Something just happened that I really must share with you. For the past few months I have been buying my eggs from an old lady around the corner. She is really kind as she always sorts through the eggs for me picking out the largest eggs. Her prices are also good. However, when I went there a couple of weeks ago, her daughter was in the shop and told me the price had just gone up to 43 baht a dozen. I thought fair enough. She was quite apologetic and it never crossed my mind that she would try to cheat me. You often hear stories of foreigners being cheated by Thai people in situations like this. But, that has hardly ever happened to me.
Anyway, on Saturday morning, I went again to buy a dozen eggs. The daughter was in the shop again. She picked out 12 eggs for me and then I handed her a 50 baht note. She then said that wasn’t enough. It was 55 baht! I didn’t batter an eyelid. I don’t usually argue in these situations. I said OK and then handed over 55 baht. At the point it did cross my mind that she was cheating me. But, I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. It was possible that these eggs were bigger than usual. Or maybe there was a nationwide shortage of eggs. So, I didn’t argue or get angry, I just said “thank you” and walked away. I made a mental note to buy my eggs elsewhere in future. Or at least whenever I saw that it was the daughter in the shop.
Then this evening, the daughter came around to my house! I didn’t know she knew where I lived. She even knew my name. She said she came to apologize for overcharging me yesterday. She said she had calculated it wrong! She then gave me 15 baht. I said that was too much and that it was no problem. I tried to give her the 5 baht back but she kept on insisting. So, I gave in and let her give me the 15 baht. She then gave me a wai and then left.
Morale of the story? Don’t get angry. Not everyone is trying to cheat you. Sometimes it is an innocent mistake. Give them the benefit of the doubt. You will make more friends that way.
