} thoughts of the low income

Today I came back to the office and, in a long mission to get some caffeine, ended up at Plain Vanilla.

As I was waiting for my order (an iced black and a cookie which turned out to be disappointingly crumbly, not chewy/crispy), in walked an 'aunty' who most definitely looked a little bit out of place in this jaunt. Maybe it was because she had the appearance of a typical 'aunty' who works in the hawker centre, or as a cleaner; maybe it was the fact that she was Mandarin speaking and the staff was struggling to explain to her their menu and to take her order. Maybe I'm just a stereotypical bitch and this 'aunty' is actually one rich mofo. Who knows.

But this 'aunty' only had cash on her, and the cafe recently switched to purely cashless payments. So I stepped in to pay on her behalf, and I briefly considered whether I should just offer to pay for her. But before I could decide, she was already paying me back in cash. I tried to refuse at least the small change, but she paid me back to the last cent ($10.45 exactly).

Should I have offered to pay and insisted on it (because she clearly would have refused)? Was I being too judgmental in thinking that this 'aunty' was probably from a low-income background? What was I trying to achieve anyway even if I did pay for her? To make myself feel good, or better, about myself? Probably largely because this expense would barely be a dent on my savings account -- a little favour at very little expense on my part. I didn't mind, and what goes around comes around, right?

But it also made me think, so what if the 'aunty' was from a low-income background? She knew how much the items cost and she still wanted to buy them, I only stepped in to help with the cashless mode of payment. I guess even people of low income would want to have the dignity of paying for their own food. If this 'aunty' was really one from that background, she bravely stepped today into a different world where she might be judged. She will have that strawberry vanilla cupcake and earl grey tea, thank you very much. Even if it cost her a quarter of today's pay. The freedom to pay for a purchase, even if it was unwise. I guess if I were her, I would not have wanted to be denied that.

I think it would be good to research and know more about what life truly is like in that world. How do you empower people to lessen the gap?

2019-05-05, 3:06 p.m..
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