I needed to renew my membership on a travel-volunteer website via a payment. After logging into the account and filling payment details, I found out that debit cards didn’t work. I asked Hussein, one of the colleagues I was working with online years ago, whether there was an issue with Egyptian debit cards as he's often up-to-date with news. He informed me that only credit cards were acceptable on non-Egyptian platforms.
Imagine that you have the money you need to pay for something, but you can’t because a new rule took effect. I wasn’t able to pay simply because I didn’t have a credit card. The idea of waiting until I request one from the bank wasn’t an option since I wanted to grab a discount offer before it expired in 48 hours.
None of my family members had a credit card. Hussein offered that I could pay using his credit card.
Although Hussein and I used to work together on some projects online a few years ago, we never met or saw each other in person. In addition, he didn’t know my full name or address. We don’t work together anymore but, we kept in irregular contact. Since then, whenever I wanted to understand something related to finances or app transfers, I turned to him. He always welcomed my questions and provided me with detailed answers. He was my financial guru.
Hussein shared with me his credit card details even before I could send him money on Instapay, an Egyptian app for transferring money locally. However, I didn’t use his credentials until I paid him.
What Hussein did for me speaks volumes about him. Exactly like those Sri Lankans who helped me out without expecting me to pay them back.
I doubt that someone who comes from a culture that promotes the self as a primary focus, like Western one, would help a stranger similarly. Someone else would be suspicious or, at least, wouldn’t share their card details with someone they never met.
I believe this is something so special about most people in our "oriental" countries. People who are pushing hard through life and already have their own problems are very willing to assist others in any way. This reminds me of other situations when strangers helped me out. But this is going to be the topic of another post.
What a beautiful story! Thank you so much for sharing. Trusting unknown people is one of the most difficult things, especially when it relates to money. Hussein is a great person, and you're very lucky. I think your personality is also so amazing that you made him trust enough.
Aw, thanks a lot for your heartening comment, Yumi!
It's true that in some parts of the world people are incredibly welcoming and will go to great lengths to help total strangers. Unfortunately, we can't afford to be too generous here in Europe. Sharing your bank account details is definitely a big no-no here.
It's true that we've lost our sense of community, though. One of the pillars of a capitalist society is valuing individualism over collectivism.
Yes, That's right. I live with Europeans and I see individualism in their daily life.
This is particularly interesting to me as I was asked today to pay something for someone I know fairly well via an email... I think I would have paid it but there were all sorts of things about the email that struck me as strange, more the longer I looked at it. I believe that someone had stolen my friends email and was using it to get steal money. Should I have just paid the bill? Would that generosity or stupidity? I have no problem sharing all my knowledge of language and giving time to that....
Your post also reminds me of a comment in a Western book many years ago called the Grapes of Wrath. Basically it tells of the plight of the farmers who were forced off their land by bad managment and climate in the 1930s, I think. One of them makes a comment about how the poor people are the ones who are so much more ready to help others.
Today is being interesting. After being challenged by this entry I read about a group of people in Laos who are taken from their village and put somewhere, miles away without food or shelter. Why? because they happened to change their understanding and started believing something that the community they had belonged to didn't like. They started believing that they should be helpful and caring of poor people and that they should follow some practices which were not at all harmful to anyone. The world is a lot more complicated that we wish it were. :(
"...the poor people are the ones who are so much more ready to help others." I think most of them are so.
This is a nice story of people in Laos. I think that this is the case everywhere when someone try to go against the flow.
I'm surprised that you think it a nice story. To me it's a reminder of the fact that there are limits to everyone's generosity.
@MusiqueGraeme When you say people in Laos are being forced off their land, do you refer to this? https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/265975/christians-in-laos-driven-from-their-homes-forced-to-live-in-rainforest
I mean, here's me thinking that people in Asia, especially buddhists, are such peaceful and understanding people. Well, the f- they are.
What you wrote, @MusiqueGraeme, sounded like a story. Now, I read the link that Simone attached and it's not a nice story. Unfortunately, This is the ugly truth. Many people have their generosity limited. We have to unwire a lot of things in our minds and to learn to live with each other peacefuly and to help whenever we can.
@Simone-, you will find this kind of extemist, intolerant people in every religion, belief, or ideology. This is why I believe the problem is us and how we manipulate eveything to achieve goals at the expense of others.
@Double-Zee You're right. The thing is that south-east Asia is always portrayed as this peaceful region where people of different backgrounds coexist happily. Also, we Europeans have to take shit from these same countries when they make political statements against the West and in favour of authoritarian regimes such as those in China and Russia. We Europeans aren't saints, but at least we no longer force people off their land or blow people up because of their religion.
Read this: https://rightsandresources.org/blog/blue-and-green-tomorrow-land-grabbing-in-laos-and-cambodia-breach-human-rights/
@Simone- I heard the account from a different source so I'm not sure if it's the same... but this sort of thing is not limited to one place anyway. Blessings