Alexandria - The Shoe Shine Incident

During our evening in Alex, I wanted to see the sunset over the Mediterranean. As Michelle and I strolled the Corniche, we decided to stop in at a cafe with sidewalk seating. This was our view.
We ordered drinks (banana "juice" for Michelle and Turkish coffee for me) and prepared to take a rest and enjoy the view.

What we didn't count on was our seating's accessibility to people on the street. We turned down two guys selling rugs and guys selling watches. One of the watch guys came back and told us he is a Christian from Sudan and needs to eat tonight and any little amount will help him. I gave him two pounds. A lady walked up to us and simply held out her hand. I gave her a pound just so she wouldn't keep standing there.

And then came the shoe shine guy.

He looks harmless enough, but he was a pain in the rear. Since I was wearing black leather shoes that really needed a shine, I agreed to let him do my shoes. This is something I only see men doing on the street (getting their shoes shined and doing the shining), and I figured being a tourist let me do things I wouldn't normally do. He was trying to chat with us, saying how wonderful America is and I don't know what else. I couldn't really understand him. He let Michelle take a picture.

After stopping him from forcing Michelle's sandals off her feet, I asked him how much I owed him. I know this is cheap - it's done everywhere and all the men have their shoes shined. I figured a couple pounds. "Twenty!" he said. Yeah, right. I gave him five. He complained and I said that five is plenty. Then he asked for a dollar because he allowed Michelle to take a picture. I gave him another pound and he finally left. My shoes looked great, but it was a hassle and kind of ruined our pleasant moment.

According to my Egyptian host, a shoe shine normally costs 1 pound.