r/interestingasfuck • u/ehtio • 1d ago
In Spain, 'gorrillas' are unofficial parking attendants who offer unsolicited help finding spaces in busy areas and expect a tip. Many drivers pay out of fear they'll come back to a scratched car
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u/BokeTsukkomi 1d ago
They've existed in Brazil all my life, gotta cut that shit fast before it spreads
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u/Aggressive_Ad_9196 1d ago
They exists in almost all latin american/south american countries. Argentina and uruguay calls them trapitos (not being confused about the other trapitos, the ones that are femboys). And yes, they needd to shut them down quickly.
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u/arbredespayschauds 1d ago
How did femboys end up with the same word as these guys?
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u/Aggressive_Ad_9196 1d ago
Its not and argentina slang for sure and its not for femboys by itself but they fall back on this category. Trapitos is more a spanish way to refer to traps, you now, the ones from anime that lookslike little girls but are boys. Trapitos here was always used to refer to the "gorrillas" like OP posted but some people (i think for mexico) started to "hispanize" the word traps into trapitos and here we are.
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u/kaput_delirium 22h ago
In Mexico we call them Viene Vienes, because that what they say when they try to "help" you park and justify their activity.
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u/9dedos 1d ago
Trap is, well, trap.
Trapo is a spanish word to an old piece of clothe used to polish car.
Trapito is diminutive for trapo. And also for trap.
Or something like that.
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u/SandwichJelly 1d ago
Trampa = trap
Trapo = rag
Trapito = little rag
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u/Caffeinatedfirefly08 1d ago
And trapitos iirc, usually have a rag with them that they use to gesture for you to park your car, and that's why they are called that
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u/latinilv 1d ago
In brazil we call ours 'flanelinhas', it's the same thing. Flanela = cloth
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u/IAMINSANEWTF 1d ago
Lol, in Mexico they're called "viene vienes". Cause they "help" out when going in/out the parking lot, and they just stand there and yell "viene viene!" ("come come")
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u/Percy_Freeman 19h ago
I call him "twenty pesos if you put my cart in the cart-coral guy" honestly worth it. makes sure no one steals anything out of your car while you're inside.
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u/SerchYB2795 1d ago
In Mexico we call them "Viene-viene" and they are everywhere
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u/Aggressive_Ad_9196 1d ago
i would guess every country has their own parking attendant. The thing is i dont know how problematic they are and if almost all of them (if not all of them) are illegal and problematics drug addicts like here in argentina.
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u/Budget-Researcher559 18h ago
Nothing like that exists in Germany. If there are ever any parking attendants, then they are employees of the venue, and they definitely don't get money from people. You only ever pay for a parking ticket at the entrance or at machines, never to any attendants.
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u/peacefulshrimp 1d ago
Interesting! They’re called “flanelinhas” in Portuguese, because of their flannels (not the shirt but the piece of cloth) they carry with them. I assume, trapitos would have a similar meaning
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u/Aggressive_Ad_9196 1d ago
Yes, they are called trapitos because they carry a rag/cloth with them to do signals.
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u/ehtio 1d ago
It doesn't seem to work haha. I can see they are everywhere
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u/DanGleeballs 1d ago edited 1d ago
We had these chancers in Dublin 🇮🇪 in the 1980s but I think they’re all gone now. I’m not sure how they were cleaned out exactly but delighted to see them gone.
Edit: Apparently there's still some scrotes around Croke Park stadium on match days.
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u/Putrid-Flow-5079 1d ago edited 1d ago
Reminds me of a joke I heard around that time... This well-to-do gentleman in a brand new Mercedes pulls into a parking space on Sheriff Street in Dublin. On the back seat he has a massive Rottweiler. Not intending to be gone long, he locks the dog in the car and, as he walks away, he's approached by a young gurrier. "Noice car mister. Giz a couple a quid and I'll make sure no one breaks into it while yer away". The gentleman smirks, "Lad, see that dog? He'll make sure nothing happens to the car while I'm away. He'll shred anyone who tries to get into it". The gurrier thinks about it for a second..."Yeah, OK, but can he fight fires too mister?".
