10 Taka

Today i took a rickshaw to church (essentially a bike pulling a "carriage" for passengers to sit on).

when i asked how much he said 50 Taka. i know this is way too much. A normal price for a Bangladeshi would be 10 Taka for the same trip. For me, i planned on paying 20 Taka. I told him (in my best bangla) that i would pay him 20 Tk. He agreed. Then, as we were going down the road he turned around and said i should pay him 30 Tk cause it was very far away (it wasn't. i knew exactly where i was, and where i was going...and that it wasn't that far...i would have walked but i was running late). At that point i new i was in trouble....and by "trouble" i mean that i would have to fight this man for every Taka of change that he would owe me at the end of the ride (i only had a 50 Tk bill).

When i got to church i gave him the 50 Tk note, and he gave me 10 Tk back. I told him that he needed to give me more money. he tried to give me 5 Tk more. I refused to take it...I told him that he had to give me 10 Tk more (never mind the original (double the normal fare) rate we'd agreed on). I told him in bangla that he needed to give me the change, that i knew he was giving me a very bad price, and that he had to give me 10 Tk back...and reluctantly he did. I didn't have the will/energy to fight for the other 10 Tk he still owed me.

and when i got down from the rickshaw, i was angry - because he'd ripped me off...and then i realized that in my heart i was pretty cranked up...and i was going to church...and i needed to get it sorted out. some how, between the front door and the "Sanctuary" the Lord sorted out my heart, and i was able to worship.

now here's the thing...10 Taka is 14 cents.

That's the line i balance on all the time. is it worth the anger? i mean, i know it's not fair, and that's when i get ticked off...but i usually end up thinking, "this man needs this money more than me" but that still doesn't make it right...and it wouldn't make me angry if i was leaving a tip...i think its that i have to fight to get back change...and there is a big difference between choosing to be generous and getting ripped off.

my heart/mind go round and round on this one...just thought i'd share.