Buying petrol the other week, the guy in front of me had his 50,000 Vietnam Dong (2U$) note rejected for being potentially fake. He had no other money, his tank had been filled and a stalemate was inevitable. Neither side was for moving and no more petrol was being dispensed without a resolution. I took the suspect note, replaced it with one of my own and we all set about getting on with rest of our lives. My own involving the exchange of said note in a suspect bar a few hours later for a suspect whisky and red bull.
So why is this interesting? For the poor, balancing budgets is a constant challenge with often no ability to access cheap credit regardless of the ability to repay. Hence people walk the world mentally counting the money in their pocket against what they need. Shame accompanies this, particularly when a sale is refused for insufficient funds and generally speaking it puts a downer on quality of life.
And the cure can be very simple. A bit of extra cash to smooth over the rough edges of life is likely enough to be highly beneficial to the vast majority who don't own a credit card.
There a plenty of organizations queuing up to provide those of us with spare cash with opportunities to make the world an easier place for others to live in. And presumably more of these situations exist that are directly accessible and eyes should be live to this possibility.
Both a borrower and a lender be – the alternative is taking the Mail.
A quick word of thanks to my numerous benefactors without whom I would be hungry, thirsty and far from home on a much more regular basis. Special thanks this month go to Adam Kirk @kirkmeister, Alec McCormack and Magdalen Lambkin. A historic debt of gratitude is due to one Haflidi Saeversson, and of course to my parents.
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