Snapshot from the other day in Hanoi. At the Italian ice cream place on Ho Hoan Kiem, I am eating something delicious and practicing my Vietnamese by way of explaining the best methods to study English to the girls serving ice cream who know how to say, "How can I help you?" and not much more. A lady and her daughter come and buy some ice cream, tourists. An old woman walks by, begging. The daughter convinces her mother, in 4 seconds, to buy another ice cream and promptly delivers it to the beggar. The old lady sort of nods slightly and ambles down the street, the ice cream cone dangling nearly upside-down, while the little girl is frantic about the impending waste of a good ice cream cone. I think the old lady took one lick before the ice cream fell, and continued holding the cone. The donor recovered quickly (as little girls eating ice cream are prone to do) and moved on. Presumably the old lady did the same.
Ice cream is what you might call 'non-refundable aid', and the track record of distribution efficiency is slightly less than stellar - especially on hot days!
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