshole.

It looked like this was just a variation. I didn’t trust the guy to clean me up so I just kept walking. I ended up going to a bar and cleaning myself off.

Having shit like this happen has made me realize something…I fucking hate poor people. I hate it when they ask me for change, I hate it when I have to walk over them, I hate it when they walk up to me in a restaurant and keep begging till the waiter tells them to fuck off. They’re an eye-sore and I hope one day to get rid of all poor people.

The only way we can get rid of poor people is to educate them and bring them up to a higher enough economic level. Where they have a job that can provide them with housing, food and a sense of security. A place like Brazil has hillsides full of people who have to hussle everyday. That’s why they have to sell drugs, scam, and mug.

I was surprised that I wasn’t angry about what had happened to me. I thought about how this little kid had to shit into a cup and carry it around all day. Then get good enough at throwing it on people so that they don’t even notice. This kid probably didn’t know when his next meal would be…something I have never known.

Traveling through South America has let me see real poverty. No welfare or government assistance in these places. I look into the eyes of these people and they just look dead. A friend who use to work in a homeless shelter told me that it’s not the absence of money that make people poor; it’s the absence of hope.

A couple of days later another bum came up to me. This time I actually looked at the person begging for change. He was skinny as hell and was vibrating like a string, obviously high on something. I knew if I gave him money, chances were he’d just use it to get high. So I bought him an empanada instead. I’m not sure if he even chewed it, it was gone so fast.
I hope one day there won’t be any poor people.