GPs who ask for (Financial) Help

[Keithambrose]

1 hour ago, SolaceSoul said:

Well said!

I’ve been saying something similar for years (and gafe gotten lots of pushback for saying it).  

You can be lucky. Here in UK I have a regular guy I see, nearly 5 years, and he has had various, real, issues. Ones that ca be documented.  He has never, once, asked me for money to help.  As a result, I am happy to help out, from time to time. An odd air fare, to go back to Spain, etc. If he were to start asking I would have second thoughts!

[floridarob]

1 hour ago, Keithambrose said:

What about the death of the family buffalo?

That's in the Asian forums, Latin America has it's own list of dilemas, would be funny to ask them how's the water buffalo next time they're asking for money 😱

[SolaceSoul]

8 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

You can be lucky. Here in UK I have a regular guy I see, nearly 5 years, and he has had various, real, issues. Ones that ca be documented.  He has never, once, asked me for money to help.  As a result, I am happy to help out, from time to time. An odd air fare, to go back to Spain, etc. If he were to start asking I would have second thoughts!

I don’t mind participating in the act of giving, but I prefer to give or to donate when / how much / to whom I want. All the asking and dry begging takes away the joy of giving from me. 

[Keithambrose]

8 hours ago, floridarob said:

That's in the Asian forums, Latin America has it's own list of dilemas, would be funny to ask them how's the water buffalo next time they're asking for money 😱

It could open up a new line of enquiry! Is your family shoal of piranha doing well, etc! How is your anaconda - pun intended!

[KeepItReal]

10 hours ago, floridarob said:

That's in the Asian forums, Latin America has it's own list of dilemas, would be funny to ask them how's the water buffalo next time they're asking for money 😱

Indeed. Africans, on the other hand, have a surprising number of birthdays! 😆

[babybear2]

I just received money request from a GP I really liked today

I replied No, I can only offer you money in person, not online 

Hope this will not burn the relationship, haha 

[Latbear4blk]

I had a lot of requests during my first trips to Brazil and Colombia. The last two years I tried a new policy. When I am over there, I make clear to them that I do not do international transferences, and that if they insist on asking me for money I will block them. Since then I had zero issues with the Brazilians, they only invent accidents while I am visiting. The Colombians are harder to learn, I had to block two of them.

[Canadianbtmguy]

One practical method of discouraging requests that I started on my most recent trip is, with my Brazilian SIM I got a second WhatsApp account (the second one WhatsApp Business) and with WHatsApp people can see if you are online and also if you have read your messages. Just don't open your WhatsApp Business and they can tell that not only have you not read their messages, but that you have not even been online. If you have one that you want to talk to even between trips you can just give your regular account to them.

[Canadianbtmguy]

On 5/22/2024 at 7:49 AM, hornyfrog said:

He keeps it real with me about these guys whenever I am on that proverbial ledge, and reminds me that their job is to get the dinheiro and presentes from the clients, and as friendly as everything seems, that’s always going to be the nature of the relationship. Give and take — you give, they take.

I think this is a little overstated. I certainly think that scammers, liars and thieves are overrepresented among those selling sex, but like most jobs, there is still some diversity of attitudes toward the job. There are some that genuinely seek to provide honest work for honest pay. There are both the extremely ambitious who want to become rich as escorts  and/or escort-related scamming/lying/thieving and others with little ambition beyond earning a little extra money or even putting food on the table for their families.

The guy that I described in the beginning post of the thread is fairly ambitious (just to get out of his country town requires some ambition) but I do have fairly high confidence in his story about his foray to europe being a bust. (I turned on the video of the whatsapp well past midnight his time and he indeed was in the bathroom at Orly airport because power outlets in European airports are indeed notoriously rare.) To give an update on him, he is back from Martinique to Brazil; I stalled on the award ticket and he made it to Rio somehow (he lives in rural northern Sao Paolo state so Rio is not obviously on his way home, so not sure if he is working in Rio or what)

To give a brief update on the guy taking care of my friend's 88-year-old father in Orlando, things continue to go well, albeit with a few signs of strain. He's really doing a great job, but that causes some strain with the lazy other caretakers who don't like being made to look bad. Also, I told my friend that he need to get Joao phone service and a bicycle so he could be independent, but my friend did neither and is currently out of town on business. So Joao ends up spending most of his time in the apartment even when another caregiver is on duty (he lives there, unlike them). Plus, it has been so hot. So he hasn't really been living his dream of living in America because he has just been spending a lot of time inside the apartment.  I would say that he is somewhat ambitious in that he wants to live in America, but at least he says he does not aspire to be rich, just a peaceful life (although he does seem open to a marriage not really based on love). And whatever his ambition, he is really prepared to work hard and honestly to achieve it.  True, he may be an exception, but not so rare as some may think.