Ego's, egos every where...

Travelling is fantastic and I'm having such an amazing time. Obviously I don't expect to have great experiences all of the time, that would be unrealistic. The same goes for the people you meet and observe. Naturally I don't expect that every person I meet, or in my case observe, (okay call it eaves dropping if you will!) will be on my wave length either. That said some of the situations I witness still shock me. Some worse than others. I had an experience like this while I was sunning myself on Serendipity Beach in Sihnoukville.

The beach is stunning. Sea very still and there's a slight breeze which makes it ideal tanning weather. Ching, ching. It's rainy season so the beach isn't packed so there's not much noise either. You get quite a bit of hassle but that's fair enough. People need to earn a living. A simple 'no thank-you' three or four times usually is enough for the children selling bracelets to move on. Some sit down and want to chat. Fine. I like to talk. I can talk all day.

I was lying on my beach lounger, taking in the scenery, giving myself a bit of a pat on the back for deciding to come to Sihnoukville when I over heard the conversation two women were having with a couple of the little girls selling bracelet's. I would assume they would describe themselves as 'educated' they would be wrong if they did!

I had to really stop myself from saying something - in fact I used my newly acquired zoning out skills as per the meditation I was taught my Pooltai in Chiang Mai to avoid passing a comment. The children are obviously eager to sell their pieces to them. Shockingly one woman was telling the gilds that she wouldn't buy anything from them as they couldn't remember her name. Can you believe it? These poor children are trying to make a living, for all we know going home and getting a bollocking for not earning enough, speaking to hundreds of people a day trying to sell their bracelets only to have some stupid female tell them they've missed out on tonight's dinner because they can't remember her name! How egotistical is that! Pretty shocking in my opinion.

Her and her mate were lying there like queens basically patronising these poor children. For example: 'tell me what you learnt at school today' FYI these children work during the day then go to school for 2 hours in the evening 'you must be able to remember' bearing in mind they aren't speaking to them in their native language. 'tomorrow I'll buy something from you but only if you tell me what you've learnt at school today, what's the point in learning if you can't remember'....grrrrgh. Vile. Ego's out of control. Hard to imagine really. Sadly I'm not exaggerating this time.