One More Reason I Love Guate
ByThe mindless bureaucracy and senseless lack of humanity that is present in so many institutions in the US, but best exemplified by the federal government, is one of the things I don’t miss about life in the states. There are bureaucracies here as well, and certainly a fair amout of insanity, but one thing you won’t encounter is this kind of heartless, arrogant government:
He sleeps under a bridge, washes in a public bathroom and was panhandling for booze money 11 months ago, but now Larry Moore is the best-dressed shoeshine man in the city. When he gets up from his cardboard mattress, he puts on a coat and tie. It’s a reminder of how he has turned things around.
In fact, until last week it looked like Moore was going to have saved enough money to rent a room and get off the street for the first time in six years. But then, in a breathtakingly clueless move, an official for the Department of Public Works told Moore that he has to fork over the money he saved for his first month’s rent to purchase a $491 sidewalk vendor permit.
“I had $573 ready to go,” Moore said, who needs $600 for the rent. “This tore that up. But I’ve been homeless for six years. Another six weeks isn’t going to kill me.”
The bureaucrat told Moore that she found out about his business after reading about his success in this paper.
The reporter goes on to detail how this man has worked hard to get himself cleaned up and develop a loyal following. Some of his customers had even pitched in to help him get a home. The worthless local government employee apparently had nothing better to do than require this guy to get a $491 permit.
The economy is in ruins, unemployment is at 25 year highs, local government tax revenues have fallen precipitously and this is what government employees are doing. California, in particular, is suffering unprecedented deficits, and apparently they still have too many employees.
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11 Comments
June 9th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
My first reaction when I read the article, is that somebody needs to beat the crap out of that bureaucrat or at least make her sleep on a card board mattress and get ready for work in a public bathroom for the next six months. The truth is, that it is not the heartless US government, it is the heartless bureaucrats. I haven seen this time and time again with the US Embassy in Guatemala City, the Department of State and the INS. However, the great thing about the United States is that someone will step up, and it won’t necessarily be someone with money, and pay the $491.00 for the permit and tell the small minded fool of a bureaucrat to stick it up her ass. Now that is what I love about the US.
June 9th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Mark, your post made me really think. So I had to post twice. Sorry for being so wordy. I deal with the Guatemalan government and the bureaucracy more than I care to. I have seen terrible abuses. I spend a good deal of time in children’s court and the bureaucracies that are involved with the court system and I have seen judges shame indigenous women who don’t speak Spanish and call them liars as though they “should” speak Spanish. I have seen judges deny children who need immediate surgery the opportunity to go the States where it would be done for free and instead sentence them to death in Guatemala. But more than anything I have watched as people continue to pull each other down into a cesspool of poverty rather than help pull each other up. Our children’s home will be opening a preschool next year and today I went to visit one that is an example of what I would like. The school is run by all Guatemalans, started by Guatemalans but with a large amount of technical support and money from the States. I was very impressed. When I asked about how the government and other schools viewed their school, I was told that many people were jealous and badmouthed them. I guarantee you I have experienced this first hand over and over again in Guatemala. When people try to move up, do better they get pulled back down. Sometimes it is just easier to go along with the status quo. So, I think, that if this guy sleeping on cardboard and bathing in the public restroom was here in Guatemala, that there would be no public restroom for him to clean up in, that he would not have any money because it would have been stolen long ago and he would be so beaten up by life that he would not have the ambition to stop drinking and start his upscale shoe shine business. But I still believe the US bureaucrat needs a taste of reality and a smack to her head, shame on her.
June 9th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
One more tally for my hometown! That’s obnoxious beyond comprehension but what’s really amazing is that it wasn’t some idiot cop hassling someone– some city flunky read about the guy in the paper and then went to shake him down… I really can’t imagine someone going out of their way to screw someone in quite a fashion, and people have been known to consider me cynical… Thanks for pointing this out, tho I don’t know what to do with the knowledge… Maybe I’ll find some shoes he can polish…
June 9th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
Nancy Nancy, hi my name is Israel from the lovely city of Angels (LA County). Here is the scoop on where our US government is heading and by the way the story Mark posted is just but the tip of the TIP (yes twice) of the iceberg that will be playing out in the months to come. Industries are all but gone, the Fed keeps printing money like their is no tomorrow, and yes the military powers are extremely stretch thin….(Funny how History repeats itself) ((ROME)) Well this is just but the icing on the cake, we could talk about social, political ,etc etc of a society but then again I’m only posting my comments on the subject. Welcome 3rd world USA! Yes the poor man is but lucky to be in the situation he is in, but then again living in such a “rich” country I often ask myself why is he in this position. I believe the US was cut short 100 years of it’s dominance in the world (thank you World Bank and Federal Reserve, & IMF) I also think that as time passes we will not see too many of “someone will step up” people you mentioned. As it is the largest food bank in the US (located in NY) is running out of supplies. Again the “someone will step up” people are running thin as well.
