Commerce on the Go

Recently I witnessed a very unique sales technique- hitching a ride.  I was riding home in a transportation van in the evening. I was sitting next to the door and a man was sitting across from me who did not have the exact change for his fare. He asked for change, so at the next stop the fare collector guy ran off to get some. He was gone for quite a while, and I noticed that there was a man selling bread alongside the road. He was almost close enough to the side of the van that I could pass him money through the window. I thought about doing this, but didn't have the exact change and figured the man wouldn't have time to dig around for change before the fare collector came back and we left. As I was thinking this, the man sitting across from me signalled to the seller next to the bread man, who had eggs for sale. As the egg man came walking over the van, our fare collector reappeared. The egg man reached the van just before him and thrust the two eggs towards my co-traveler. But the price of eggs is only slightly more than the price of the van ride, and the man still didn't have any change. He tried to motion to the egg man that he wasn't interested after all, that he would get the eggs another time. The egg man either didn't understand or felt like being stubborn, so he kept thrusting the eggs through the door. Meanwhile our fare man had jumped on, and even before his feet were in the doorway the van had begun to roll forward. Soon the egg man was running along behind the van as fast as he could go, still holding out the eggs. The man across from me saw that he was going to be buying the eggs whether he wanted to or not, so he tried as quickly as he could to get change from the fare man so he could pay the egg man. This exchange took too long, however. The egg man couldn't keep up the pace and was forced to hop onto the bumper and ride along on the back of the van. When at last the fare man had given change to the passenger so the passenger could pay the egg man, we were a good block away from the egg stand and moving at a good clip. The egg man ended up riding several blocks before we stopped and he could jump off. All of that for about fifty cents! Talk about dedication to your job.

Bazaar

Two guys I know have been trying to sell off stuff before heading back to the US, where they live. Some of it they sold but a lot of it they didn't, so tonight they just gave us a whole load of stuff. I now have enough pens and notebooks to last the rest of the year, enough kleenex to last me a month or two, several new books to look through, and dozens of batteries and adapters and cords of all shapes, sizes, and descriptions. And that is just the normal stuff. We also have whole bags full of organic medicine and supplements and teas- stuff that I have never used and have no clue HOW to use. Maybe I'll magically become healthy and handsome and strong if I start using it. Only one way to find out!

Other items of note include a guitar microphone and a guitar humidifier. My friend who got rid of them didn't even know what they were- I had to tell him! There is a scary-looking but rather dull knife. I got one of those huge balance balls to do ab workouts. There is a pile of random clothing to dig through when I have the time. There is an eclectic mix of music, enough emergency supplies to outfit an ambulance, two camelbak water tanks but no backpack to hold them, and a whole bunch of well-used water bottles.

By far the most curious, however, is an unmarked handgun and 7 shells to go with it. The shells are game shells and though I haven't had a close look, I'm guessing they are 4-10 or something in the neighborhood. I mean really, who would want to put anything larger than a 4-10 cartridge in a handgun, especially one with no sights?

All told, I feel like somebody had a garage sale in my living room and left in the middle of it. It's kind of fun!