random thoughts: the informal sector

• hahaha ya i know, the name is to trite. i chanced upon it while wading through some research for a writing gig i'm working on. other names (squatter, masa, poor.. sound so negative and condescending!)
  

• while my heart naturally goes out to them, i don't believe in random dole outs of money when they beg. i don't like this attitude of "you're better off than us so we EXPECT you to do something about our cause". though on another note.. i think generosity is a must, especially if you've been blessed with so much.

• i do like to give when people share a talent!!! i especially love the guys who sit on the sidewalk with an electric guitar and sing! they're so talented! i remember stopping to listen to the guys playing at the mrt ayala station. complete with a drummer! they were performing some beach boys song if i'm not mistaken. even if they're umbrella-ed, i do feel a little sad when they're left alone playing under the blazing sun or under the rain. i wonder how they get there and how they set up?
  

• i was walking along pasong tamo yesterday and a guy in a wheelchair (actually, there were a bunch of them rolling themselves down the street), asked me for some money. my natural inclination was to feel sorry for him (i shudder as i write that as i feel like i'm belittling him) because come on, in a wheelchair & penniless? hard not to feel for his cause. but i kind of snapped out of it, smiled and just shook my head.
  

• kind of in line with that, a few weeks back i saw a guy in a wheel chair in the mrt. he was gazing out of the window with his sunglasses on. nahiya ako to snap a picture (the sunlight from the window was hitting him really nicely) because i can't seem to turn off the loud sound my phone camera makes when i'm sneaking photos. anyway, he had a sticker on his wheelchair that indicated he was an athlete for the special olympian and i couldn't help but feel so blown away and inspired. people who have not had the best of natural circumstances and have risen beyond it? that strength of character is so amazing.