I can't believe how naive I am sometimes. I mean, don't you just ASSUME that others will treat you like they want to be treated? Don't YOU treat others the way you expect to be treated? Surely I can't be in the minority here! But there is something amiss in my la-la land.
At first I thought it was just a wild anomaly. While we were getting a foot massage the other evening, three girls, jumped up and run off without paying 3/4 of the way into their foot massage! Girls! Foreigners who obviously had enough thousands of dollars to get here in the first place, ripping off people who are not certain of having enough money to buy their one meal of the day. The poorest of the poor. I thought it was an anomaly. I was wrong.
Today I was sitting on a tiny little stool in Mr Tsa bicycle shop, about four inches off the floor, watching Mr Tsa replace the spoke I had broken earlier in the morning. Five brawny American and Aussie boys (20 somethings) returned with their rental bikes. The bikes had clearly been in the mud and offroad, although their contract with Mr Tsa expressly forbid that. These were the cheapest of the rentals, for city use only, costing a $1.65 per day.
Mr Tsa informed the boys that were going to have to pay extra, in order to have the bikes detailed again, so that he would be able to rent the bikes to the next customers. They protested strongly against the $1.25 cleaning fee assessed against each bike. In the conversation that followed, Mr Tsa informed me that if I had not been there, things might have gone very badly for him indeed. He then proceeded to tell me of how many times rich foreigners regularly lied, cheated, damaged, abused and generally did not behave in any manner in which to inspire confidence in the human race, to him and his business over the years. I asked him what percentage took advantage of him overall. He replied, "about 50% good like you, and about 50% bad, or worse, like them." I was ashamed for all Westerners who I see here, giving us all a bad name. I think I probably have to do 10 righteous acts, to counter a single bad apple in the mix.
The biggest irony for me, is that these people ripping off the poorest in south east Asia are the Millennial's - the most justice minded generation ever. Maybe they should start with a dose of simple human decency and compassion before they yell at the rest of us to save the world.
