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I have one from the very beginning of when I lived in BA, was younger and didn't know much of anything yet. At the end of my first month in town, an ATM machine ate my debit card on a Friday night. I went to Western Union the following Monday with zero pesos in my pocket (genius) and it was the first time I had to deal with any sort of real-life situation in the country, really. I looked online for the nearest one and it ended up not existing, then I was wandering around the centro and up Córdoba looking for one. It started pouring, and I got so frustrated I was about to cry. I finally found a Western Union, waited in line for 45 minutes soaking wet, and when I got to the front I was told I couldn't get my money because blah blah something or other. I went to the back of the line and started crying. (Ugh, so embarrassing in hindsight.) The security guard came over. "Qué te pasa?" I explained, and I guess I also said something about how I was starving and hadn't had any money to get food all day while I was out running around. I think it was around 4 p.m. and I hadn't eaten anything yet. He shoved 20 pesos at me, told me to go get something to eat, and held my place in line. I was so embarrassed because here was this security guard making God knows what a month giving some yanqui money to tide her over until her dollars come in. When I got back, he told me that he'd talked to the girl at the counter and when the money came through, I was allowed to skip to the front of the line. He told me to take a seat.
That's when a random businessman who was leaving came over to me right after I sat down and very nicely offered me 200 pesos. He'd heard what happened. I said no, thank you. After all, I was about to get my money and didn't want to accept yet another stranger's hard-earned pesos. He kept arguing and finally said, "Tomá, a mí me pasó una vez en Brasil", threw the pesos in my lap and ran out the door. Five minutes later, I got my money. I've been wanting to pay those pesos forward to years now, but I haven't found the right situation. I'm thinking I'll just donate them, and probably adjust for inflation. [/background]
