Back in the summer, Alvin and I had a layover in the San Francisco airport in order to catch a flight to another location. We had four hours to wait and I was super hungry. So I took a walk around the restaurants to check out my options. I found this Chinese shop that was selling dim sum. These dim sum were in baskets and each basket had three pieces. They had siu mai, har gow, and pork buns. So I asked the cashier, how much for the dim sum? She said, 3 for $5. Awesome! So I ran back to Alvin to report. I said, let's get one of each. So I walked back to the cashier, and said, I'll take three baskets. She said, "that will be $15." $15! Oh no! I was outraged. 9 pieces of dim sum for $15. Yikes. Rip off! Outrage! So I said, no thank you, and walked away. I then told Alvin how I almost got ripped off. That sense of anger at having someone rip me off was overwhelming. Dim sum should be between $2.00-$3.00 for a basket with 4-6 pieces. I have my rights, and someone just stepped all over it.
Yet as I kept thinking about it, I realized that I was getting angry (which is not good for my health) just because someone took away my rights. My right not to be ripped off. And I realized the only reason I felt ripped off was because I had an opinion of what was a just price for dim sum. Yet it was only about $2 more, and I was upset.
I remember when I was young, my cousins used to say that they would get scared that people would take advantage of me. As a result, I started to live my life making sure I get what I deserved (only the good stuff though) and never get cheated. When I do get cheated, I would be upset. Yet no one ever says life will be fair and all people will have just pricing. No one ever says that I am guaranteed a good price.
I am starting to realize that it is good to be a good steward of my money, but to be upset when I get ripped off is wrong for me. This is something I need to work on since overseas I know that I will get ripped off because I am a foreigner. But instead of being upset that life is not fair, I should just accept that I got the foreigner price because (surprise surprise), I am a foreigner.
In the end, I ended up buying one basket of har gow for $5. It is shown above. Alvin laughed at me because they looked a little pathetic. I cut up the har gow into little pieces and ate it slowly so I could savor it.
2 comments:
Oh yes, I remember that day. I think you meant "siu mai" rather than "har gow." That's what you bought (and is in the picture). Or that was just really really pathetic looking har gow. :(
$5 for 3.
I know that this entry wasn't meant to be funny, but you are funny, Bethany. :) Dena
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