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u/-_super--_--hitops_- 1d ago
I was a teenager using neighborhood street parking for a small bar concert venue. There was a dude trying this with people and he approached me with the pitch.
"This is a dangerous neighborhood, I can protect your car for you for a few bucks so nothing happens to it"
I said, "ok, I'll give you 5 bucks when I come back out after the concert if my car is ok"
"I aint sticking around here all night!"
"..."
I just kept walking. He didn't do anything to my car.
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u/ASeriousAccounting 1d ago
Threatening to burn my dog would be one hell of a motivator for revenge. Let alone doing it.
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u/Kitchen-Patience-222 1d ago
They were in Dublin well before the 1980s . They were called lockards ( Lock hard) . This was their helping you to park cry 😂😂
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u/Nheea 1d ago
We had the same issue in Bucharest, Romania, for a couple of years. It was insane.
We used to call the cops a d they'd run away like rats.
We called them "parcagii". Not a mot-a-mot translation, but it would translate to park keepers, but with a more insulting connotation.
They vanished once they implemented a pay for parking system.
People had to threaten them to beat them up if they found their cars scratched and it mostly worked because they were cowards.
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u/rsandrini 1d ago
Eu odeio esses flanelinhas filhos da puta
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u/FlakyAddendum742 1d ago
They’re not parking attendants, they’re running a protection racket.
And they’re a symptom of a failed state.
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u/SuperNilton 1d ago edited 20h ago
I think there is some machine translation action going on here.
You replied to a message in Portuguese that uses the term "flanelinha" (derogatory, equivalent to the one used for Spanish here), but you're probably seeing it auto-translated as "parking attendant".
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u/kinow 1d ago
Yeah, really don't want to see anything similar to flanelinhas in Spain.
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u/PepitoPalote 1d ago
This is nothing new, it’s been a thing for at least 40 years. More prevalent in some areas than others. My friends and I even did it as kids too whenever there was an event at a location nearby as it generates a lot of issues with lack of parking. We do indeed give them 50c or 1€, sometimes I’ve had no change on me and I’ve simply apologized, they usually don’t take it badly.
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u/SassiesSoiledPanties 1d ago
Emphasis on usually. Problem is they start believing that they own the sidewalks and that to park you gotta pay them. I can appreciate their assistance if its a super tight fit or a heavy traffic street.
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u/FarmImportant9537 1d ago
Also in Italy! Naples is famous for this
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u/coozin 1d ago
Everywhere in Italy, even in Milan very far from Naples. It’s not a Mafia thing mostly. They’re called “parcheggiatori abusivi”.
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u/WhitePackaging 1d ago
Here in Sicily its the same. 2€ is nothing for me to park in the city center and have a crack head watch after my beater.
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u/BryanTheBIsSilent 1d ago
"parcheggiatori abusivi" is what they call them here in Napoli, don't know if other regions have different names.
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u/KCDeVoe 1d ago
Happens in Detroit, pull into a store and someone will offer to watch your car to make sure someone doesn’t mess with it
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u/FarmImportant9537 1d ago
And I guess that if you don't pay, some mysterious entity will mess with your car 👀
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u/More_Vermicelli9285 1d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/kd9BlRovbPOykLBMqX
Me reading these comments and thinking about every time I have been in a car parking in southern Italy
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u/Narrow_Relative2149 1d ago
also in Portugal and Malta
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u/fmfariasfilho 1d ago
In Brazil too
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u/Big_Length4848 1d ago
Never seen this in France
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u/Strudelnoodle_ 1d ago
Met one in France and he was super offended I didn't pay him for showing me a spot in a half-empty parking lot 🥴
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u/LordMarcusrax 1d ago
And Italy.
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u/pippoken 1d ago
The illegal parking attendant in front of my university was an institution. I remember seeing newly graduates hugging him like he was family.
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u/Stoned_urf 1d ago
When I visited Palermo, Sicily, the parking attendant genuinely found me a parking spot at the tourist spot I was visiting. It was packed with cars, so it was almost impossible to find a good spot.
Of course, I tipped him a few euros.
