First, I would like to say that I like your blog a lot, because it brings a very interesting "outside" perspective on "life in Bulgaria". I read almost every post in it (well, I confess that I didn't read the ones that weren't related to Bulgaria), and finally decided to write a small comment.

Leaving aside the "is the democracy or is the communism responsible for the poor and homeless people" and "is our current (at the time) government communist or not", I would like to tell you a story a friend of my mother told her. So she was working in a pharmacy near central train station in Plovdiv (I guess you've been there) and she said that EVERY day there was a gipsy woman who begged nearby the pharmacy, who, at the end of the day, came to her wanting to change small coins and bills for a big bill of 20 leva. Just for a comparison, this took place 2-3 years ago, and last summer (2009) I had an internship in a software company in Sofia (where salaries are bigger!), requiring high education and skills, and my salary was about the same 20 leva/day. Of course, this beggar didn't work on holidays - she had enough money already.

My point is - a lot of these people had turned begging into a profitable job! Whether this is controlled by mobsters or not (probably "yes"), I don't like the idea of tricking people into giving their money to them. Also I ran into a lot of people asking for money for "bread/ticket for the bus", who are actually spending their money on alcohol and cigarettеs. Actually, I've even met people, who honestly asked for money to buy these things. I'm not giving money to anybody, asking for that! Believe me or not, I'm quite sure that you'll be able to determine if a person is really in need of these money when begging, or just decided to go "the easy way" and ask strangers for them.

I appreciate a lot more people who try to do something, like playing an instrument or something. Though they're usually just annoying me, I thing this is the way to "beg" for something.