It is not what you think.
I do not visit or plan to visit Los Angeles anytime soon. I am talking about Latin America. It is my first time back since the death of Little John and things are worse here than they were back then. There are a lot more people collecting cardboard for a living than before. There is also a lot less cardboard to collect.
In the U.S. there are companies that install compactors for businesses and they do not charge anything for the machine. They only get the money that they make selling the paper waste on an industrial level. But here, I see people that gather it and ask businesses to save their boxes on an agreement of one sort or another. These collectors are just trying to make a little money to survive. You can tell by their clothes and the carts or bags they use to collect it. My heart goes out to them but many are too proud to accept charity.
Robberies are up as well and for that reason, I rented a car so as to have a barrier between me and the would be thieves. Driving here is another story all together. That is not the topic of this post.
The good robber
The other day I met Joel, a young man who is trying to build his own house, likely made of bricks covered with Adobe. He plans to get married when he has it done. I met him working a job in a place where tourists go. Things were slow and I spoke to him for a while. He did not know me from Adam, but he brought up the topic of trading and wants to learn how to do that with crypto currencies. I recommended a site for practicing trading and said I would help him exchange his money for a tradable asset. The day we set to meet, again at his work, he was not able to talk because his boss put him in a spot where he needed to attend customers constantly. That same day, he was on his motorcycle on the way home and he stopped at a red light and someone ran into the street and pointed a gun at him. He had brought his money to exchange and he also had his computer with him in hopes that I would make a few trades for him, being easier to see the charts and such on something bigger than a smart phone.
I asked if the thief had taken his motorcycle. He answered that he had lost his computer and nearly a half a million pesos - equal to several hundred dollars. He added, "He was good to me." I guess that is all you can hope for if you are robbed. A good robber.
I have not experience anyone threatening my life here, but I have seen people walking down the streets of the city stark naked. When I mentioned it to locals, they said that the person had been robbed and had everything, including their clothes, taken. What other choice would they have since they cannot board a bus or take a taxi.
It is difficult to see so many in need. If only Hive could be a place to go for them and allow them to have a little extra cash on top of their meager paydays or, cardboard sales revenue! like a cherry on top of the regular grind.
I change out some extra dollars for local currency when here in order to sit people down for a meal when they ask for some coins. This time I will be leaving my laptop here for Joel. I had messaged some of the people who I support letting them know where to find the boy. If he ends of with an account here, I hope there will be no blacklisting of him while he learns the ins and outs of Hive.