GCC Beggars & Swindlers…

It doesn’t surprise me anymore, when I’m stuck in traffic somewhere in the industrial area and a man walks up to my car window begging me to buy whatever piece of junk he’s managed to get multiple pieces of; cheep ornaments and knickknacks, that he is now showcasing in a plastic bag and around his arms between cars, full of pissed off, aggravated drivers who want nothing other than the get the fuck out of the traffic mess they’re in and on to whatever they’re supposed to be doing.

Despite the fact that these people are usually foreign and begging is illegal here, I’m not so bothered by them. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume some unscrupulous bastard has made them a visa and forced them to beg, because despite the assumption that begging is for the severely poor, I’ve come to learn it’s truly a prosperous occupation in the Emirates.

You have the begging women in their designer shoes, who I shit you not, can been seen at times leaving the parking lot of their chosen begging venue in Mercedes or other such cars. You have the men who will walk into offices and building complexes with photo albums full of children suffering horrendous visual diseases, malnutrition and in many cases suffering from physical disfigurement; and you know as much as your heart bleeds for the people in these photographs, not a fil (or cent), is going to actually go to them should you give the beggar something. And then you have the ones who have suffered some tragic personal or family issue that requires millions in medical bills, who will accost you in your own home; even if you are living in one of the poorest areas of the Emirates. It surprises me, that I get more beggars in this apartment here in Ajman on a monthly bases then I’ve ever come across in any other place of residence. Western people live in Ajman because we can’t afford to live anywhere else; not because it’s the ideal place to be, thank you very much.

Anyway, everyone in the CGG has had to have come across at least one beggar at one time or another. The beggars are well known and I suppose the profession is getting rather saturated and thus less profitable. (If only this were a good enough excuse for what comes next: the swindlers.)

We’ve got the sorcerers that are often caught and publicized in the papers, for conning some magic-buying twit into giving him loads of money which he promises to duplicate with a few magic words and a special potion. We’ve got the luxury car buyers working on dud-cheques. And we’ve got the unscrupulous agents, both recruitment and residential; and now the high-tech in the GCC.

We all get our fair share of junk mail full of scandalous requests to help transfer billions in unclaimed cash from Iraq, or some government official in the midst of nowhere. But this morning, I got one up on all of that. I got a special request from a man repenting his sins; wishing a way his past of stingy evil behavior that surmounted to him making a fortune only to learn he is soon to die some evil disease. And where would this man be situated? He’d be from the most charitable place ever; the GCC, Bahrain to be exact.

This might have actually been a believable story, had 1) I known the guy previously; And 2) he not mentioned God giving him the chance to come back to this world. GCC nationals are more often than not, Muslims. One called Abdulla Hassan most certainly is. Muslim’s do not believe in reincarnation. Hindu’s do. Thank you very much.

Now, if any of you twits are interested in helping this poor soul out, you can find his contact details here:

If these people just had some brains, these scandals would probably be much more successful. I’d more likely reply to an email stating, “Hey, I saw your blog (about the only place I know that he could have gotten this email address) and I thought you might be interested in helping me with something. If so, reply and I’ll give you the details,” rather than this sort of dead-give away.