- Time of past OR future Camino
- 2012
"There is a bottle in the cupboard for the Priest. Not for drinking..."
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You need a story:
I was once sitting in a cafe in Merida (on the VdlP) having coffee (I stayed there for 4 days due to hurt feet), when an old widow came by, begging for some coins. I gave her nothing. As she left around the corner, I suddenly thought to myself "You must be the worst pilgrim in the world! Here you are sitting with more than enough money to walk across Spain, but you cannot afford some pocket money for a poor old woman!"
So I ran after her, but she was gone.
The next day I returned to the same cafe hoping she would return, and she did. I had her sit down and relax, ordered a cup of coffee for her, took my hat and collected coins from the rest of the guests there, together with my own pocket money. It became quite a few Euros. I received two of the sweetest kisses in my life on each cheek as she left.
Lesson learned: Give to those who need: You will most likely receive more than what you give, both inside yourself as well as in the exterior world. After meeting that old woman, I never pass by a needing person without giving some. She taught me a very strong lesson. "Give and you shall receive". I have enough to share a little for the less fortunate. If you are "conned", so be it: We all meet a..holes, but in the long run, you will win by sharing with those who really need. And they are quite easy to spot, aren't they?
It was a scam.
Who knows.....perhaps it started off as a scam. But the following day, as @alexwalker described it, he paid some attention to the old widow, showed that he cared, assisted her as he did, and showed her some kindness - perhaps the first bit of kindness she had experienced for months - and her heart was softened and she responded accordingly. One of our members recently likened the giving of charity to the story of the abbé in Les Misérables giving the candlesticks to Valjean and wondered if she could do the same. Well, I like to think that our story here is along the same lines.I don't think so - just read the story to the end. Buen Camino, SY
I had a couple of pilgrims ask me for money along the CF.
If you cannot afford to do a Camino then aren't you better off saving up rather than relying on others?
Somewhere between Herrerias and O Cebreiro the other day I was approached by a young couple who said they were Hungarian pilgrims returning from Santiago and could I help them.
I gave them 5 Euros thinking I'd rather be the victim of a con than deny someone who needed help because I suspected I was being duped.