Waving Hello

Taxi scene while being held by traffic.  I was on the front seat while my friend A is at the back seat with her British colleague F. 

F:  A, what's going on.
me and A turning our heads in her direction and finding a boy with his palm pressed to the window
A:  He's begging for alms.
me:  But it's better to give them food instead of money.
A:  (after rummaging in her bag).  We better give him our takeout from the restaurant. 
F:  Oh.  Is that what he wanted?  I thought when he held up his palm that he was waving hello and so I have been waving  back but when he did not budge, I knew something was up.
A:  No, he's asking for a five-peso coin.

Ha ha.