The comment that stood out to me was someone saying "but that was 44 years ago". I was a teenager then and poor people didn't sell pencils on the street in 1980 either. It was an old trope from the 40s? 50s? Much like I've never seen an organ grinder with a monkey or poor children selling matches.
You see this on trains in Argentina. I have also seen it in Seattle, but some years ago. I don’t think it’s that common but I suspect that it used to be.