Out of order or a sign of the times?

[Nova]

I just had a knock on my door, interrupting my best game of Pinboladia for a while.  Expecting it to be either my landlord or my next door neighbour, as they are the only ones who knock directly on my apartment door, I foolishly opened the door without checking the peephole.  Lesson learned.

There stood this woman who told me, in Spanish of course, that she was without work and wondered whether I could help her "economicamente"!!!!   Door-to-door begging!!!!!!  I find that an outrageous invasion of privacy.  I simply replied "Todos estamos iguales" and shut the door.

Now I feel a little bit guilty because stooping so low as to knock on doors begging might be a sign of absolute desperation.  Though I still find that intrusion so out of order - I will never hand over money on my doorstep to anybody (except the curry delivery man) and I'm angry that she found her way into the building, invaded my territory and interrupted what I was doing to beg.

Do you think she's a one-off cheeky chancer, or is this really the depth of desperation that Spain has plummeted to? 

[Perikles]

I simply replied "Todos estamos iguales" and shut the door.

That's one door off my list for later then.  I'm going to plead vet's bills 

But seriously, this is a very sad development.

[Guanche]

Was she Spanish Nova or Romanian Spanish, if you get my drift.

[Nova]

Was she Spanish Nova or Romanian Spanish, if you get my drift.

I didn't pick up any foreign accent and the Spanish was grammatically correct and sounded fluent, but then she had caught me off guard and my main objective was to get rid of her, so I couldn't put money on her nationality.  It certainly wasn't the mumbled Canarian though 

[Guanche]

It's just that only yesterday I commented to the wife that we hadn't seen any of the usual Romanian beggars in ages, I'd go as far as to say in a year. Maybe they've found a better way of intimidating people to part with their money.

[Perikles]

Yesterday I asked our Romanian labourer where all his compatriots were, the whole team of workers who renovated our house. He said they had all returned home where there was work to be found, he was the only one left.

[Guanche]

That would explain a lot.

[Janet]

I remember once someone, I think it was Guanche, was talking about begging in a hospital waiting room area. It cannot be genuine, to my mind, because if someone was desperate but decent, they wouldn't trap people. I just can't equate the brazenness of doing that with any sort of genuine decency ...

But although I think it's out of order for sure, I also think it's a sign of the times, not because people are becoming more desperate (because they really are) but because society is becoming more cynical, less joined-up ... I think I need to visit the thread with the argument on whether we need religion to have a moral code ....

I'd have said the same, though ... todos estamos iguales ... lárgate ...

[Guanche]

More to the point is Romania richer that Spain now?

[Myrtle Hogan-Lance]

I had a guy ring our bell some months back saying he had fallen on hard times and asked for money.  I said no.  I cannot stand begging in any way, shape or form and like Nova do not hand money to people who come to the door.  Except the fiesta committee; you can't avoid them. 

About three months ago the bell rang again and this time it was a guy who said the ATM had eaten his card, and he had no money to buy petrol to get home.  He was standing outside his running car as we spoke.  He asked if I would come down to talk to him, which I declined.  I kept repeating I was not going to give him any money, then he got very huffy, jumped in his car, and sped off. 

I think the first guy was a real beggar, and the second one just bizarre.

I didn't know there were lots of Romanians here.  I suspect the girl who begs outside LIDL in Adeje may be Romanian.  I've been shopping there nearly two years and she is there every single day, but naturally knocks off for lunch around 2.00.  With the amount of money people give her, I bet her income exceeds mine.