Something Unexpected

I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I will always get “foreigner” prices. Even though I speak some Vietnamese and some may realize that I’m here teaching, I live downtown where all the tourist spend their time and I become just another foreigner who deserves to pay two to four times the regular price. I can spend my time being frustrated or pondering the American value of equality…or just take it as it is. Well, today I was pleasantly surprised. I went to buy one of my favorite desserts, “che,” which is a sweetened bean dessert that is sold in little Tupperware bowels on the side of the street, and the lady who has consistently charged me 4.000 VND, charged me only 2.000 VND today. Now the 2.000 VND discount is equivalent to about 15 cents, so it has nothing to do with the money but that the woman treated me as one of her own. Today is going to be a good day.