Just my 2 centavos or pesos…sorry (quetzales)
take care
June 10th, 2009 at 12:28 am
Israel, although I have been in Guatemala for 15 years I keep in close contact with friends and family back in the States. I am a native Californian and lived and worked in SF and the SF Bay Area for many years. I know many people who have lost their jobs in the last year. My oldest son worked for Yahoo! in an high level position and was jut laid off with their last big layoffs. It is very, very scary and I agree it certainly sounds like things are going downhill fast in the US. This evening I Googled the article about the shoe shine guy and saw that he lives in San Francisco. I worked for years on 3rd and Mission and the last time I was back in SF I could not believe the number of homeless people. However, that being said, losing one’s job, or not have a good deal of disposable income doesn’t justify rude behavior from a civil servant. I understand that people will suffer in the US, but the reality is that the poverty in Guatemala is so widespread that just day to day food is a struggle. I don’t think most people in the US have experienced that. That type of poverty destroys one’s spirit. I checked up on the shoe shine guy tonight and not only did someone pay his permit but he was visited by politicians and he ended up with a few thousand dollars. That nasty civil servant employee did the shoe shine guy a big favor. Now everyone wants their shoes shined by him. What I was trying to get across is that poverty in Guatemala has caused people to be mistrustful and at the same time try to keep others down. I have seen this with my employees and it just kills me because I do not model that behavior. It is culture and instilled for generations. It is one of the reasons it is difficult to get people in Guatemala to collaborate on a project. This is not a value judgement, it is an observation after working so long here.
And you know the truth Israel, that most people, in California, see poverty as not being able to buy their new flat screen TV, or new car or the newest fad in cell phones. Most people will do fine without extra income. Maybe they will spend more time with their kids than at the malls. Maybe people will pull together. People in the US are use to the government fixing things for them, perhaps it is time they work together to fix what they can in their own communities.
June 10th, 2009 at 8:07 am
Nancy, we see what we want to see and nothing more. You need an eye/soul exam urgently or leave Guatemala before it is too late and you run out of seed of love.
June 10th, 2009 at 10:42 am
Nancy, your points are well-taken. One observation I would make is that when it is the government that is causing harm to the citizens, it is worse than when they are the victim of otherwise negative cultural factors or victimized by their fellow citizens. This would be the case here or in the US.
June 10th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
gringochapin, I always find it so interesting that when one makes a critical observation regarding Guatemalan culture then it means the person is a bad person, a burned out person or there is clearly something wrong with them. The nice part of living outside of the United States is that I see much more clearly my own culture. And I will be the first one to criticize it. One of reasons I like this blog so much is that Mark says things that are not politically correct and not easy for PC people to swallow. I think if we can’t look honestly at our own culture or one that we have adopted then there is a problem. After 15 years of battling the legal system for kids in this country I am sure I can use a nice vacation but and eye/soul exam, I don’t think so. Sorry gringochapin, there are no noble savages anywhere in the world and thanks but no thanks on the offer of the eye/soul exam. Always nice to know there are people, like you, that have the real truth.
June 10th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
I agree, Mark, that when the damage is done by the government it is far worse. Having had a number of bloody battles with the Guatemalan government I can tell you first hand why people don’t fight back, don’t stand up for themselves. The risks are way too high and people feel so powerless. I would much rather deal with the nasty little bureaucrat in San Francisco than anyone in the government here.
June 10th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Folks, I enjoy a good discussion-or debate-as much as anyone, but let’s make sure our critique is of opinions and ideas and not people simply because their opinion is not the same as ours.
June 11th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Oh bureaucracy, the same the world over.