Bread & Tears
Last night i went to buy few things at my local grocery store (yes, in Jaffa they're open most of the night as well). I was chatting with Hussein, the owner.
Hussein only works the night shift now. He spends his days working in a soup kitchen for the poor. Husseins grocery was robbed a few times over the last few years, so Hussein got himself a gun. Someone must have ratted. The police came, found the gun and the court sent Hussein to a few months of "volunteering in the community", instead of a prison sentence.
A woman in her fifties came to pay for a bag of milk and a "standard" bread (lehem ahid). When she heard the price, she was certain there Hussein had a mistake, but no, now that the price of standard bread is no longer controlled, the price has gone up to 6 NIS.
I asked Hussein, as i thought the price of standard bread was still controlled. "No, they demand much more now, i don't make money on it", he answered.
The woman asked if she could buy half a bread. The Ministry of Health doesn't allow that for some reason or other, hygiene apparently. She asked for the price of the bread she was holding close once more. "Six shekel", Hussein said. She put back the bread. "I don't have enough money", she said, "how can they, six shekel for a bread." She paid for the milk and then started crying. Hussein added the bread to her bag and told her to go (Hussein's is like that, he's never refused when i asked for his assistance for this or that family i came across, i guess his grocery store makes money because of his wife and daughter who run it during the daytime hours). The woman left, a bag of bread and milk kept close, into the cold night.
Hussein only works the night shift now. He spends his days working in a soup kitchen for the poor. Husseins grocery was robbed a few times over the last few years, so Hussein got himself a gun. Someone must have ratted. The police came, found the gun and the court sent Hussein to a few months of "volunteering in the community", instead of a prison sentence.
A woman in her fifties came to pay for a bag of milk and a "standard" bread (lehem ahid). When she heard the price, she was certain there Hussein had a mistake, but no, now that the price of standard bread is no longer controlled, the price has gone up to 6 NIS.
I asked Hussein, as i thought the price of standard bread was still controlled. "No, they demand much more now, i don't make money on it", he answered.
The woman asked if she could buy half a bread. The Ministry of Health doesn't allow that for some reason or other, hygiene apparently. She asked for the price of the bread she was holding close once more. "Six shekel", Hussein said. She put back the bread. "I don't have enough money", she said, "how can they, six shekel for a bread." She paid for the milk and then started crying. Hussein added the bread to her bag and told her to go (Hussein's is like that, he's never refused when i asked for his assistance for this or that family i came across, i guess his grocery store makes money because of his wife and daughter who run it during the daytime hours). The woman left, a bag of bread and milk kept close, into the cold night.
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1 comment:
If the half of the bread is packed in plastic like in the rest of the civilized world there is no more reason to worry about hygiene.
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