Beggars
I just saw the most screwed up thing.
I was nearing my home, crossing a bridge on which I regularly encounter beggars and buskers. As I came to the end of the bridge I saw a very disturbing sight. A forlorn kid, maybe 14, maybe 16, was sitting there with his head down. He didn’t have any plate out for money or anything, he just looked as dejected and resigned and pitiable as anyone I’ve ever seen. He looked as though he’d cried his tears and screamed his screams, and now he was just sitting there in solemn anguish. The reason was obvious. A large chunk was missing from the side of his foot, and it had obviously gone missing quite recently. I have no idea how it happened. I didn’t stand around staring and trying to work out the details. It was pitiful and disturbing, and there isn’t much else I can say about it.
It could have been an accident, and he could have been waiting for help. It wasn’t bleeding anymore and so I doubt it. It didn’t really look that way. Some of the beggars around here have only stubs for legs or are missing hands. At first I thought they had been injured and now couldn’t work and so turned to begging, but I asked some of my adult students about it and they told me otherwise. They said the government will help such people, if they want. They told me the ones missing parts of their bodies are beggars from childhood, when they are taken by some organization, have the limbs cut off, and are sent out to beg. From that point on that’s just how they live. Apparently the government tries to stop it but the organization (or organizations) are squirmy and widespread.
As I say, I have no idea if this kid’s gouged out foot is related to any of that, but that’s what occurred to me. The whole beggar thing is still kind of strange and I don’t really understand the details. I don’t speak enough Chinese to really converse about it, so I guess I’ll remain in the dark for now.