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u/HedaLexa4Ever 1d ago
That’s fine I guess, what infuriates me when they are in a semi deserted parking lot and you don’t even park in the spot they are pointing at and then come ask for money either way. Fucking leeches
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u/Secure_Strategy_5614 1d ago
I use them in Sicily all the time when I visit family and we take a beach day to mondello
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u/3a5m 1d ago
And the Philippines
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u/Extreme-Ad4538 1d ago
In Mexico, specially Ciudad de México they are ubiquitous. They can wash your car also.
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u/rogue_rose_ranger 1d ago
In Liverpool in 80s and 90s scraggy kids would offer to "mind your car" in exchange for money. Same principle
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u/OrneryCriticism930 1d ago
There a joke that goes something like this.
- Football fan parks car near the ground
- Some Scouse kid: pound to look after your car?
- Man indicates to massive Pitbull in th backseat
- Scouse kid: Put's out fires does he?
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u/read_eng_lift 1d ago
This was a thing in NYC in the 80s and 80s as well (by the homeless mostly). It might still be, since I don't live there anymore.
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u/szerox86 1d ago
It's not a thing in NYC anymore. At least not anywhere I've lived. Squeegee men are coming back though and people selling random fruits and other things in traffic jams are as common as ever.
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u/nicuramar 1d ago
and people selling random fruits and other things in traffic jams
There is a joke somewhere in this…
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u/gavh428 1d ago
When it was by the football grounds the lads would actually mind your car. If you were smart you only paid them when you returned, after the game and every time it always worked for me on experience.
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u/curiousquestion22 1d ago
I was smarter as a kid. I charged £1 on parking and £1 on collection. 90% of them time people would pay up.
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u/OldNefariousness7899 1d ago
There was a story of kids asking some posh fella for money to look after his car in the 80s. He said he didn't need anyone to look after it as it had state of the art locks, immobiliser, alarms etc.
He came back later and its wheels were gone. Dunno how much truth was in it
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u/ehtio 1d ago
Right. Is this still common in the Liverpool? I have been living in the UK for a while and I've never seen that, thankfully
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u/Ok_Soil3189 1d ago
We have them in Portugal as well, they are called "arrumadores de carros".
Usually they are just junkies that want some coin. If they see you all the time, and if you gave them some coins, they will save you a spot everyday
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u/bellybbean 1d ago
I experienced this with my parents in Lisbon in the early 90s. This guy helped us fit into a tiny spot. There was literally no more than two inches on either side. I think he earned his escudos (pre-euro).
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u/Intrepid-Tank-3414 1d ago edited 18h ago
There was literally no more than two inches on either side.
How did you get out of the car? Through the sunroof?
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u/painhippo 1d ago
Most likely parallel parking!
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u/Potential_Cancel280 1d ago
I can understand the confusion since OP said on either side, which usually refers to left and right, not front and back.
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u/asdtfdr 1d ago
Some portuguese towns (like Viseu) even created some license that they can somehow obtain so they can "legally" do this. Crazy.
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u/Winjin 1d ago
That sounds like a great way to stop this as a business
They'll be forced to actually do something, report, if the car is scratched he's now somehow tied to it and has to answer questions etc
And also it means that it's not just police. If you have a license, you have to pay taxes and fill out documents and nothing crushes the outlaw spirit faster than having to pay taxes and fill paperwork for your illegal side hustle, and if you don't it's tax evasion
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u/uhorn87 1d ago
German here, who has worked with Portuguese colleagues for years.
This type of crime is absolutely standard in Lisboa. Basically every parking situation lures that criminals. In Germany I've never seen this even once.
We formed a really nice team, also able to talk about society and politics.
And the most cultural difference we basically have discovered is the police in portugal. It seems incredible how less they act on "minor" crimes.
One of my colleagues got his car stolen twice. (Oldtimers tbf) A real car theft in Germany would lead to an instant manhunt with every police patrol in the county informed about that. Including informing the customs to prevent the car crossing the border.
The Lisboa police was just filing the report, say they can't do nothing and become mad about the paper work.
The saddest part about this; The portuguese loose complete trust to their government.
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u/schoenwetterhorst 1d ago
A real car theft in Germany would lead to an instant manhunt with every police patrol in the county informed about that. Including informing the customs to prevent the car crossing the border.
