life's not fair

RICARDO 333 · #1 07-30-2004, 10:28 AM

I had a fantastic holiday in RD and spent a huge amount of money which I hope stays in the country but I have one incident that I remember. I was in the Caribe Tours bus waiting room in Sosua waiting for a bus back to SD ..the room had about 6 ameriacan people , a couple of well off Dominicans and a young Dominican chap about 19 who looked fairly low income.
As we were waiting for the bus an old man bent over with arthritis came and asked for money... everyone looked away except for me who gave him only a very few pesos because that is all I had because I was going to cash a TC in SD but the young Dominican guy seemed to empty his wallet for the old man.
We drove to Santiago where we all got off for a drink except the young man who drank water apparently because he had no more money for a soft drink. Then some of us on the bus heard little chirpy noises and the driver hopped off his seat , confonted the young Dominican and threw him off the bus because he had two chickens in a box under his seat.
I do not know what the moral of the storey is but I have felt very bad about it.
When I was in RD I have never met such nice people who are facing great difficulties in their daily living with power outages, low incomes and lack of proper ammenities..but in spite of all I found them to be a most couteous people when I was shopping and dining and walking around. ON the way back home I sat next to a guy in the plane who was from Denver who , on hearing where i had been, said he did not understand how I could go to such third world countries with such corrupt people and I thought of all the American and European pigs I had seen at the Hilton Hamarca at Boca Chica with plates overflowing with food far more than they needed ..all because they had pre paid for food and drinking enough drinks to be ill just because they had pre paid their drinks and then becoming loud mouth and boring and I wondered which was the third world country.
Again I do not know if there is any moral to the tale. All I can is that I related very well to the Dominican people and hope that they have a turn in their economic fortunes ... Ricardo 333

Camden Tom · #2 07-30-2004, 12:44 PM

.....that there was a moral to the story, but I thought it was some interesting observations.

Conchman · #3 07-30-2004, 12:46 PM

definitely food for thought

JDJones · #4 07-30-2004, 01:06 PM

You know, it's interesting that you mention this story.
Specifically, the treatment the young man received from the bus driver.

Occasionally, I take the bus to Puerto Plata for the weekend, since I can now save a substancial amount of money by not taking my vehicle.

I have been amazed at the lack of courtesy displayed by the drivers each time I go. Rather than speaking to people in a courtious manner, they have been extremely rude to the passengers.

On one occasion, I was sitting in the first row, and an american tourist got on, and paused to ask if it was the bus for Sosua. The driver completely ignored him. Completely! It was like the guy wasn't even there. After asking three times and not getting a response, I finally piped up and confirmed what he was asking. The tourist was not asking a long winded question, he simply asked "Sosua". After the second request, he kinda looked at me like he was in the wrong world or something.

On another occasion, when we stopped in Santiago, an elderly dominican woman went to the front of the bus to get off. The driver looked at the woman and said, "if you get off, you're not getting back on", without a word being said by her. Another passenger that was boarding in Santiago to continue on to Puerto Plata was received with a "Cono, can't you move any faster" and 'hurry, or you're not going anywhere"

I could cite a couple of other examples, but the question is this: does anyone know how these idiots can be reported?

I have been here for many years, but I've never seen employees treat customers like this..

appleman · #5 07-30-2004, 05:19 PM

So on the one hand we have Dominicans who gave almost everything they have to help others, and on the other hand there are Dominicans who treat others with disrespect. While I firmly believe that the vast majority of Dominicans fall into the first catagory I think you are describing a slice of life no matter who you are talking about.

I am sure not every American or European ate and drank like pigs at the resort you were at. We see good and bad in every culture in every country. Sometimes it makes more of an impression based on what we have just seen or where we have just been, but basically it is human nature-some good, some bad. Just because I am European or American does not make me a pig because I can afford to go to a resort that certain others cannot afford. I feel for those less fortunate than me, but there will always be some with less and some with more. The main thing is to respect everyone no matter what they have because they are a person deserving of respect.

Lambada · #6 07-30-2004, 05:47 PM

RICARDO 333,
I DO hope you'll come back!! Tourists as observant as you, with that much sympatico, one does not meet every day.
With regard to the non rich man giving to the old man....he could have been very religious, you know, better to give than to receive etc. It gets to you, though, doesn't it? I find all these very humbling experiences. Like the shoe shine boys......give one a biscuit & if another appears he'll break it in half to give half to the other one, even though he's hungry! At 6 years of age! You could walk around with tears in your eyes in this place, at the generosity of the very, very poor.

Wales · #7 07-30-2004, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lambada

RICARDO 333,
I DO hope you'll come back!! Tourists as observant as you, with that much sympatico, one does not meet every day.
With regard to the non rich man giving to the old man....he could have been very religious, you know, better to give than to receive etc. It gets to you, though, doesn't it? I find all these very humbling experiences. Like the shoe shine boys......give one a biscuit & if another appears he'll break it in half to give half to the other one, even though he's hungry! At 6 years of age! You could walk around with tears in your eyes in this place, at the generosity of the very, very poor.

Marjorie

How on earth can you preach this junk when on a previous thread you were posting that people smoke Marlboro cigarettes. Why not suggest instead of buying these lethal drugs, they donate half to one of your - Tear jerking organisations - don't ask me: I do not smoke --- ANYTHING!!

Glad to hear you have a gen set. Was it new or used? If the latter, good luck. We bought brand new. No thanks to Graham.

Brian

Brian

Escott · #8 07-30-2004, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RICARDO 333

I had a fantastic holiday in RD and spent a huge amount of money

HUGE? or was it really HUGE?

Did you sign over one of your TC's to the poor boy to help him get home? What the heck is one travelers check when you had spent a HUGE AMMOUNT OF MONEY in the poor DR?

So tell me just exactly how HUGE it was?

Scott

Larry · #9 07-30-2004, 09:56 PM

Bottom line is that you returned home with this panging of guilt in your belly. Explain what you plan to do to alleviate it, if anything. If you don't plan to do anything then just lose the guilt now because it will wear off eventually anyway.

Larry

KrackedKris · #10 07-30-2004, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wales

Marjorie

How on earth can you preach this junk when on a previous thread you were posting that people smoke Marlboro cigarettes. Why not suggest instead of buying these lethal drugs, they donate half to one of your - Tear jerking organisations - don't ask me: I do not smoke --- ANYTHING!!

Glad to hear you have a gen set. Was it new or used? If the latter, good luck. We bought brand new. No thanks to Graham.

Brian

Brian

What in hel... does you post have to do with anything let alone the original post?