Kurds and Cash in Istanbul

This evening about 10:30 as I was walking along a girl of about nine approached me selling packages of tissue. What to to? On the one hand, buying her napkins would encourage her parents to continue putting her on the street to sell napkins. But would she go hungry? I told her, "Follow me." We walked to a kiosk, and I told the man, "Let her have whatever she wants to eat or drink. I'll pay for it." He looked at her and then at me. "No." I was taken aback, as you might imagine. "Why?" He wouldn't tell me. I figured it was just racism (she's Kurdish) so I walked away with her, planning to buy something myself and just give it to her.

A man came up to me. "Excuse me, what are you saying to her?" I explained the situation. "No; do not buy her anything. Her parents feed her; she eats. She is a thief. I caught her stealing a few days ago." I told him if he was her age and living on the street he might steal too. He shook his head vigorously. "No. I worked my whole life but I am no thief. I used to try to help her because she is a Kurd. I am Kurd too but she is gypsy Kurd. She told me once how much money she gets in a day. One hundred million lira!"

He and I talked for a while about him and his life in Turkey. The little girl hung around tenaciously despite his trying to run her off. He yelled at her, and even stepped towards her. She stepped back a little but didn't bat an eye. I began to see this child was already quite street savvy. He bought me a beer (Efes Dark) and after a time I left. The girl found me, of course, and I gave her a million lira for being so persistent.

Perhaps I should explain to those of you unfamiliar with Turkey's astronomical inflation rate. One Turkish lira is worth $0.00000067. One dollar U.S. buys 1.5 million lira. Cokes cost up to 3 million, and nice pair of shoes, 60 million. There are no commas on the bills so it's tough to tell a 500000 note from a 5000000 note. It helps to read the words instead. "Beş Milyon" vs "Beşyüz Bin."