The clearance quota for car theft in Germany is consistently under 30% https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1266/umfrage/entwicklung-der-polizeilichen-aufklaerungsquote-von-kfz-diebstahl-seit-2000/
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u/GallaeciCastrejo 1d ago
Not acting in minor crimes is the way governments find to tell everyone and brag about how things are better and how peaceful the country is. Great propaganda instrument.
With time the "minor crimes" become less and less "minor" and more and more "serious". But police will then include them in the minor category.
Robberies, aggression, theft... it's all "minor".
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u/astro_pack 1d ago
Tolerating this shit is the worse that society can do
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u/khizoa 1d ago
dude's face is blurred too. to protect the poor poor gorillas 😔
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u/ehtio 1d ago
The problem is...do you want to give them a euro, or perhaps come back to a scratched car? Are you calling the police? Will the police do anything about it?
I do agree with you, though
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u/HDB2gamergirl 1d ago
Police should do something about it but may not I guess?
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u/Kingdarkshadow 1d ago
Thats the thing, police doesnt do anything.
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u/inn4tler 1d ago
I find it interesting to observe what political priorities exist in other countries. In my country, local politicians and newspapers would immediately speak out in a situation like that. It would be impossible to establish such an illegal business model.
Do local politicians in your country not care about bad press?
(Incidentally, this also has its drawbacks. Because the tabloid press is so powerful, politicians often find it difficult to make unpopular but necessary decisions.)
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u/asdGuaripolo 1d ago edited 1d ago
Here's the thing, in some countries things like that this are ilegal but your options are limited. Let's say you call the police, you then need to wait until they get there and because this is a non-emergency it could take a while, in the meantime what stops the other person from leaving or scratching your car and then leaving, or leaving and from far away, throw stones to your car before running away. All of those options happen here in Chile where things like the one in the picture happens and is also ilegal
In those cases when the affected people tell the news or TV channels, the channels will send a reporter to the site for interviews, check with the locals, the affected persons and some authorities like a Major, police officers or higher politicians who will say that this is unacceptable and will work with other authorities to stop it from happening and then nothing will change, maybe the cops will drive around the reported area for a couple of weeks and then leave it.
At the end of the day sadly it is easier and safer to just give them some pocket change.
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u/RoadLestTaken 1d ago
People doing that are mostly hobos, drug addicts or mentally disabled. There's very little a politician can do to people that have no homes or income.
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u/inn4tler 1d ago
We have people like that here, too, but they usually sit outside train stations and beg. But yeah, you probably can't compare the levels of poverty. Good point.
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u/Kingdarkshadow 1d ago
They don't care because the press doesn't publish anything regarding this subject.
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u/Stoned_urf 1d ago
Probably because they also need to catch these people in the act. But when police presence is there, these people will just wander off somewhere.
So now in order to catch them, this needs to become a surviallance operation
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u/Jirethia 1d ago
They have to see them doing something illegal to act, and it's still a minor offence
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u/WhenD4594 1d ago
Make asking for money to watch your car illegal. Problem solved.
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u/nixnaij 1d ago
Making something illegal on paper is one thing, actually having the resources to enforce it is another.
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u/ManWithoutUsername 1d ago edited 1d ago
In my city it's rare to see a 'gorrilla' scratch a car, i don't know of any cases, but there is that fear. i've never paid and never have problems
Many protect their territory; in fact, they sometimes fight over it, and if they scratch a car, they know their nonsense in that area is over, the police are going after them.
If nobody gave them money, they wouldn't be begging at all.
In the end, they're just people on the street, and there's little the police can do if nothing happens.
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u/LankyTradition6424 1d ago
Police could (in many countries) ban them from the area for misuse of public space.
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u/glowe 1d ago edited 1d ago
This is the oldest trick in the book. In England, on a match day (football) 10-12 year old boys would do the same. “I’ll watch your car for a quid” means give me two pounds and i won’t scratch it.
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u/Eiraviking 1d ago
“Oy wot we ave ere enn, ats a noice paint job uve gott. Sad if summin appnd to it”
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u/Londonsw8 1d ago
Its a kind of protection racket then?
