Tyrone Reid, Staff Reporter

NOTHING COULD prepare me for my journey into the world of begging, seemingly a thriving 'business' in Jamaica. Not even a crash course in 'Begging 101'.

I thought searching through the dungeon I call my closet for the oldest garments I could find, then manufacturing holes in them would have done the job. It did not.

I left the street last Friday morning with an immutable fact embedded in my mind ­ begging is not easy. It is worlds apart from the comfort of my air-conditioned office, easy chair and high-tech computer.

My stint as a beggar was really about one hour long. It started just before 6:30 a.m. and took place in the vicinity of Half-Way Tree, a Mecca for begging in this country.

SENSE OF UNCERTAINTY

I left with a sense of uncertainty. I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was that I was feeling but I knew it was not good. Maybe it was because I knew that for me begging was an undercover assignment that began and ended in the space of an hour. But for many, it is life.

The cold stares compounded by scornful, dismissive gestures gave me full insight into the embarrassment even the most accomplished beggar experiences daily. I am a staunch supporter of the premise that if a man doesn't want to work he should not eat.

There is little sympathy for the male beggar. On the other hand, my female colleague who was also undercover, was doing thriving business. She always had an audience, some giving cash with others lending a listening ear. She walked away with a whopping $200 while I bagged a measly $30.

One young man who was strolling by with two young ladies said, "Man yuh nuh know how much car waan wash!" in response to my request for some money. At the stop light, one lady I approached never even acknowledged me.

GOOD SAMARITANS

Still, there were the Good Samaritans. One young man dipped his hand into his pocket and came up with what might have been his last 'mite'. He gave me $10 out of it and said he was reserving the rest to pay his bus fare. The only other donation I received was $20 from a woman who gave me a stern warning not to use her money to buy ganja.

I also learnt that begging on the streets can be hazardous to one's health. That is, if you are a 'new' beggar. It was brought to my attention that while I was plying my 'trade', a group of men were watching me like hawks. They thought I was a 'pick-pocket'. They were just waiting for me to make my move so that they could pounce on me and beat me to a bloody pulp. On the lighter side, however, I thought that a few of the responses to my request for 'a ting' were rather amusing. I had to restrain myself from laughing out loud and blowing my cover.

Reporter Lisa McKay (fourth left), turns to the pedestrians.

Lisa A McKay, Gleaner Writer

BEING A beggar may seem simple but from first-hand experience, I can surely report that looks are deceiving. Women beggars are very few when compared to males, but both genders have their horror to face, let me relate the women's side.

It is hard to believe the way we as humans treat our fellow man. The younger women who one would expect to be kinder, since they are adorned so beautifully and are women themselves proved to have hearts of stone. When approached, they scornfully turn up their nose, some made remarks that would be unladylike to repeat.

The older women are indeed WOMEN. Upon seeing the poor, young girl stretching out her hand, their maternal instincts immediately kicked-in. "Little girl, where you come from? What happen to you madda? How you end up here so?" asked one woman after she emptied her purse of all the coins she possessed into the beggar's basket.

FAMILY PLANNING INFORMATION

She took time to inform me (the beggar) of clinics I could go to get family planning and implored me to never stop praying.

In contrast to the women the men were totally different. Even now I am still stunned to realise that young guys would actually want to rape a mad woman.

"Mike see one new gal deh, cum mek we go tek a piece off a har," was a comment overheard during a discussion between two young men, who were also beggars and windshield washers.

One man, a cyclist who seemed about 40 years old, rode up to me and seeing my distress, said, "Mi ago give you $500 and you come pon mi bicycle mek me carry you up a yard." He must have seen the shock registered on my face, because he went on to ask, "So you tink seh you ago get money and nuh hand ova di goods?"

Even though I was posing as a beggar, fear gripped my heart and I thought of pregnant mad women I have seen on the streets and of young girls who have been raped. Yet all this time, the desperate cyclist was still insisting I take up his offer, so I changed my location and was relieved when a well-dressed man pulled up beside me in a black Honda Integra motor car. If any one could help me, I knew he surely could. He rolled the window down, smiled suggestively and said "Good morning pretty girl." I refused to answer and he continued, "Come mek me tek you somewhere an you can get all the money you want when we done."

I couldn't believe it, the people who looked so impressive and commanded so much respect by their attire and attitude are really the ones I needed to be wary of.

They are seen at the major intersections around the Corporate Area. Dirty. Smelly. Often intimidatory. They are begging. These are not the persons begging for charity motorists have complained of becoming tired of them too. They make an occupation of begging. Sunday Gleaner reporters Tyrone Reid and Lisa McKay posed as beggars on Friday to record their experiences. They found that although members of the public often returned the hostility, the beggars can make more than the average minimum wage earner. For example, Lisa received $200 begging for just under an hour. If she begged for eight hours, that would amount to $1,600 a day or $8,000 a week. The national minimum wage is $2,500 a week.

THERE ARE more men on the nation's streets begging, in comparison to women. Sociologists point to a number of reasons for the disparity, saying that it is a more dangerous occupation for women.

According to Dr. Orville Taylor, lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at the University of the West Indies (UWI), men are more equipped to defend themselves.

"One of the simple explanations of course is that begging is high-risk physical activity and as a consequence, someone who puts himself or herself out there to be a beggar is one who can be victimised physically."

NO GENDER DISCRIMINATION

Dr. Taylor reasoned that although there is no gender discrimination when it comes to crime against beggars, women are usually the victims. This view was supported by sociologist, Heather Ricketts.

"We know for instance that boys are the ones who are sent on the road and this is because of safety factors, which result in the boys being more visible than girls," said Dr. Taylor.

Mrs. Ricketts said while she has not done any formal study on the matter, research on livelihood strategies reveal many examples of young boys being sent out on the streets to bring home the bread.

Dr. Taylor argued that from a sociological standpoint, societal norms dictate that it is men who are more likely to send boys into the streets.

"Apart from that very basic explanation there are issues that have to do with the requirement of men to fulfil economic responsibilities and I suppose that society is a little bit more sympathetic in taking care of females," he said.

STRUCTURED LAWS

"The way in which our norms, values or even our laws are structured points towards a need to take care of women, for example the Maintenance Act in Jamaica makes it clear that a man must take care of his wife. But there is no concomitant responsibility on the part of the woman irrespective of what kind of income she is earning," explained Dr. Taylor.

On the other end of the pendulum, Dr. Aldrie Henry-Lee, research fellow at Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies told The Sunday Gleaner that fewer women are beggars because they have a higher level of self-esteem than their male counterparts.

A MATTER OF DIGNITY

"I think for a woman it is a matter of dignity and self-pride. Maternal instinct is driving them to get some secure form of income to provide for their family," she said.

However, Dr. Taylor believes that there is a greater demand for women in low-income jobs. "At the fringes of society you have more of those jobs, which are (of) very low social prestige, I would suspect that there is greater demand for people who are household workers, domestic helpers than there would be for someone who is a gardener," he said.

Although there are not many girls begging at stop lights or on the plazas, it does not mean they are not involved in illicit practices.

"Girls are usually doing some things that are worse than the boys, but we don't see it because it happens behind closed doors and that is the unfortunate thing," she said.