Grease

I heard someone mutter during Holy Week that even the "taong grasa" (people of the grime, the homeless caked in grime) of Baguio speak English. I heard two (all women) indeed speak fluent English by themselves and sometimes with pedestrians. There is one who Mrs. De Guia, the former mayor, told me belongs to a rich family here. There is also one with Tourette syndrome who curses lavishly at Marbay. Just recently I saw one, Paul told me his name is Wilson, who belongs to a rich Chinese family. He said he got desp[aired over a string of business losses and now became a taong grasa. But I'm sure that is a Woolrich shirt, Paul said. Yeah, Baguio is still a small town because we know our beggars. Or maybe we became so familiar with them. There is boom chack chack boom man(blind man using a plastic jug and maracas). The blind man along Skyworld (I had a story that came out in Midweek Magazine about one time when a block of cement fell on him post-1990 earthquake time). One success story is Miller whose guitar skills made him a folk bar circuit regular. There is another in Patria who used to have long hair and looked like Jose Feliciano. There is another on a wheelchair in front of Don Henrico's. These people I give whenever I ahve loose change. Friends tell me, don't give. You are encouraging them. I tell them, we all are beggars. Society is the biggest beggar.