In an earlier post, I wrote about the Mexican poor who sell small products and wash windshields at traffic lights. Another popular way to earn spare change here in Guadalajara is to serve as a kind of informal parking helper. These workers (who are almost always men) usually hang out in parking lots near busy streets and in outdoor shopping plazas. They often carry some kind of red towel or flag, wear a fluorescent orange vest. Sometimes they also blow a whistle to help you direct you into and out of your parking spot. Occasionally they are hired by the bank, plaza or store that they work near but more often they simply take over the area informally.
This is another Mexican job that blurs the line between donation and work. Sometimes, these red-flagged helpers are truly helpful. When pulling into a tiny, crowded parking lot, they can help you find a space among the chaos. Other times they are basically waving their flag and blowing their whistle at you in wide-open lot. As with the traffic light workers, it is multi-layered exchange. You are partly paying for a helpful service, but partly giving a donation to the poor. Rather than simply beg for money, the parking lot attendant tries to make himself useful.
Another implied part of the exchange is that the parking attendant will watch your car and protect it. This is needed in some part of Guadalajara more than others --- although, it is hard to imagine your new friend putting his life against a band of thugs. A better deal is what you find in some metered spaces, where attendants even carry spare change and pop a few pesos in the meter if you are running late. Others will give your car a washing while you are gone.
It may not always be a necessary job, but it should be an appreciated one.
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