You Get What You Pay For

Flow Like Water

I remember some years ago, in one of her yearly visits to our homeland, my mother dragged me and my husband to the premiere destination for cheap finds.

We call it Divisoria.

Now, Divisoria is a shopping mecca, comparable maybe to the night markets of Thailand or the street-side shops of Hongkong, that is, equal in color, in confusion, in aroma, in the cacophony of sounds that makes it almost the modern Babylon – of people speaking in different tongues and gesturing wildly to alter the balance of power between the seller and the sellee.  It is scary and alluring at the same time.

No, it is not the weekend markets of California where one takes his sweet time to inhale in the aroma of the freshly baked apple pies of Julian, or turn in one’s hand a trinket displayed in the trunk of a car, or where everybody genially says hello and goodbye while rubbing shoulders at an organic vegetable stall.

Nothing like that.

I had no qualms about shopping in Thailand or in Hongkong or in California (specially California) – maybe because one thinks he is invincible in a foreign land or gets ideas in his head that he is somehow safer there.  But going to our Divisoria fills me with dread and a sense of foreboding.  My mother received sulks and snobs and ne’er sayings before she could get me – and my husband – to agree.

For Divisoria is a no-man’s land.  I say that in half-jest because I know for a fact that no one should venture there unprepared.  The attire must be chosen carefully – only simple jeans and shirt, no jewelry, no big handbag, nothing screaming “I’m rich!”  No heels are allowed (well, it should not be allowed) as the floor is uneven and dusty during the summers and muddy-wet when it rains.  Slippers (if possible, no Havaianas or Ipanemas) are preferable.  Money should be tucked in the waistband or in a little silk wallet that can be secreted in the middle of the bosom.  Taking it out should be practiced nightly to be perfected – the technique should be secret, seamless – and the return to the secret compartment equally so.  No cellphones should be brought unless you are prepared to guard it with your life.  Go with someone who knows the terrain – that, I think, takes care of half the battle.

Once you get there you will find out that it is a colorful window into the world of dry (and yes, wet) goods, where – you find out to your chagrin – that your mall retailer gets everything at half price and sells it to you for double, or triple.  That it is in fact the source of all things, when you have mastered its intricate mazes and know where to look, what to stock, or better yet – who to look for.

I got myself a knock-off designer wallet, a lacey white blouse, Chinese slippers and my favorite lip balm that my reseller has been selling to me for USD$2, which I got at Divisoria for USD$.20.  For the entire sojourn, I spent USD10.00 (meals included).

But then again – you get what you pay for.

After a month of use, the knock-off designer wallet showed its seams.  After a day of use, the lace of the white blouse got frayed at the edges.  The Chinese slippers cannot be used after a week, its paper lining weakened by light trudges on even floors.  The lip balm – I cannot complain about the lip balm.

I looked at my mother accusingly, half in jest.

I do not know why Divisoria fascinates my mother.  I do not know if it was there that my grandparents sold their bales of cloth in the olden days.  Or maybe because everything right now is so expensive, that to her, it is refreshing to know and go somewhere where one can still buy things at their fair price.

But to me, fair price is relative.  If it stresses me and wreaks havoc to my peace of mind, the price would relatively go up.  I would gladly pay more for peace of mind.

I do not know why I had these thoughts while I was staying at the Shangri-la for Valentine’s Day.  Maybe because I have reached an epoch, a fork in the road where it is not simply you get what you pay for.

Or maybe it is the attack of guilt which sometimes tears at me when I am feeling that I am getting the best of things.  When I feel that I am getting more than what I pay for (because sometimes when you follow the designs of the rich and the famous, you do get that).

Because for less than USD$100, I got an overnight stay, free breakfast buffet for two, a chocolate mousse complimentary cake, complimentary fruits, daughter had fun at the swimming pool, husband had his sore muscles soothed by the gurgling Jacuzzi, a Chinese New Year dragon dance treat, fireworks, a serenade of strings and wonderful, positive ambiance at the local Shangri-la.

But maybe, in life, sometimes you do get less or you do get what you pay for or you do get more.

That sometimes the obvious will not really give you the obvious.

Be rich,

Issa

Article by Issa. Art by D. Copyright 2010.
Website: www.YouWantToBeRich.com
Email: issa@youwanttoberich.com

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