I should have been trekking today, but thanks to the ridiculous weather Nepal has been experiencing, I’m sitting in a hotel reflecting on life and stuff (and reading memes).
The other day, in Kathmandu, I was hanging out with my porter from the trip I took earlier this year, and as we were browsing around, he mentioned that the price for bananas at one of the street fruit vendors was kind of high. Later in the day when I was back at my hotel, it occurred to me that I should eat a light dinner and having a banana would acually be a great part of that, so I set out to find one of those fruit vendors. Strangely, most had left the area by that time.
When I finally found one, I asked how much for two bananas, one for the night and one for the next morning. I didn’t want to carry any more. He held up a large bunch and started saying something about those, then also tried to sell me apples at the same time, so I had to be emphatic that I only wanted two. But I made a critical mistake and didn’t get a firm per-banana cost before this. So when he reluctantly gave me my two bananas, I ask how much and he quoted me way more than they were worth.
To be fair, I did remember the bench mark I had heard earlier. And alarm bells did sound in my head. But my instinct is just to move the transaction forward. I did at least offer 3/4 the price he quoted as I was too lazy to get more bills out. He pretended to “deal with it” and I was on my way, still having paid way too much. I kind of kicked myself a long the way, wishing I had just had the speed and motivation to protest to such outrage.
They were good bananas, though.
It’s funny how the mind works, how we hate being taken advantage of, even when the consequences are minor. I was also reminded of my own resolve to have more compassion on the people of Thamel, because as annoying as hell as some of the people there can be, it’s the quest for survival, which we all know to some extent. The hash man tried to sell me hash, somebody tried to have a conversation with me to lead me to an art store, etc., etc. Thankfully, though, nobody tried to compliment me on my beard, so that was progress.
(In sadder news, though, my favorite convenience store closed down ☹️)
This stands in contrast to my experience in Pokhara, though. There are really no fruit sellers, per se, but there are fruit juicers I figured I could buy fruit from. I ate a big Chinese meal for lunch, and wanted a lighter dinner, so bananas sounded good again. I’m also trying to keep my fiber intake high to help stave off travelers diarrhea when on the trail, ha! So I talked to one of the juice vendors.
He actually let me try a piece of banana. They were a lot smaller, because they are a local variety. They taste just like any other, so I bought several. He did try to upsell me on the other fruits, too, but when I asked the price he did something very different from the other vendor and was sheepish to give any price at all. After asking a few times, I realized it was a state-your-own-price scenario, and he was really just asking for fairness. Judging again from my baseline, I paid a little over probably what I could have gotten for them, and he seemed very appreciative. I think, too, he may not have been used to people buying the fruit separately, but I don’t know.
Pokhara is just better like that. Shop owners don’t hound you, either.
But let’s be real, being a fruit vendor can’t be a very lucrative job. Half the reason you would sell fruit in the tourist part of town is to screw tourists. Being honest with them wouldn’t necessarily get you any accolades, and if it’s the only way to boost your income, even just a little, wouldn’t you? It’s not much for foreigners. I know human psychology pushes us to get angry, but it won’t do any good.
Still, I’m kind of amazed how reluctant the guy in Pokhara was to give an unrealistic price, which he could have. It just goes to show that everyone is different. It would be easy to condemn the first, but I don’t know his story, I don’t know how ethics and morality has been passed down to him.
For the latter, it wasn’t until I had time to return to my hotel that it occured to me that I should have spoken a blessing over his fruit vending.
See, I’m kind of jaded over this whole goal so many people have of making the world a better place. So often it’s just vainglory, the desire to be special and esteemed. Making a difference is hard, and good intentions don’t really count, only impact counts. But as I contemplate intentions and reactions and anger and frustration and all the complexities of economics and economies and ethics, I feel that, to be reflectors of the Light, it’s important to bless people when we can, if only I knew how, and how to maintain that in my heart, knowing that I can pay a little extra, whether coerced or volunteered, and how maybe that can help.
I have no idea where to take this, only that there’s something about all this that feels important and I wanted to write about it.