Nov 26 2008
Some Candy for Your Thoughts
The expatriate community in Bali is a world unto itself. Recently an Australian expatriate attempted to pay for purchases at a Kuta supermarket with candy. This isnt quite as crazy as it sounds. There is a widely accepted practice in Indonesia that substitutes for small change the ‘gift’ of candy. Well this Aussie simply tried to turn the tables and give them the same ‘coin of the realm’ they had been giving him.
- From The Bali Times
He had stockpiled a collection of individually wrapped confectionary from months of spending at the supermarket and included not only this stockpile but a head of broccoli, three cans of beer, a chocolate bar, and a pack of condoms as well, in payment for his recent purchase.
Putu, in checkout lane 3, demanded cash but the man, a civil engineer by the name of Stuart Longhorn, having accumulated his candy over months of purchases as part of the store’s policy in giving candy as change, saw ‘no reason’ he shouldnt be able to use the candy to pay for goods as it was accepted practice for them to pay him using that ‘currency’. Needless to say the store has no plans to discontinue its candy-change policy.
From The Bali Times by way of Nomad4Ever.
