Dollars & no sense

I was taking the lift to go downstairs for lunch when a Chinese Ah Beng executive (ill-fitting collared shirt and all) and an auntie-looking woman (ill-fitting outdated ‘blouse’ and all) entered the lift from the 13th floor.

They were chatting in Mandarin about some lunch gathering they attended yesterday. Auntie suddenly remembered and remarked that Ah Beng have not fully paid up his share of the bill. The grand outstanding sum: fifty cents

Auntie: Oi. You still owe me 50 cents from that lunch.
Ah Beng: Oh ya hor. But remember the other day at the hawker centre you borrowed 60 cents from me at the drinks stall?
Auntie: Ok you keep the fifty cents and I return you another ten cents.

They started dipping into their purses and counting coins. Thank God the lift stopped for more passengers that moment otherwise they would have seen my horror-struck face in the mirrored lift door.

Fifty cents??! Returning ten cents? I’d understand if they are still in school or if we are in impoverished country where 50 cents buys you a cow to feed the family – but the last time I checked, we are in a first world country (the Queen will have something to say about this..) and these two are working class adults in their late 30s who certainly don’t look like they are living from hand to mouth. Heck, she is carrying a branded (albeit ugly) handbag and he is holding the latest model blackberry phone. So what gives?

When I told my sister about this incident, she said such behavior is very common amongst the “economical” working-class folks. Don’t judge them by their fancy cars and LV bags – when it comes to everyday monetary affairs, they will count to the very cent. I can almost hear Auntie saying, “I can use this 50 cents to pay for the increased ERP charges you know!” (Then don’t drive to work lah)

Sis told me about how whenever she dines with her group of “economical working class” friends, it is always crunch time when the bill arrives. Firstly, nobody will offer to pay the full amount by credit card and collect cash from everyone else. This is because there is always the possibility that someone do not have exact change hence may pay less. Secondly, they will not split the bill equally but calculate who ordered what and worse still, in what proportion the food was shared. For example if everyone ordered a $16.80 main course and yours is only $14.80, you should rightfully pay $2 less. Also, if everyone shared a common dish but you feel you didn’t eat as much as Fatty over there, you should rightfully pay less. (Otherwise where got fair?)

My friend forwarded me an email which she received from one of her dining campanions who actually did pay for the entire meal first with her credit card and is asking for everyone to pay her back. It reads: "Can everyone please pay me back your share by this Thursday otherwise my credit card company will charge me interest for late payment which I will pass on to whoever who pays me late." And trust me, she wasn't joking!

Please don’t misunderstand that I am bitching about folks who are not well-off and need to be frugal about their spending. I’m only talking about those who clearly can (or appear to be able to) afford luxuries in life yet will fight to the end of the world over a few stray dollars owed to them.

An ex-colleague of mine told me a story about how she was at Starbucks and the man standing in front of her was arguing over a prospective 10% discount off his coffee. The barista was apologizing profusely that they are unable to swipe his credit card (which entitles him to the discount) because the machine is offline. Over RM0.55, this well-dressed yuppy executive fell into a rage, screamed at the poor barista and held up the entire lunchtime queue. My (chilli padi) ex-colleague finally tapped him on his shoulders and told him he can get “cheap coffee” over at the mamak opposite the road instead.

I must say the most scary “economical working class” story I have heard so far is a story told to me by a friend who took a ride from her friend’s car to Malaysia. Her friend kept a small 555 notebook and recorded down each and every expense arising out of the trip – petrol, highway toll charges, snacks, toilet entry etc. – and divided it down the middle. On top of that, her friend calculated the “depreciation” value of the car with respect to the mileage clocked up during the road-trip and factored that into the final costs.

Wah lao eh! Next time take bus….