In a corrupt society like Argentina, an honest man is hard to find. Yet, when an elderly couple left $32,500 in his cab, Santiago Gori hunted them down and returned every penny. Stunned by such honesty, Argentines began donating to him via a web site that was set up in his honor. So far the equivalent of $14,580 has been donated, according to the site.
While I will leave the post up in its entirety, I'd like to express my apologies to our Argentinian readers. As a clarification, the statement is not the belief of the blog.
"Thank you", say many of the messages and one said it all: "I wish more people were like you."
Link - via holeinthedonut
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by baweibel.
Update 5/11/09 - It's just come to my attention of the statement describing Argentina as corrupt. They're not my words (this was a post from the Upcoming Queue, written by the submitter) and I do not agree with such a broad and overreaching statement.While I will leave the post up in its entirety, I'd like to express my apologies to our Argentinian readers. As a clarification, the statement is not the belief of the blog.
You could sweep a four lane highway with that broad brush....
I lived 1 year in Argentina... and I can´t allow that type of comment, it´s nice to see that in every part of the world are good people, and if that happen in U.S. or Europe it would be amazing to..
But, where is this same outrage when articles about pig displays in Afghanistan seem to portray it as some third world wasteland? And people seem to join in saying what a backwards country it is, in those cases! And I doubt there would be any similar anger if this article were talking about some other 'third world' country as being 'corrupt.'
Double standards??
One Christmas eve, I took a taxi to the train station for a long winter trip. Moments before boarding I realized I couldn't find my cell phone. I was about to make a panicked call to a friend on a payphone, and I turned and saw the cab driver holding my phone. He had found it in the backseat and drove all the way back to the station to return it.
Who carries around 32 plus Grand and then TAKES A CAB ??? And LEAVES IT BEHIND ??
Bollocks.
I went to the donation website and couldn't prove or disprove it's validity because, strangely, it's in Spanish, which I can't read.
Regardless, I saw a Twitter ad there, so honest, corrupt, or just plain misunderstood, the Argentinians are just as doomed as we are.
Argentina is like any country, just as there are people who are corrupt in the government, corrupt judges, good judges,bad people, good people, thieves, people in solidarity, there is everything like in all countries, but our society is not so sick: we have never heard of any boy who carries a gun to school and kill their classmates and teachers, that never happened, and never a boy has committed suicide because the bullyes from their classmates because he could be gay.
And sorry my poor english. I'm annoyed but Neatorama has offended an entire country
Again, was anyone offended at the subject of the pig farm in Afghanistan and people calling them backwards?
It's always fun and games until your 'own' is possibly insulted.
"For Argentines used to corruption at all levels of society, this was an extraordinary story."
All of Neatorama shouldn't be held accountable for the opinion of a poster who according to their blog at one time lived in Puerto Rico at one time in her life(Do Puerto Rican's have a thing against Argentinan's or something?). Saying that all of Neatorama (including it's readers?) should be ashamed is as generalized as the comment the original poster made in the first sentence.
Yes, of course,(like in any other country) some of our politicians are monuments to corruption, but the people here, is not. That cabdriver is just a sample of our country.
Its like saying: " America, a country full of psicos, obeses & serial killers "
This article is a real shame. Netorama should be more careful.
Do you KNOW any of these commentators? If not, then relax, what do you care what they say/think?
Remember grasshopper, it's better to be the river that goes with the flow then the pebble that gets ground down and washed away.
"In a colonialist country like UK, a respectful non-ethnocentrist bloke is hard to find. They all support the Apartheid."
If I said something like that ¿wouldn´t you think that I am an utter idiot? Sorry for my English but I just can´t believe this kind of shit is written in such a good blog.
Hold up a sec, and I'll get you my paypal account.
I think we must invade Argentina,and give some democracy and decency to this corrupt people!
Mr. Bush you must be at the front line of the invasion as a living flag of honesty, because you are the bastion of the honety in this world.
Or just kill the Afganistanian pig in the cab who eats the money ... or just send some of owr scholl killing kids and kill everybody.
It´s soo hard to pacify and liberate this crappy world... Oh God!
.-
me arriesgo en afirmar que somos muchos los que trabajamos y ganamos honestamente el pan nuestro de cada dia.COMO SI NO HUBIERA CORRUPCION EN TODOS LOS PAISES DEL MUNDO...
Horrible thing to say: "in a corrupt society like Argentina". But, interesting to see how it elicits a response of "Yeah, well, at least we're not terrorist, genocidal, war-mongering, megalomaniacal Americans".
The USA has long been the butt of such criticism; you come to expect it, what with a nickname like "The Great Satan".
Our expectations of most societies are that people are not honest. It's nice to see when it is honest. But it's a little odd to see people donating money to this cab driver for no reason, and it sure sounds like a scam. Are you sure he's not really an exiled Prince of Nigeria?
Personally, I find the whole thing more like a great promotion for the guys that did the website that a real help for the cab driver that suppousedly has to contact this donors to actually get those goods and services... (sigh).
The cab driver did give that money back and it is not the first time it happens. Not all cab drivers are crooks, not all argentinians are corrupt.
BTW I am from Argentina and I live in the US. Argentina's society is a bit more corrupt that let's say the Swiss, but during the Bush administration my motto was "The US is getting Argentinized". The whole Bush era made the US look like any other bananaland country out there.