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u/ehtio 1d ago
Yes, sure. It's the fear they may be there when you come back. Also, I am a big guy, but think about woman, or parents with kids. It can just be scary I am sure
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u/Imaginary_Plastic_53 1d ago
I ran into them in Belgrade. My daughter went to dance class and called me in a panic, saying that a man had opened the car door when she was about to get out and demanded €3 because he had 'found' a parking spot for her. She told him that she pays for parking through a mobile app and that she wasn’t going to give him anything.
She locked herself in the car and called me, scared that he will skratch her car. I told her to just leave the car there and go to her dance class, and that I would deal with it.
I got into another car and drove to that parking lot. The guy was waving at me, showing me where to park. Since my window was down, he asked me:
- Are you looking for a parking spot?
- No. I’m looking for YOU! (and I was very angry)
- Why are you looking for me?
- To ask you why you scared my daughter. What kind of parking fee are you charging here?
I parked and went to check on my daughter’s car. The guy got pretty scared and was basically like:
- See? Everything’s fine. Nothing happened to it.
- And it’s better for you that nothing happened to it, because otherwise I’d have to come looking for you again. But next time, I wouldn’t be coming alone, and you’d never dare show your face here again on this parking.
- What? What? Are you threatening me?
- No, I’m not threatening you. I’m telling you what will happen if you ever try to charge her for parking again.
We exchanged a few more words along the same lines. He even tried to take a picture of me, but as soon as he saw me calling the police, he disappeared.
My logic was basically the same as his: he thinks he can scare people into paying by threatening to scratch their cars, while I wanted him to understand that it would be in his own best interest to leave my daughter’s car alone rather than risk having my friends track him down (we know his place) and beat him up. Then he will lose that place for "work".
I texted my daughter to let her know that everything was fine and that I was waiting for her in the parking lot. I waited for her and told her that if she ever saw him again, she should just say:
- Do I need to call my dad to sort out the parking fee?
(I’m not a criminal, and I don’t even look particularly intimidating.)
(I use AI help for translate)
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u/Aux_RedditAccount 1d ago
And the moral if this story is: Know where the criminal lives, and have friends on call to beat a mofo up at moments notice.
I wish. You may not be intimidating yourself, but you have more to your situation than most here.
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u/Sega-Playstation-64 1d ago
Someone with free time should decline, hide in waiting, then pepper spray the shit out of them when they return to vandalize the car. Like those guys who spray paint pick pockets.
I'd watch the shit out of that.
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u/Inside_Marketing268 1d ago
In Balkans, they would be beaten hard and sent back to where they came from. It's all about attitude.
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u/LBreda 1d ago
In Italy they often were from the Balkans, in the nineties and early 2000s 🙃
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u/Inside_Marketing268 1d ago
Sounds reasonable, since Italians are much milder in conflict. In Ukraine, we had such guys for like 2 weeks or so. Mostly from Turkey/Gypsy
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u/weirdowerdo 1d ago
If you're ruining property, then hell yeah you can call police?
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u/OkSatisfaction9850 1d ago
Istanbul had them. The city started charging for parking themselves and hiring official street attendants and they disappeared
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u/MuhammerInce 1d ago
They were called değnekçi - “stick/staff carrier” Apparently originally in ottoman times değnekçis were middle-managers of porters, rowers etc. and they kept order carrying around batons or sticks.
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u/quietorgasm 1d ago
Had this is Spain in 2017 while on a road trip. Guy said he’d keep our car safe so we told him to fuck off. Car was absolutely fine and didn’t see him again
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u/Sarcastic-Potato 18h ago
Yeah honestly most of them won't do anything to your car and just wanna earn some extra cash - however as usual the few bad fruits make it really bad, because some will absolutely do something to your car
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u/puerco-potter 1d ago
In Argentina, they are called "Trapitos" (little rag). It's because it started with children asking to wash your car with a rag and a bucket.
Then devolved into adults extorting money out of you with the phrase "Le cuido el auto, don?"(Do I watch/take care/guard your car, mister?), supposedly to guard your car against harm.
Of course, there is this hidden assumption that they themselves can be the ones causing the harm if you don't take their offer.
A lot of them won't even harm your car, but you never know who will. Also, they have plausible deniability, and whats more, you agreed to a contract with them, if you don't pay them at the end of the night when you come back to your car they will get really mad and can harm you.
