At this point, I am used to the scams, touts, liars, rip-offs and commissions that invariably seem to accompany me anywhere that I can afford to travel. Like the street food slopped up from woks and pots (developing) world-wide, these various scams all have their own local flavors. Yet for their differences, they all seem to have mostly the same basic ingredients. An earnest, albeit fraudulent smile are like the noodles. A redirection toward the scammer’s service and away from whatever you had initially wanted is the sauce. The lousy feeling after you had been had is indigestion from too much MSG.
Let’s just say that I have had plenty of street food in my life.
Still, Mohammed’s words of caution were well taken. Egypt did not disappoint in either the grandeur of it’s Pharonic sandstone antiquities nor in the utter completeness of nearly everyone a traveler would encounter trying to make a quick buck.
The more basic scams are simple overcharging. To me, these are the most insidious. When a sandwich should normally cost 1 LE but instead the vendor asks for 1.5 LE, you really need to pick your battles. Sure, you are probably getting overcharged by 50%, but who knows? Maybe the guy’s price is a little higher. Or not. It’s easy to rationalize and say ‘well, it’s only a difference of 15 cents’ but it adds up and also, it doesn’t change the basic unfairness of the situation. This rationalization also breeds a kind of complacency that the overchargers thrive on, wearing you down one by one like an eternal barrage of Saharan sand ebbing away even the most stolid stones. At the end of a long day, no one wants to be hassled over the equivalent of another half dollar, but I suspect that this is just what these guys count on.
I am reminded of the Komodo Dragon, a giant land dwelling reptile that lives on a few islands in the Indonesian Archipelago. One of their favorite treats are the feral goats on the island but the dragons’ feeding habits are quite strange. They kill their prey through what is essentially bad oral hygiene- infecting a passing goat with a bite that will almost certainly turn fatally gangrenous. Since it takes several days or weeks for the hapless goat to succumb, one would imagine that the dragon lurks behind until it can claim its festering reward. Not so! As it turns out, they simply wait around for any goat bitten by any other Komodo Dragon to die so they can feed on the carrion. It’s a strange communal but non-collaboratory hunting style.
I mention this because I have many times felt like the goat on the island, surrounded by reptiles trying to get a bite in, biding their time until one of them finally gets me and I fall victim to their persistent dishonesty.
An old favorite of touts (people looking to get a commission by directing you toward a given service) is to congregate anywhere travels may possibly frequent. Most of the time, they are satisfied to use broken English to try to move you from, say, a train station to the nearby budget hotel of their choice. I have checked into a hotel and upon deciding against it, had the hotel staff themselves try to accompany me to the neighboring hotel to get a commission! In the past, I didn’t know what to do in these sorts of situations. Now, my strategy is just to lay it out in the open. I also find that talking a little fast, then re-emphasizing my points multiple times is an effective style. What can I say, I learned it from the scammers! Sample lines:
‘No, no. This man is not with me. He is just following me around and I have asked him to leave. I know he just wants some money. Everyone here knows it, and I have told him to go away again and again and yet he still comes with me to this place? Why does he come here? I know he is greedy and wants my money, but don’t pay it to him. He didn’t bring me here.’ [Repeat as required]
If they can have a script for the occasion, why can’t I?
[Below: A scammer no doubt hides near the colossal and marvelous statues of Ramses II at Abu Simbel]
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