The One Peso Beggar :: And I Thought Life Was Bad For Me

I was opening a pile of bank statements a while ago looking for a certain check because I need some details for a payment I was going to make.

I remember the bank charged me every year for something that amounts to P800 pesos which reflected on my online statement. This year I got fed up and asked the bank about it and they told me that it was because I have not picked up my bank statements from their branch. Funny thing was, I am always there every week but did not know about their policy. While all the while I was also wondering what happened to the checks that I issued.

I then remembered that for the longest time they had a sign that they will impose penalties for statements not being picked up. For some unknown reason, I thought that it did not include me. Maybe it was because I have a habit of ignoring announcements.

Opening the bank statements, I saw the checks that I issued this year. I thought that if it was the other way around, that instead of issuing these checks I received them, then I would have a significant amount saved. Unfortunately these checks were all necessary for the life I am living right now. Not that I have a good lifestyle or anything, but rather I have to pay for some loans, advanced deposits on rent, plus some items that I consistently buy for the shop. To cut it short, this is the cost of living for me.

Lately I have always pondered how this year was a bad year for me. Never mind the recession, the typhoons and the floods because it did not affect me directly. Frankly the flood even helped me extend the time I had to pay my supplier because the checks I issued them was destroyed by the flood.

Through the years, the company I am working for is not just losing money, but also losing its brand image. I will not dwell too much on it, but to summarize, the future is not that bright here and I really need to look for another job.

Health wise, this year my father was diagnosed with cancer and we pooled our money for his operation, check-ups and medicines. He is still not cured but he is not in pain, he even gained some weight and is always busy with projects he had no time for when he was still working.

This year I also felt that I was not getting any younger. I am feeling less motivated in everything I do and just want to sleep. I feel like my health is deteriorating but the incompetent side of me does not want to go to the hospital to get checked.

Anyway, I found what I was looking for and headed for the bank. On my way there, I saw this beggar with a big pail on his head and handwritten posters. By the looks of his face and the poster that he wrote, he is from China and ended up as a beggar here.

If I understand his letter correctly, he is saying that he discovered an anomaly in China's stock market and was forced to leave and ended up here. A little conspiracy theory angle to get attention I thought.

On another part of the letter he enumerated how hard it was for him to get something to eat or drink, and that he was poisoned... An officemate of mine jokingly said when I showed her the letter "By what? Insanity?"

I tried to understand everything that he wrote but I cannot make anything of it, just the part where he said his English is bad.


Anyway, all I can do is say a silent prayer for him, that somehow he would escape his current situation and live the rest of his life without misery.

At the end of his letter it says "pls help one peso!", I did not give him any.