As we were riding the D-line on the Subte to check out the cobblestone streets and crumbling mansions of Buenos Aires' San Telmo neighborhood, a man walked down the aisle of the subway car and placed a rubber-band-bound bundle of pencils in the lap of each seated passenger. My bundle was labelled 5 pesos, about 75 cents.This was accompanied by a non-stop narrative that I didn't understand, given my limited Spanish. Each passenger accepted the bundle and left it on their lap. Before the next stop, he walked back through the subway car, collecting his pencils as he continued his narrative.
At the next subway stop, the man was replaced by a young woman who walked down the aisle and placed a tissue pack on the lap of each seated passenger. Unlike the man, she never said a thing. Before the next stop she walked back through the car to collect her tissues. I didn't purchase the pencils or the tissues but wish I had.
