I met three men in Central Park. They sold me peace and a bracelet for $20USD ($26.90CDN). They were nice enough and I have to commend them on how seamless they made the transaction. All I had to do was make eye contact and they did the rest: slipped the bracelet on my wrist, handed me a shiny amulet card with a message on one side and the likeness of Guanyin on the other and presented me with a scroll that had the names of previous donors and the amounts they donated – philanthropic peer pressure at its finest, ah, classic Fake Monks.

I had read about the so-called Fake Monks of New York City while I was planning my trip. They should quit the park and go straight to Bravo, that’s where the real money is — modelled along the lines of the real housewives franchise – New York, San Francisco, Toronto – the sky’s the limit for these peddlers of peace (seriously Andy Cohen, I’m looking at you!). To encounter them first hand during my walk in the park, before they become famous, I can officially say I knew them when.

I had read a New York Times article that documented the rise of pan handlers dressed as monks and the negative experiences tourists had with these wily men. The article commented that on average the time an individual spends with one of the robed men is a fairly strong indicator of how far they live from New York City. Any true New Yorker, per the article, wouldn’t give the men a second look let alone money. Having watched a few of their failed attempts prior to being approached, the article was probably not far off.

There is a Facebook page dedicated to encounters with fake monks and warnings to travelers. I’m not sure why I was surprised, there are Facebook pages for everything these days. My neighbourhood has a Facebook page and being a member of that group has reinforced my perspective that people will complain about anything, and everything, just provide them a platform and an audience.

While the interactions certainly seem to be on the rise, I couldn’t help but wonder if it is actually an increase, statically speaking, or simply the visibility to the issue created by the rise of social media, a vehicle for the complaints of people who may have figured out too late that you can’t actually buy peace for twenty dollars – peace costs at least ten times that amount.

Both social media and the traditional media chronicle the seemingly aggressive tendencies of these men, something I hadn’t experienced first hand, thankfully. During my interaction with them I never felt unsafe, I did however feel like they would take any and all of my money if I let them – not dissimilar to how I feel when I’m interacting with the sales folks at Nordstrom.

I made them take this photo with me so I could send it to Heath.

I got the sense that they weren’t keen on me documenting our interaction, however I set it into motion before they knew what was happening. It was like I slipped metaphorical bracelets on their wrists, committing them to what was about to take place. A lovely British couple who I had taken a photo for earlier happily returned the favour, capturing this moment.

After the photo was taken the one wearing the necklace removed it from his head and held it in the air motioning that he was going to slip it over my head. I held up my hand to indicate I was not interested, “I have enough peace already and no money left, thanks.” I wouldn’t say I was too aggressive rather I was just aggressive enough. With a nod I concluded our interaction with “work smoothly, gentlemen, lifetime peace.”

 Stay great!

Kate