Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens. Kahlil Gibran

One small story for your reading pleasure....I hope!

An expat friend had told me that often the men in his village use the phrase "god is watching" with one finger pointed to the heavens. Usually this is used when people are discussing some sort of injustice or when gossiping about some infringement of social mores that someone village has committed. Well, it sort of stuck with me, this fear that 'God is watching'. One day I’m in the bus station buying a ticket from Fes to Chefchaouen for the following day. The ticket seller guy says that because of the computer system he has to give me a seat in the back of the bus, but for a small tip he can override the system tomorrow and then he will put me right up front, behind the driver and with a window seat. Perfect. 10 Dirham seems like a reasonable amount for the tip. When in Rome…. So, the next day I walk in the office, he remembers me and says apologetically that the seat behind the driver is taken (someone with a bigger tip?), but that he has given me a seat in the middle of the bus. Then he asks for 20 dirham. What? Double the price he said yesterday? I’m not paying twice as much for a half upgrade…(this all seems silly now). He says that 10 dirham is for changing the seat assignment and 10 is for the luggage. This is the first mention of a luggage surcharge. I tell him that I won’t pay it, I’ve been scammed and lied to daily and this time damn it, I am not letting someone swindle me out of 3 dollars or 6 dollars or whatever it is (yes, roll your eyes). It’s the principle, these guys have to learn they can’t always rip off tourists. He hands me the ticket and asks for the money, I give him 5 dirham and tell him that he said nothing about the luggage charge before and that he didn’t assign me the seat he promised, so why should I pay the whole amount? There are other tourist around me now all of them sort of waiting to see the outcome. A truck driver from Manchester England leans in and offers me some money. I politely refuse. “Look we had a stated price for a stated service, you can’t change it on me the day I arrive”. Ticket seller guy holds his ground and demands more money. I lean in close to his face and point my finger to the heavens and say “God is watching you! This is not what you said yesterday”. In fact, I may have repeated that a couple of times to him with a fair amount of intensity. Suddenly, the issue is dropped, he hands me my ticket, I turn and walk out the door feeling proud that I held my ground, content that this one small coup makes up for all the other times I’ve been ripped off, duped and tricked. My bus doesn’t leave for another 20 minutes and hasn’t even arrived yet, so I’m waiting around out near where I think the right bus will be. About 5 minutes later, ticket seller guy walks out to me with this tail-between-his-legs posture, apologizes and asks if we are good, if I forgive him. My response is a nod and a verbal “yes“, but I know I have a bit of smugness on my face and probably look indignant. 10 minutes later he comes back again with great concern on his face and asks if everything is okay and apologizes again. I relax more into my “yes, no worries” response and am wondering why he has come back out twice now. Hmmm. Another few minutes pass and a bus arrives. Ticket seller guy magically appears a third time!!! He takes my luggage from my hand without saying a word, carries it over to the bus for me and tells me this is the right bus to get on. I’m now feeling a little guilty for having literally instilled the fear of God in this guy. I really got under his skin with “God is watching you !!” Okay, so I get on the bus settle in, whip out my lonely planet bible and begin reading. Magically, in the scripture appears the verse that says there is a 10 dirham surcharge for luggage…this guy wasn’t yanking my chain!! So not only did I only pay 5 dirham for a 10 dirham luggage surcharge, but I didn’t tip him for the half-upgrade! Yikes! I feel like an asno!!
Is god watching this?

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