Panacea

With unemployment in Colombia around 12%, more than half the population in poverty, and not much of a welfare system, people hatch all kinds of schemes for making a few extra pesos. For example, you can rarely take a bus in Medellín without someone getting on and trying to sell you something: sweets, packs of biscuits, fruit, CDs of special Fathers' Day songs, DVDs, medicines, toys... you get the picture.

The usual modus operandi is (1) Board the bus, jumping over the turnstyle so not having to pay the fare. (2) Move through the bus, handing out your wares to every passenger. (3) Return to the front of the bus and give a 2-4 minute speech about your hardships, and the merits and outstanding value of what you're selling. (4) Move through the bus a second time retrieving your wares, or payment from those who want to keep them. (5) Give the driver his cut, jump off the bus and await the next one. I found it curious at first how most passengers would accept the product being handed out, even if they had no intention of buying it - politeness I suppose - but soon found myself doing the same.

I heard a great story of a guy who got on a bus, handed out blister packs of tablets, and proceeded to reel off a list of diseases and ailments that they could be used for. When he did his second pass through the bus, an elederly male passenger drew him aside and asked in a low voice, 'Can they be used for impotence as well?', to which the vendor replied, 'Si señor, certainly!'. The passenger bought two packets.

PHOTO COMPETITION!!

I need a photograph to accompany this story. Please submit entries via email before 31 October. The sender of the winning photo will win a packet of 24 blue miracle tablets which I'm assured will treat just about anything.