What You Choose To Do

Originally posted on Jun 11, 2019 on medium.com/@shamandao

Has a bigger impact than what you think it will.

Photo by Scott Umstattd on Unsplash

I people watch to the point I sometimes stare, but then look away when the person(s) I’m staring at would look back at me, a slight blush rising to my cheeks. It’s a pretty big deal for me, to stare. Coming from an Asian culture, we are known to be submissive and as an Asian woman, I was always told that men would find me more attractive when I would speak almost in a whisper. Or how rude it was to stare into the eyes of others. I once was told by my Aunt’s in Vietnam to bat my eyes and laugh with a gentleness, now that would drive the men wild. Looking back, they weren’t wrong, but as a young girl trying to figure out life, it wasn’t necessarily a life lesson I would have chosen myself.

No wonder it took me so long to find my voice.

Over the eighteen plus years in my travels, I can say I have discovered the art of people watching from afar. Either in a piazza in Florence, Italy or a corner cafe in Paris, France, I would watch the world go by and wonder the backgrounds of each person. With every country and every experience, I would celebrate my little victories of overcoming my shyness, one stare at a time.

Yet, on a trip to Cusco, Peru, I stood dead center in front of two people, and watched as a Western woman and man begged for money from people walking by, complete with a sign which read, “Need money for ticket home, please help.” They had Tevas sandals on. This time though, I didn’t look away when our eyes met, I kept staring.

They are a phenomenon known as, ‘begpackers.’ Begpackers are usually those from Western countries who travel to third world countries with not much money or no money at all. Instead of adding value to said third world, they settle and take from that country. Some countries like Hong Kong have gotten to the point of arresting foreigners who beg for money on the streets. Thailand now requires having a minimum amount of money on you before entering the country. There are exceptions to the rules, but for this couple, their Tevas told me something else.

The locals have it bad enough to try to make a living, let alone compete with a foreigner who comes from a land with riches they could only imagine or see on t.v. Some of these locals have never left their countries or even their hometowns and as I watched this pair beg for money for their travels, my heart went out for the local indigenious woman who sat next to them behind her cardboard crate of vegetables to sell. My heart also hurt when I looked at this couple who thought they were only begging for money to fund their travels. Because the choice they were consciously choosing to make had a ripple effect that multiplied into hurt.

The indigenous woman with her two children playing next to her had to compete with this couple next to her. She was trying to make a living, while they wanted to experience the world, on someone else’s dime.

The choices we make have a bigger impact than what we think it will. Every single choice we make in our daily lives have an effect not only on our lives, but the lives of others and our Earth.

Take for example, our lovely state of California, which banned straws because of the viral video of a straw being pulled out a sea turtle’s nose. Blood dripped from its’ nose when the pliers showed half the straw, our heart strings pulled every which way. This is a physical example of cause and effect, but what about the emotional effects of what the causes we put on our world would be?

The next day, I walked by the couple and the same indigenious woman with her children, at the same spot on Calle Santa Clara, next to Plaza de Francisco. I picked up some greens from the woman and as I walked by the two begpackers, I sent them a silent blessing and wished them well on their journey.

I sent them as much love as I could, hoping that they would one day understand the effects of their choices.

Travel is a luxury, no matter who you are or where you come from, it is a luxury not a right. When you feel entitled to travel or when you think your choice of begging for money in a foreign land will not affect the next person, think again.

Think about your, why. Think before you make your very next choice and try to understand the impact it can and will make.

Look inward for answers which come up and listen to them. It’s not only about you, it’s about all of us. We are all connected, your choices will affect your surroundings, your environment and our world. Choose wisely.

Blessings.