Mas Harris was done with his Telkomsel project by 1:30, and we jumped in the car & drove 40 minutes south to Sidoarjo to see the mud damage.

Stoplight intersections on the way down are frequently “worked” by people begging for money. Harris has a particularly dim view of many of these folks, whom he describes as thugs in disguise. The particular brand of thuggery here is the forced employment of kids, sending them from car to car with outstretched hands while traffic waits for the next green light. It’s hot out, there is little shade, and these kids often range in age from 3-13.

The kids yank on the heartstrings a bit more effectively than un-showered, middle-aged women. The women thugs then take the kids money & give back a skimpy percentage.

Harris’s feelings cut close to home. His mom is a Dr. Huxtable (Cosby show reference), delivering babies in his home town in Kalimantan (Borneo). Of the babies she delivers, many of the parents can’t afford to take them home, and several others have ended up being used on similar street intersections as “sympathy fodder”.

Having income & heart enough to bring some of these kids into her own home, she has adopted many over the years. Harris is the youngest of 3, but has 18 siblings at his mom’s house; the youngest is now 5. Interesting perspective & unexpected Sally Struthers moment.

While on the topic of feeling for people in extraneous circumstances beyond their control, this is a Lapindo Inc. / mother nature tag-team “eviction notice” to a few thousand people in the town of Sidoarjo.