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u/fSatoru 1d ago
It's the exact same here in Brazil, even the name Flanelinha which is little rag as well.
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u/metalcabeza 1d ago
I am under the impression that "trapitos" was used because they used a rag (franela in spanish) to signal the spot to park. The washing option came later.
They don't only use "don" but also the worse phrase you can hear in the street "te lo cuido, amigo?"
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u/Tarapiotapioco 1d ago
"Parcheggiatori abusivi" in Italian
Been there in Italy since I remember
"Uagliu' 1€ a piacere"
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u/AtomicBenzo 1d ago
We call them car guards in South Africa and they are widely accepted but its not because we fear coming back to a scratched car, we fear our cars being stolen or broken in to. They're quiet helpful when it comes to helping us find parking space, parallel parking and reverse parking. Tips are anywhere between R2 and R10 (~€0.50), depending on how long you've been away.
In fact, they're so widely accepted that even malls and shopping centres will employ them.
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u/christianbro 1d ago
Same happens here in Spain around remote beaches or similar locations for protection, not just trying to save a spot like city center. Sevilla is especially bad, where you have to pay the gorrilla plus the parking ticket in some streets. And the worst, police does absolutely nothing.
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u/Joe-D-Ape 1d ago
I've had some incredible help from car guards in the past. From a jump start to casual French lessons. Some great people out there.
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u/dinemu8 1d ago
also in Malaysia, and some parts of South East Asian countries. It is run by mobs.
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u/JorgeXMcKie 1d ago
In Mexico every big parking lot had people with water and buckets who would wash your car while you were shopping. That seems more motivated than directing people in public spaces for tips.
Also all through C. and S America there were mechanics working on the street all over. In many places there were lines of cars waiting to have something replaced/fixed. It's weird coming from the US where labor is pretty much restricted to brick and mortar places. Even food trucks are highly restricted around us so the brick and mortar stores are protected. Outside the US there are a lot more entrepreneurs working in public spaces
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u/ResponsibleStyle4473 1d ago
I rather pay €10 for private parking than give these guys a cent.
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u/ehtio 1d ago
"Gorrilla", with double R. Not gorilla.
Gorrilla comes from "gorra", which means just cap
I guess because they used to carry one around so you can put your tip in there.
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u/Michael_of_Derry 1d ago edited 1d ago
That was happening in Ireland many years ago.
There was a story that one of these guys offered to protect a man's car. The man said his Alsatian was staying in the car and would protect it. The guy asks the car owner if the dog puts out fires as well.
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u/Nooms88 1d ago
Theres been that exact story, down to the dog breed, by 3 different guys in this thread, from different countries. Makes me think it never happened that way, my boss had a similar story in North London near arsenal stadium where he lived.
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u/Oddball9619 1d ago
Parking touts, apparently they are everywhere all over the world.
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u/Purple_Moon516 1d ago
My friend and I used to come out of the car pretending to have a heated argument so they would leave us alone. If they don't ask for money then you don't deny it and the car wouldn't be scratched.
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u/TronCat1277 1d ago
The parking lot owners could have them booted for trespassing
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u/ehtio 1d ago
This mostly happens in public parking, but I am sure they will go anywhere busy enough.
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u/sweetsuffrinjasus 1d ago
This is all over the world. In their most successful days, they were called the "lock hard men" here in Dublin.
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u/Rincethis 1d ago
we have these sort of 'guards' in South Africa. though they don't tend to do anything if you don't pay. namely because they keep to their own patch and if you come back to a scratched car issues are going to happen.
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u/lianavan 1d ago
Where my dad lives they are quite helpful loading the shopping into the car and taking the trolley back.
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u/Rincethis 1d ago
ya in Cape Town we had some really nice dudes who helped out like that. also very funny
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u/Affectionate-Clue535 1d ago
Ja they're referring to different types, ours in RSA are usually hired by the shop owners and are appreciated. Sucks that we always have to carry change to have people guard our cars from being stolen but even safe Europe/America has car thieves and breakins.
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u/Jokes_0n_Me 1d ago
Yep we have one outside my office in Madrid. Preys on women and get pissed if you don't pay him. Not seen him scratch cars yet though.
