In one of Billy Pilgrim´s trips to the future in chapter 3 of Slaughterhouse Five, he arrives at a place where he is already rich and his daughter is about to get married. But when he spends time at home a crippled man rings his doorbell, as does another in his neighbor´s front porch. Billy never gets to answer this door but from his window watches how a man from his Buick Riviera oversees the cripple´s every move.
"...Billy assumed correctly that he was the man who hired the cripples to do this thing". (page 63)
I related to this experience because living in a country where underprviledged people roam the streets you learn a thing or two, even though you have not had the first-hand experience. It is commonly said that the reason why little kids who beg for money in front of stoplights should not be given money is because when they go home, their parents, different family member or plain stranger will take it away and use it for their own benefit. In other words, these evil people are taken advantage of persons who will probably recieve more compassion than themselves and exploiting them, much like this man with the cripples. And it doesn´t apply only to cripples and homeless children, orphan owners and such have also been the victims of such scandals. This is the worst form of exploitation and greediness. Disabled people, people who just need help or don´t know how to handle the real world will succumb to the first friendly face. They are more likely to fall into the scams and manipulation of others and less likely to stop being abused. These manipulators are the pimps of cripples and children and must be treated as such.
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