Then follows the story of sorrow, unemployment and hardship, and the trip down the aisle to dole out a trinket or a couple of sweets, with the request that passengers offer “a small collaboration”.

At first, your western sense of propriety is outraged. After all, this is the bus. You’re already tired out by the unrelenting intensity of Latin American life, where it seems there’s always someone wanting to beg, sell, scam or steal. You paid for your ticket.