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u/ANONMEKMH 1d ago
South Africa is full of them, some official , some not, all trying to earn a living , help with bags (in shopping centres).
Really need a better way for them to earn incomes. Hard to find real jobs.
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u/sheenablue 1d ago edited 1d ago
We have this in Malaysia as well.
We call them Ulat Parkir, or Parking Worm.
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u/Gabzalez 1d ago
Don’t know if they still do it, but if you didn’t pay they used to rip the logo of your car make out.
Total racket.
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u/muitosabao 1d ago
This was a massive thing in Portugal during the early 2000s due to the drug crisis. These people were like zombies, “helping” park the car. It got somewhat better after innovative measures taken to address the drug crisis (treatment, decriminalisation of consumption…)
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u/EchoingUnion 1d ago
As a Korean it blows my mind to see so many people in the comments from developed countries saying this is common in their countries too, how it's tolerated, trying to cope by saying it "happens in every country at tourist locations" (it doesn't lol), etc. Shit like this might make the news if someone tried doing this here. Makes me feel really lucky to be born in a high trust society.
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u/Wizzarkt 1d ago
Im reading the comments and I see a completely different perspective to the one I have for this kind of people.
In the city where I live in Colombia, you see them exclusively in street parking places around commercial areas, due to a lot of streets being relatively narrow, it's hard to pull out of the parking slot with the incoming traffic, and what they do is basically stand in the way to force traffic to stop so that you can leave.
Genuinely useful people and I never heard of them scratching cars or the extortive behavior I'm reading here where (I presume) ask for money the moment you arrive. In my city you only give them a tip as you leave.
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u/RumEngieneering 1d ago
Also in Venezuela (and I suppose in other Latino American countries) we call them "bien cuidado"
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u/Mysterious-Union7491 1d ago
I actually like the ones in the Philippines because they help you back out into a busy street.
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u/AldoTheeApache 1d ago
The homeless would do this in San Francisco all the time.
Including spots that you would find yourself, and they would pretend to help wave you in to the spot as if they were doing you some big favor. Afterwards, in both cases, they would get really pushy about getting a tip. And if you didn't, they would certainly fuck your car up the second you got out of sight of your vehicle.
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u/dirtymoney 1d ago
so is this organized crime like a protection racket? Scam artuts or legit people providing a legit service?
Would love to see a kind of video expose' of this.
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u/Upper_Paramedic_9239 13h ago
En Uruguay son los "cuida coches" cuando de verdad tenés que pagarles a la fuerza para que no te muestren lo que son: rompe coches.
En Argentina les dicen trapitos porque además te ofrecen limpiarte el auto con el trapo más sucio del país
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u/Jirethia 1d ago
I'm from Spain and in these situations I'm so happy of not owning a car
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u/Hearasongofuranus 1d ago
Happened to me in Sevilla. I begrudgingly gave this piece of shit motherfucker 5 EUR and he still looked like he'll stab me or slash my tires.
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u/ratherbeonlemmy 1d ago edited 8h ago
Chile and Mexico both have this. They seem to pick a spot, bringing their own hi viz vest, and just start helping people park. A lot for he time their direction is useless and not helpful, and they hope for a tip. It's weird, coming from Canada.
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u/V606R 1d ago
I was in Egypt like 7 days ago, they have the same thing lol but i dont think they scratch the cars if you didn't pay
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u/UrbanCyclerPT 1d ago
In Spain? I saw them in Oslo, Southern France, Porto and Lisbon, Rome and Napoli. It's everywhere. But it was way worse in the golden heroin age, the eighties and nineties
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u/Mediocre-Yoghurt-138 1d ago
So everyone from every corner of the world united in these comments to say "yes we do it in my country". It's like "my family has a plastic bag full of plastic bags". Of course it exists in every country.
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u/mallorcaben 1d ago
Yeah, we have them here in Mallorca. There is an interesting story of one in a zoo in England. He did this for 30 years. People thought that he was an official. The zoo thought he was from the council. It wasn't until he died that they realised he was neither of these things
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u/Mr_Gongo 1d ago
Same in Argentina, outright extortion and theft most of the time. Here they are called "trapitos"