Buying produce is, like everything else here, different. And it's taken us a while to learn how to it.
Not every produce stand is alike. Some sell only veggies and some only fruit. Some stands only carry herbs. And, they may only sell one or two types of fruit/veg. Also, about half of them have a price on any of their wares, usually printed or written on a card and stuck into the lovely pile. We've seen some that have one fruit priced, but not the others. I take it to mean that the sellers expect me, the customer, to already know how much everything costs. I've learned to pay attention to the pricetags whenever we're wandering the market street.
Another thing is that the quality of the produce varies from person to person, so the tomatoes of the person you bought from today may look good, but they might look worse later on in the week. So while we do try to buy from people whose produce and prices we like, there are times when we have to go elsewhere.
Then it becomes an opportunity to learn how to "look".
For example, we found a man who was selling oranges from a cart. He had a price, 3LE (that's about USD 0.75 for two pounds), on a card stuck in the front of the only pile of orange oranges we could see. We gladly walked over to buy some and he directed us to the back of his cart. I just thought he wanted us to not disturb the neatness of the front of the pile. After picking 2 kilos, he weighed them and we gave him 6LE. He asked for 1LE more. ??! But the price is 3LE a kilo! we said that comes to 6LE. Yes, he said,smiling, but that's for the oranges in the front. The ones you got are 3.50LE because they are bigger. Of course, all this was said in very broken Arabic on our side, broken English on his side, and a lot of pointing on both sides. *grrrrrr* We paid him, grudgingly. But it was a good reminder to be careful. Especially with that guy.
Part 2: Since then, we've gone to other places for oranges, as that's all I've ever seen him sell. But the other day we found ourselves in front of this same cart of oranges. And there was the sign, 3LE per kilo. I got another two kilos of oranges, this time from right around the sign. He weighed them and I gave him 6LE and, again, he asked for one more pound. What do you mean? I said the sign says 3LE a kilo! Yes, he said, but that is for these oranges over here on the side. See how they are smaller?
*grrrrr* If we weren't so tired we would have dumped the oranges right there and filled the bag with small ones.
*sigh* But then, I say to myself that I'm getting upset over USD 0.20. But then, another side of me says: I don't like getting taken advantage of.
4 comments:
The way places around here try to get over on people drives me nuts. Once you become a "regular" they give you discounts, but untl then, they use you to pay for everyone else's freebies. Grrr
I gave up the hassle and order from Nasr at The Veg Box . Maybe a bit more expensive, but the produce is always nice, and it just arrives at my door, yummy and fresh. I don't even have to think of what to order - I can specify if I want, but I prefer to just let Nasr select what looks good. Got lots of citrus today, and besides the usual staples, there were green beans and a pretty eggplant.
Well, what can you say. We do have our regulars and they seem to treat us well. Also,it doesn't seem to happen too often, so there's no point in getting all upset. But I did feel better getting it off my chest!
I know it's too late, but the words "ya Haraam!" (that's a sin!) could have saved you. Or made the orange seller aggravated. I agree that in the end it's not worth getting upset over 20 cents. It does suck to be taken for, though. But I did warn you that that would be the only danger there, right? ;>
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