Bananas Anyone? The Price of Being an American
Writing by Jes on Friday, 17 of October , 2008 at 11:20 am
Bananas Anyone? The Price of being American….
I had the image of me throwing dollars, making it rain like the videos when I first arrived in Liberia. There was even a small part of me that during the great economic fall-out and crisis I would possibly sniffle, but not shed to many tears because I had left the good ol USofA for a country where one of my US dollars equaled 60 Liberian dollars. I had visions of me in an Liberian drop-top, rims spinning, hold a bottle of Chris in my hand, dressed in all white, pouring some out for my broke homies back in the states. Little to say now….
I was wrong.
Yeah, 60 Liberian dollars equals one American dollar but because people are catering to Americans, I feel like I am paying the same prices as if I was shopping hood. Which means there is a deal, but I still shelling out serious cash. And even better yet, I am on a limited salary so to me, life isn’t different. The Gas is $4.25, hair grease $5.00, chicken quarters $3.00, and so on. The deals come with service…I got my toes did…$10.00 and that was the spa treatment, hair straightened ten bucks, eyebrows plucked $4, feeling like a million Liberian dollars…..priceless.
But there is something that is bothering me. The average Liberian brings home $70 a month. I believe in my heart there has to be a hidden world some where. A world where only Liberian money is used and goods are purchased for a much lower cap than what we shell out. I am coming off ten bucks a day average, and I am determined to pinch the same pennies everyone else pinches to save well….a penny.
Look, my philosophy is this….I don’t care if the Wal-Mart is in Beverly Hills, or Third Ward….my milk better cost the same if I’m in the same store. I shouldn’t have to pay more because how or where I live.
So due to my hectic lifestyle, I have started noticing the women sashaying down the street balancing fruits, vegetables, breads, cakes on their heads. If though I was warned in hushed tones about not knowing where your food comes from, I am thinking certain things can’t be that taboo. You know an avocado, banana, orange, apple, your basic fruits and vegetables. That is when I broke the ice and purchased a banana. Four to be exact, 15 Liberian dollars each. She smiled and handed it over and I have decided my new breakfast fruit for the morning snack, until the oranges got ripe.
Today, I was caught up typing and working so the security guard offered to grab the bananas for me. No biggie. After second thought I presented him with $2 (US) so I could have enough for the rest of the week. He left looking slightly confused and I shrugged it off due to dialect barriers, I repeated the instructions and went off typing again. Thirty minutes later he comes back and he is holding 2 bags of bananas. A total of 34 bananas. I’m trippin. 34 bananas when I was calculating 8. One banana at 3.50 LIBERIAN dollars, when I was paying 15 LIBERIAN dollars.
I don’t know to call it racism, light-skinnedism, or what….but because I spoke in American tone and wore American clothing and walked and shopped American, I was paying American. My security guard was paying Liberian.
So now, I am stuck with a caseload of bananas in my cubical with them stinking up the President’s office all because I had been BANOLAZED. I am searching recipes for banana pudding, banana pie, banana bread because now I got to figure a way to use all these bananas so my 3 Liberian dollars don’t go to waste.
I’m up to my neck in banana peels…..the cost of being American…..
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