What is it Worth to You

I was going to go to bed early and actually try and catch up on some sleep, but I am just so frustrated right now. I feel like there are so many excuses and haggling and guilt involved with everything. I was just laughing in the last log about how I thought it was funny that I am charged double for everything, but today I had a really awful auto rickshaw driver who caused me to walk in circles around my house talking to myself.

I decided to go to a market after work to go shopping for a light blanket for my bed to make my empty room feel more like home. It is big which is great, but really empty and there is nothing on the walls. So I ventured out to the GK1 Nblock market where I knew of a large Fabindia that had blankets, sheets and pillows of every color shape and size. I tricked Alex into coming with me to shop, poor kid, but we got an rickshaw from our neighborhood to the market for 40 rupees. The thing is - you never really know how much something should cost, and neither do they so it is all about who is going to be more believable in the when it comes down to the bluff. That's why you have to negotiate everything before you step a foot into the rickshaw.

For the 40 rupees we drove pretty far, got stuck in late rush hour traffic, and he took us to the wrong market. Can you believe that after a week I knew enough to tell the difference between the GK1 Nblock market and the GK2 Mblock market :) Yeah that's right, I know I am good! He took the money and never asked for more. On my way home it was dark and Alex was heading out to meet up with a friend. I still looked like a tourist, and I now had three shopping bags with me. I asked how much it was going to cost to get to Sarvapriya Vihar where I live and he said 70 rupees. I responded with 40 he said no, I asked if he could do better and he repeated 70. I said no and walked away hoping that he would call for me to come back for a lower price. That's usually how I have been working it, but he didn't so I headed for the main road. I found another guy and he told me 60. I again said 40, telling him that is what I got here for. He said no. I asked 50 because at this point I was tired, it was dark and I had all my bags with me He told me to jump in.

It was all fine and dandy riding home until we started to get close to where I live. He was telling me that 50 rupees is a really good price. He said that is what he takes Indians home for, so the 60 that he was asking for was not a bad price for me. Here I am thinking that he is trying to show me his true colors and how he was a good man. One who is fair and isn't overcharging me just because the color of my skin, and then he starts talking more about the money and how I should give him 10 more rupees and it was a mistake to take me for the 50. I was not at my house but close enough, so I told him to pull over so I could walk the rest of the way. I handed him the 50 and got out. He counted it quickly, looked at me and rudely said, "really not 10 more, you were a mistake! A mistake! Ah, all the way for a mistake." This all happened quickly and I really think that in this guilty ridden head shake and eye contact he was thinking that this was going to make me give him more money. So I walked away mumbling "a mistake, what a jerk! I am not a mistake!"

I have a built in guilty conscious as it is. I am very literal and when I say I am going to be somewhere I am there and if I feel guilty it is usually for a good reason... because I let someone down or I could have done a better job. But here I am paying the pre-negotiated price, which is still over priced I am sure and he tries to make me feel bad. Boo on him.

I get so frustrated that people are trying to make me pay more, but in the grand scheme of things, what they are charging me is still so inexpensive that I can understand why they do it. But it is a pride thing. I feel that I should be charged the same amount as an Indian. There are some indians out there making just as much as I am these days. I also do know that a few cents or dollars from me can add up and make a significant difference in their lives. Knowing this if I find a driver who is willing to take me for less, I tend to give them an extra 5 or 10 rupees. I don't know why I do it, I guess I feel like I should positively reinforce the nice drivers and punish the rude ones. It was the same when I was swiping cards at the Terraces Dinning Hall in Ithaca. I held the power to let you by without a card on those rainy days when you left it at home, or make you turn home and get it while all of your buddies enjoyed their meals. It was the ones that knew that they should go back but were secretly hoping that you wouldn't make them that I let in and the better than thou who I rejected

I guess a few cents here and there doesn't make a huge difference and what it all comes down to is how much is the hassle worth. I am choosing my battles. If it is late and dark, raining, really hot, or I have a lot of stuff with me does it really matter if I am getting ripped off? This was only day two of taking a rickshaw to work so I will give you my answer in a few weeks. I still have many more bumpy rides in my future.