Gypsies

One thing that I have seen here that you don’t see in the US are gypsies; and I don’t mean those crazy people who have their own reality TV show where they say they are gypsies, but I mean real gypsies; I guess it is wrong to say “real gypsies” because there are many different types but the ones I am talking about are the ones who fit the stereotype.  Except for not traveling in gypsy caravans, they pretty much exhibit the stereotypes that I have heard.  I do want to make clear that I am not saying all gypsies are like the ones I will be talking about but there is a population of gypsies in and around the city that fit the stereotype, so what I am going to be talking about are those who fit the stereotype ie: the ones that you can definitely spot in a crowd.  

Many people know that during WWII, the Nazis weren’t just trying to kill off all of the Jews, but that they targeted other groups.  One of these groups was gypsies.  I am told that after WWII some type of fund was set up and gypsies basically receive Social Security.  I was talking with someone and I said, I can understand providing for those who suffered through WWII but why do they still get public assistance now?  There is nothing preventing them from going to school or getting a job.  No one had an answer except for the quasi explanation that, that is how it has been for a long time so that is how it will stay.

I mentioned they don’t go to school and while there may be some in other parts of the country or world who do, those here do not seem to.  At all times of day you will see gypsy youth wandering around and often begging for money.  I pass this one kid everyday when I walk to work.  He “works” the top of the street outside of the one convenience store where the taxis all park.  Everyday he ask me for money, and everyday I tell him to get lost and that I have no money.  The other day he spoke some English and said “Hungry, hungry.”  I told him to go to school and he would get lunch.  You may say that I am mean, but he wears brand new nikes and an adidas jacket, two items that are not cheap in this area.  I have asked a lot of people about this, about gypsies not going to school.  The students I have who are still in school and those who are much older, all say that they cannot recall ever having a classmate who was a gypsy.

Now, while you’ll see youth of both sexes begging for money, I have not seen adult males doing this.  Most typically when you drive along the main roads (the equivalent of the Black Horse Pike) you will see women at the intersections asking for money.  Sometimes they are carrying a small child; if the child is old enough to stand they will have them stand a few feet away often with their hands cupped and out stretched.  The children are often always dirty and in ragged clothes.  One of the people that I know is a retired cop and he said that the women are almost always either pregnant or just had a kid.  I asked why and he said many are involved in crime and told me that if they have young kids “we won’t keep them in jail.”  

I guess this brings me to the second big stereotype: that they are criminals.  Some of the images people might have is that they are pickpockets.  I was told that when out walking around to be careful around them because they may ask you for money and then steal your wallet.  I was told to be especially careful if there is a group of them because one may create a distraction while another one rips you off.  In the fall I was out for a walk and was downtown walking along the street that runs parallel to the river and I saw there was a man, probably in his 20’s, sitting on the wall.  Plenty of people were walking past him and he was just sitting there watching them.  As I approached him I was putting my camera back in my camera bag and he was looking right at me.  I mumbled to the person I was with as we got closer to him, that this guy was going to say something because I could tell by the way he was watching me.  Sure enough as we walked past he got up and started to walk behind us and asked if I had 8Km (which would be about $5) because his motorcycle was at the mechanic and needed to be fixed.  The person I was with translated for me and I told them to tell him he either has a really shitty motorcycle or a real shitty mechanic.  Then the guy suddenly spoke English and said “come on, how about 5Km?” (about $3) I said sorry I have no money.  He then said something in his language, I don’t mean Bosnian, gypsies have their own language, and walked away.   The person I was with said it is good that I didn’t take out my wallet because he probably would have stole it.  I said I used to go to school in Camden and worked in Philly, I wasn’t born yesterday and then I turned around to see where this guy went and this other person that was sitting on the wall in another area walked over to him and they started talking and then jogged away.  I said I wonder what that was.  Their reply was the other guy was with him and would have jumped me if when the guy tried to steal my wallet if I would have fought him, because that’s what they do, they work in teams but they won’t stand together, one guy stays behind as backup.

I’ve talked with a number of people and they all have stories about gypsies.  The women will usually beg for money or pick your pocket.  The old women will ask you for money and some will follow you until you give them some.  One guy told me he was on his way into a foodstore and the woman was following him through the parking lot.  He told her to get lost and she spit on him and said he was cursed and would die.  I am told it is the men, 20-30’s, you really have to look out for.  I am told there is a generational divide between the gypsies now.  The older ones 40+ were petty thieves: wallets and shoplifting.  The younger ones I am told are much more involved in organised crime: more violent muggings and drugs.  One night I was getting a ride home from work when the person I was with needed to stop in the one convenience store up the street.  They ran in, while I waited in the car.  There was a group of guys hanging around outside just talking and on the way out they said something to the person I was with.  As we drove away he told me they were gypsies and asked him if he “needed anything.”  I couldn’t believe it.  I said gypsies, yeah, but selling drugs right there?  This is a nice part of town.  He said the one apartment building right next to the store they call the gypsy building because that is basically all who lives there.  He said another dead giveaway of who the drug dealers are is they all drive Mercedes Benz.  He said none of them work or ever went to school and they all get a pension (what I referred to earlier as basically Social Security) but yet they all drive Mercedes Benz.  And that’s not all, one of the people hanging out with them was the 13ish year old kid that I see at the top of the street everyday asking me for money.        

Now I know it would be wrong for me to say that every gypsy is a beggar, pickpocket, or worse drug dealer.  While I have it on very good authority that they don’t go to school and don’t have regular jobs there is what I call a gypsy market under the overpass.  I see a few gypsies drive up and down the street in their beat up VW minivan and stop at the dumpsters and go dumpster diving.  I’ve actually stopped and watched them a few times.  They look for food to eat, things they can use like wood for a fire, clothes to wear, or stuff to sell.  On my way to work there is a small highway overpass and under it is what I call a gypsy market.  The gypsies usually have a few “tables” of stuff for sale along the street.  I have seen all kinds of odd stuff, like random scraps of wire, a cracked mirror, a 3 blade fan (it was missing the 4th blade), underwear, and my favorite thing that I saw was…

Let me tell the story this way.  A few weeks ago I am walking up the street and approaching the gypsy market.  I see on the one table a stack of old magazines.  As I got closer I started saying to myself “let it be porn, let it be porn.”  And sure enough, right there out in the open with people (some kids) walking by is a big old stack of vintage 1980’s porn magazines.  I don’t know how I knew but somehow I just knew what it was going to be.  When I saw that I was right I let out the Marv Albert “YES!”  I’m still laughing about it.

Anyway, another thing that I have seen with the gypsies is that they will camp out in random places.  One night I am getting a ride home and I see these three little kids go running by and it was after 9:30 at night.  As I was saying “where are those kids from?” we turned the corner and there on what remains of an old house (just the foundation, part of a wall and part of a chimney” is a camp fire with a few tents around it.  This is a picture of their “campsite” during the day.  

This is a gypsy woman and her kids sitting on the grass across the street from the makeshift campsite

A gypsy in Old Town

As I was walking through Old Town today this woman came up to me and started to ask me for money.  Notice the small child she is holding

Gypsies sitting out on the street asking passers by for money

Here is a gypsy youth who was following me asking me for money.  In the background you will see a girl in black with a backpack who also asked me for money as I walked down the street