Friday, April 27, 2012

This is Greece, too!

I accompanied my wife to the local market this morning. An elderly man was selling rice. He sold it for 1 Euro per kilo whereas the price in the nearest supermarket is 3,50 Euro.

The man had a big wound in his face so he must have had a very serious operation. Yet, he was standing upright, moved respectfully and reflected dignity. Actually, he also spoke good German having studied in Vienna and worked in Stuttgart.

After his first try, the scale said 900 grams and my wife said "that's ok". It was not ok to the man. With precision, he juggled more rice until the scale said excactly 1.000 grams.

My wife then gave him one Euro and a bit more, thanked him and said he should keep the rest. He very politely but very definitely refused to accept it. He said: "The price is 1 Euro per kilo. If you force me to accept more, you hurt my dignity!"

How much of a percentage of the Greek population might this man reflect? I wish I knew!

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