"In my 1.5 weeks since moving to Bali it had been one of the worst days
yet, and I STILL didn't have internet. Getting anything done in Bali
often requires transporting a large distance with no guarantee that,
when you get to your destination, you're actually going to get the thing
done that you needed to get done.
I had already tried to get my
beloved internet connection from Smart Fren two days prior, but they had
decided to close early (happy thoughts, happy thoughts). Finding this
out after driving 45 minutes from Nusa Dua to Sunset road in heavy
traffic made it all the more "sweet". So, two days later, I decided to
nail 4 birds with one stone with a big errand day. This would involve
driving to all ends of the South side of the island, and I thought
myself very clever for having such a plan.
Needless to say, about
2 out of three of these errands so far proved to be frustratingly
fruitless, but at LEAST I could still head over to Smart Fren and close
out the day by collecting my beloved internet connection. As I headed
over I thought of the lovely time I would spend alone in my home,
huddled in the glow of Facebook, Google, YouTube, and... well you can
use your imagination. I wouldn't have to do anything for days! You
call it an addiction, so be it! This would be exactly what I needed to
finally ease into my home and into this new culture.
I walked
into the store with a 20 kilo backpack full of the days' groceries and
findings, and I plopped it on the floor and readied myself for that
lovely little stick.
"Halo! I am looking for modem!"
The cunning Smart Fren female clerk replied, "Sari, Pa, no activation today".
No activation today.
Suddenly
a rush of despair, defeat, and disgust came over me. My arms went
limp, I made the SLIGHTEST "ugh" expression, and my motor key, hanging
from my wrist, made a sound SLIGHTLY louder than a tap when it hit the
glass table top. This is all it took for the clerk to GASP and jump up
in her seat as if I were sticking a gun at her, demanding she empty out
her pockets. I can't tell if this was her genuinely reacting to the
incident, or if she was being dramatic in order to deal with another
impatient foreigner, but at first glance it appeared that Indonesians
might have an ultra sensitivity to the vibe in the room. I was being a
whiny child.
Needless to say, I was immediately aware of my
change in attitude, and I handled the rest of the interaction in a more
gentile fashion. She promised me that she would call me when I was able
to sign up for the service, and she also gave me a number to text just
in case she forgot to call. I lopped the 20k monster on my back and
left without victory.
Should one have a reason to be upset in
matters like this? Do we, as humans, have the right to the services a
situations we expect? Is it "their" fault when things don't go quite
the way we're used to? I don't know, I'm trying to figure that out. In
the meantime I'm looking close into a possibility that there's a way
to move through this life without having our great expectations be so
great. Bali is a wonderful place to practice for this goal in mind, but
how far should we take it? Should we damn efficiency and progress?
No. We need to find a balance.
And what of my internet? When
the lovely clerk never called me to tell me to sign up and didn't return
my texts, I decided to put this balance into practice. There's nothing
wrong in giving support to the system that you prefer, and shunning the
system that you don't, but we can do it calmly.
I am now a proud user of the internet service provider "3". Capitalism at work!"
Jordan (male), United States
Well done, well written!
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