A few days ago I obliged my wife by walking round the corner to get a watermelon, two kilos of oranges, and two cantaloupes from the lady who parks her donkey cart for an hour or so by the SunShine English School. I bought the stuff, paid for it, and was turning homewards when a nicely dressed young man, perhaps thirteen or fourteen years of age, offered to help me by pushing my grocery cart home and carrying it up six flights of stairs, since the lift in our apartment building was out.
I accepted, and we began walking the two or three minutes round the corner to my home.
My impressions of the young man changed quite quickly. He was fluent enough in English to tell me that he needed a job. I sympathized with him but told him I had no jobs to give him, other than that I would pay him a small amount for carrying the groceries.
Then he asked me if I needed a fuck. Taken aback, I said, What?
A fuck, he said. He put his right hand down towards my crotch. I pushed the hand away and said No.
He continued to talk. He was hungry, his parents were poor, he had no money, was I American?, America was a great fucking country. Did I need a fuck? Again he gestured, this time mimicking masturbation.
I rebuffed him again. We entered my apartment building, and he carried the groceries the six floors up to my door. I opened the door with my key.
He made a move to enter the apartment with me, but I cut him off. Again he gestured as if he might sexually service me. I rebuffed him in more colorful language.
Nelle, my wife, came to the door. I placed the groceries inside, on the floor and then paid the young man about twice what I would normally pay.
He kept his hand on the door jam, as if we should invite him in.
I pushed his hand back, and told him he should leave. He smiled and backed into the hallway. I shut the door.
A rather unsettling experience. I never felt threatened or in danger, but simply disappointed. A “nice” young man by appearance, seemingly eager to assist a seventy three year old American with a heavy load. But instead obviously willing to be less than nice to make a dollar or two.
I have not seen him again on the street. But this is Cairo today. Perhaps he is still hungry, still looking for ways to make a bit more money than he would get from a guy like me.
About a year ago I posted a YouTube video about a similar encounter. It has received a fair number of hits. No one reads this blog.
Should this be another video post? Or should I publish to Facebook?
thefolksinger's Blog 
June 7, 2013 at 10:44 am
What’s less than nice about offering and providing a service that many people desperately want? Wanting this sort of service from a thirteen year old makes his customers not-nice. It’s sad that he’s working so intimately with not-nice people and extremely sad that he will likely soon become HIV+ (if he isn’t already) and die young. It’s tragic that he’s not in school. But none of these things make the young man himself “less-than.”
Paying service providers well and treating them respectfully is common decency. Wanting sexual contact with a consenting adult is an honest desire and providing sexual services is honest work.
I agree that the encounter was very upsetting – I would have been upset too. I just want to ask you to be cautious about separating your feelings about what’s happened to him from value judgements about the young man himself.
Thanks so much – I’m looking forward to whatever you do.