After catching up with Ahmed, I made a point to myself not to flip out the next time that I'm tapped on the arm in a large crowd. But, the camel's back was weak.
The next day, near the same place where I saw Ahmed, a hand tapped me on my arm. I looked left and right, but I didn't see anyone. I figured that maybe someone accidentally brushed their hand against me, so I tried to take another step, but the hand tapped my arm again. I looked down this time to see an old five-foot-tall women who was missing teeth holding her hand out and asking me for money. She was the straw. I was in the middle of a conversation with my friends, and I overreacted. Instead of the typical response "God help you," I gave her a hard look and told rather harshly "No, no, no, stop asking me." She got the picture, but it didn't change anything. She kept holding out her hand for money.
The beggars don't just sit on the side walk and hold out cups for coins. These people (almost all older woman) are proactive. They get right up in your face and sometimes start crying. They are never a problem when I'm walking at a regular pace, but when I'm stuck in the mobs of people outside the college as I'm trying to buy my lunch, I'm not moving at a fast enough pace to escape the beggars. And, this happens every day.
After I ordered my lunch, another old women began begging one of my friends for money. Once we got away from her, a college-aged girl came up to us and profusely apologized to us for the beggars. What struck me was the fact that this girl was apologizing for some other random person. No matter how annoying the beggars are, I would never expect an apology from anyone, but this girl really, really wanted to let us know that most Egyptians are nothing like these beggars.
But, begging is a fact of life in Egypt. Suppose you're running late to class, so you're trying to maneuver in between the crowds and remember whether you packed your translation homework in your backpack. You might get poked. You might get a hand shoved in your face. That's the reality here, and sometimes, it seems like these beggars cause your train of thought to screech to a halt, but maybe they're just opening up your mind to a greater picture.
