Old Brown Shoe

So here I am walking along what´s called a "Zona Peotonal" in LaPaz. These are zones for pedestrians only. Like an outdoor mall. It´s just a downtown street with no cars. I am gawking at hawkers, minding my own tourist business when all of a sudden ... I am confronted by a young man wearing a ski mask.

He stands before me and points to the ground. Shocked, I thought he wanted me to lie down in the street because this was a robbery. Never mind there are hundreds of people around in broad daylight. I am surely doomed, I think.

Then it occurs to me ... the passage in the Lonely Planet Guidebook (a must have) that described these street beggars who will shine your shoes for 3Bolivianos (roughly 30 cents). Of course, that´s what this was. He was pointing NOT to the ground but to my shoes (which were indeed filthy black leather from walking Cochabamba barrios).

So, now that understood, I asked how much ... "Tres Bolivianos" he said under the muffled mask. But I waved him off out of habit, not wanting to be bothered. Then I paused and thought, "Come on, your leather shoes are filthy and it is friggin 30 cents Fairbanks!!"

It was one of the best 10 minutes of my day.

The ski mask? Young men in Bolivia are so desperate for any spare change they can muster up, so to avoid public embarrassment from those who might recognize them, they all wear ski masks so as not to be put to shame.

Shame on me for presuming the worst of him.
Shame on me for developing a habit of waving off the poor.
(Yes, I gave him more than 3 Bolivianos!)

Thank you and good luck my friend, whoever you are.