stand by your man

"'Inflammable' means flammable?  What a country."  One of my favorite Dr. Nick Riviera lines.

If Dr. Nick saw this photograph, he would say the say thing.  What a country.

Mexico must be the only place that provides armed guards for its beggars.  I suspect there are some wags just getting ready with their riposte: "And it is the only country where beggars need armed guards."  Apparently, they have never heard of Detroit.   

The guy in the sombrero is my favorite town beggar.  No matter the weather, he posts himself in front of the bank -- through the heat of the day.

I usually fish out a 10 peso coin for his little blue container.  I was with a northern tourist the other day when I dropped my penny, and she asked: "Why do you do that?  He probably has more money than you have."

The response that immediately formed in my head ("That's right.  He is a Rockefeller heir.  And because he is so bored with his wealth, he sits in a wheel chair in the sun all day to garner a handful of coins.") was filtered out in favor of the slightly more tactful: "You really need to hire someone to write better material for you."

The first would have been too cruel.  Unfortunately, the line I chose proved to be too subtle.

But there he sits.  Showing great customer service skills by smiling and greeting each potential contributor.  His style is worth the measly few pesos I drop into his life.

I just hope that armed guard does not scare off any of the marks.