An Unfortunate Meeting with Street Children

Sorry guys, no cutesy Easter post here. Today there was some action in Rio de Janeiro and it involved a little ranter you all know and love.

So it all started when I was heading home from Copacabana. The cab driver had stopped at a light when some crazy street kid started beating on the taxi windows and trying to open the door.

Of course the cab driver had locked the door once I was inside so no harm and no foul. I watched them walk back towards the sidewalk once the cars had started moving. That's when noticed three foreigners quickly walking by. Obviously they were going to be the next target of this group of rowdy street children.

I watched intently as we passed, not knowing what I would do if the kids tried something. That's when I realized that one of these "foreigners" is a close friend of mine! At this exact moment group of street children had somewhat taken them over.

I yelled to the driver to stop the car. I screamed "STOP THE CAR STOP THE CAR STOP THE CAR!"

Once we stopped I threw open the door and yelled my friend's name. She was standing in the middle of the first of 3 lanes of traffic trying to get a cab and get away. There were two kids sticking their hands into pockets and basically all over her trying to get anything they could. It was not a good situation.

Luckily my friend's friends heard me calling her name and got her attention. She turned and I yelled, in English, for them to get their ass in my cab.

Sounds like an easy save, right? Wrong. One of the older kids ran to the cab as well. She attempted to throw herself in after my friend. She looked straight at me and I could tell she was not all there. I don't know what this girl was on but it was something that caused crazy, or the accentuation of it. There was yelling and pushing and she finally vacated the vehicle.

Of course she did not go quietly and started slamming the door on the last entering gringa as she threw herself in.

Freaking bitch as kid, pardon my language, was forcefully slammed the door on the woman's leg and said Desculpa (sorry). It happened twice before we managed to get her in without getting a part of her slammed.  The doors were locked and we were off.

Crisis adverted.

As it turns out, this group had been following my friend and her group for a bit. They had passed the street children as they were sniffing glue on the street.

I guess we found the source of the crazy.

My friend had been looking for a way out as the street children had gotten quite aggressive and she had never experienced anything like it before.  I can tell you that I haven't either!

But everyone was ok and we had a laugh at how ironic it was that I happened to be passing by her in a cab at that exact moment. What were the odds that two people who live in two different neighborhoods of Zona Sul would bump into each other in a 3rd neighborhood in a situation like this? Random!

What upset me the most was that I was the only one that did stop. What the hell Rio de Janeiro! What gives!

Amnesty International can Kiss this Rio de Janeiro Resident's...

Check out this quote from Amnesty International:


“This violence is totally unacceptable but the police response has put communities at risk. The authorities must ensure that the security and well-being of the broader population comes first and foremost in any operation carried out in residential areas,” said Patrick Wilcken, Amnesty International’s Brazil researcher.

According to the Municipal Education Secretary, 17 schools and 12 creches have been closed in Rio this week, leaving more than 12,000 children without education. Thousands across the north zone of the city have been unable to go to work and large numbers of residents have been left without water or electricity.

“The current wave of criminal violence is symptomatic of wider failures throughout the criminal justice system,” said Patrick Wilcken. 

My favorite was the leaving children without education. Oh my goodness, how dare they! A 3 year old's need to learn numbers comes before the fact that crazy drug traffickers are running around with potentially crazier police men after them.  Well, Maracana should have been turned into an impromptu school so no one missed out on their education during all this. 


HELLO! Which country are you talking about again?!  Is it just me or if crime in a city gets this bad, don't you think a couple of days of missed school is beside the point. If you want to talk about school, talk about the amount of children who just don't go in the first place and the fact that they are not forced to.  We're struggling with public safety people, don't even get us started on the faltering public education system. 

And please try not to shoot residences. Thank goodness Amnesty international came out and gave that statement. I'm sure the police and drug traffickers haven't realized that they are putting other people in danger. I bet if they hadn't said anything, the people themselves wouldn't even realize they are in danger.  My question is, why aren't they there, in the favela, handing out yellow jumpsuits to the drug traffickers and red ones to the policemen? Easier targets make gunfights safer for everyone.  Don't forget your protective goggles.

I know that you, Amnesty International, are just trying to take care of the world. And Patrick, I bet your research is top notch. But sometimes, just on special occasions such as these, maybe you should keep your mouth shut and watch with the rest of the world. That is, unless you are physically in there, you know, trying to make sure kids are getting their education.

Maybe I'm being a little defensive. Ok, quite possibly I'm being very defensive.  But to make a statement stating the obvious while managing to sound condescending, well no one talks about my city like that except for me, thank you very much!