Brown toothed Beggar

I flip my Bluetooth to "On" and allow my wireless keyboard to sync. It takes only seconds and I'm up. Ready to write about my adventure...the burn on my calf...the adrenaline that has yet to dilute. We'll start with the adrenaline thing I've got going on here. Jay and I had a fairly relaxed day. It's 3:32pm now and we spent the majority of the day on our booties. This is completely and fully warranted after yesterday. But the adrenaline, yes... Jay decided to head out to catch some waves. My brown skin enjoyed the booty sitting and therefore opted out of another day in the sun. So, I decided to walk to the nearest ATM. It only let's you pull out 1,500,000 Rupiah a day. Yep, I'm a millionaire. This is only $150 USD. We have been here in Kuta for a bit now and if we don't start pulling out money everyday we will not be able to pay for our room or motorbike when we leave. So, walked the short distance to the ATM and decided to stop by the market across the street for a pineapple before heading to a breezy place to write. I approached the window full of small pineapples and began pulling on their leaves to find a ripe one. After the fifth try or so, a winner. I brought it to the back of the store and asked a little girl that seemed to live there if she would (motioning my hand like a knife across the skin of the fruit) "cut for me?" She takes it from my hand and walks into the back. I wait a couple of minutes until an older woman walks from the back and motions for me to "seeet."  There is a little restaurant connected to the market. It has become Jay and my fav. We like to share the vegetable curry or he'll go for the Gado Gado (steamed veggies covered in a peanut sauce.) So, I walk into the restaurant area and immediately am approached by a young girl (maybe 8) and an older wrinkled woman with black teeth. "You buy you buy." This has become all too common here. It's really a shame too. It's such a beautiful place but you literally can't even walk onto a beach without getting approached by some innocent kid or begging woman to buy "brayycllleeete." The kids tell you it's for school. They all plead, "just one." It's heartbreaking. Especially when you realize that they're only asking for 50 cents. But it's the principle, right? Maybe. It's Pavlov's dog. It's a matter of properly conditioning. If I don't buy, they'll stop asking. Well...I gave in. After almost crying one night as the kids circled around me and I had to keep telling them no as they begged me to take responsibility for the bettering of their lives...I gave in. Only today. "Just one." She held out her cardboard strip with bracelets wrapped around them. "Just one" I told myself. So I handed her 5000 rupiah and unwrapped a green plastic beaded bracelet tied with orange string and brown wooden buttons. I didn't even get my purse zipped closed before three more kids were trapping me against the table I had yet to sit down at. I politely looked each in the eye, delivered a firm "no thank you," with a lowering of the chin, and did not look at them or their "brayycllleeete's" again. I decided the restaurant wasn't where I would enjoy my ripe pineapple and as I made my way back into the market, I saw the young girl I originally handed the ripe pineapple to, choosing a pineapple from the front window. She made her way to the back and I waited another five minutes, at least, for her to return with an unripe pineapple with no skin. I continued to ignore the begging children (and wrinkly woman), accepted the unripe fruit, and proceeded out the front of the wet, concrete floored market. One begger, a boy with a brown tooth, maybe 7 years old, kept some faith in me that I did not see. He followed me down the street begging. "Please, you buy, you buy." It's 50 cents Morgan. But he was following me. This kid. They won't stop. They're everywhere. I crossed the street. Back. And forth. He followed. "You BUYYYY!!" He starts yelling at me...I stop abruptly, turn around on one foot, and look down into his lost eyes. "I'm not interested, thank you." He closes his eyes, tips his head back, and yells "YYYOUUU BBUUUYYYYY!!!!!!!" What? Who am I? Who are you? Why are you following me child? I turned back around and ran across the street again. He follows me. I'm really not sure how to act. The idea of just giving him the dang 5000 rupiah was never an option. I walked into a hut that sold wood carved masks and salt and pepper shakers. I picked things up and waited for my peripherals to rid this beggar. To no avail. So, I walked out of the store and looked him in the eyes. I waited for a response. I didn't want him knowing where I was staying. The place Jay and I call home for now. That was too personal. This was all getting too personal. He's just a child. A part of me wanted to stuff him in my suitcase and give him a better life. Him and all of these little kids. All put on the streets to beg day in and day out. These kids that will likely never leave this ten miles radius in their entire existence. These kids that truly mean no harm. These kids that likely get nothing from the little they sell. It's heartbreaking. But what can I do? Bring everyone I know a bracelet home? Would it really make a difference. I would love to be a philanthropist, I love to think that I have a big heart. So what do I do? I look him in the eyes. Dead stare. I wait for him.  "You buy.         You buy three." I hold out my pineapple. "You eat my pineapple." He shakes his head. "Nooooo, you buy." "Nooooo, you take my pineapple. It's good. We'll, mostly. There is a lot left. Here, take my pineapple." He looks at the ground and shifts his weight against the pole the holds up a quarter of the little hut. "Buy." "Here, take it." "Buy." "Take it." He holds out his hand and I hand him the three quarter of pineapple. He scurries off.  So, my adrenaline has mellowed. I'm not sure this is how I would have handled the situation given different shoes, different eyes, or a different moment in time. But, I did what I did and at the very least the little brown toothed beggar got a free snack out of it.