Vendors' Value

The greatest love hate relationship a tourist can have is with the many street sellers trying to push their wares on you.

I am on a ferry cruising down the Lijiang River in Guilin, one of the most beautiful scenic routes of all of China. There are peaks, cliffs, and crags surrounding me and all I can pay attention to is the he man yelling, “Hello!”.

At the beginning of the tour, our first local guide had told the group about the Helong people. They will shout at you and try to sell you postcards, hats and other tourist paraphernalia. I thought it so interesting that a ethnic group had the corner on tourist sales.

Two days later, I overheard someone in our group making a joke about the Helong people. I was at very saddened and annoyed that people thought it was okay to be making jokes aimed at a group of people, and then I realized the joke was on me!

The tour guide had been making a joke, yet with her accent I had not understood it. She had dubbed the people selling tourist trinkets as the “Hello” people, because they shout hello to get your attention to what they are selling.

This is true everywhere that I have traveled in the past 8 months. Sales people learn this English word and shout it, and repeat it over and over. It has become a sort of tourist depression cycle for me. At first I find it entertaining and I smile and say, “No thank you over and over.” Then I start to find it annoying, feeling that I cannot go anywhere without being accosted by the shout. After a couple of days of the constant barrage it my reaction moves into anger, why won’t these people just leave me alone? Can’t they see the weariness in my eyes? And finally acceptance, which leads me to keep my eyes glued to the ground and employ my best snubbing skills.

During all these stages guilt is neatly folded in and weighing down on my heart. I feel bad. I have a rich and privileged life compared to these hard working folks. If my one or two dollars can provide an income for them, then why not? But then I think…they don’t want my pity. But then I think, is it pity? No! This is business. But then I realize, it’s not really business if I am buying something I don’t want. Do they even get the profit or do they have some type of tourist trinket lord that takes all the profits and makes them go out to work everyday. Then I think not everything is a special CNN report. Then I think…I can’t thing straight! ARGGGH! I become trapped in a crazy circle of guilt.

I have also found there is a direct correlation to the size of my guilt to size of town. For example, if I am in a big city my guilt is almost nonexistent. Whereas, if I am in a little or remote village-then I feel more compelled to use my money to support their way of living. I can’t help but to think of how hard difficult there life is compared to mine.

Which bring me back to what inspired these thoughts.

Here on the river we are on a large ferry. The tour is 3 hours long. I am sitting inside the ferry on the bottom level surrounded by windows when I realize there is a man outside the window yelling ‘Hello!”. He is holding ‘jade’ carvings of Buddha and other images of China. I let out a laugh.

The Hello people found a way to sell to us even when surrounded by water.

They paddle out to the boat on a small bamboo canoe, then hold the ornament up and shout to get the tourists attention, “Hello!” Then they start to say prices, try to catch your eye, and basically- break your heart…okay mine. Most other people at stuck in annoyance at this point.

Over and over again, from country to country I am impressed with how hard people will work to try and support themselves and their families. I sometimes wonder why they would pick the job they do, and then a resounding thump on the back of my head sounds, and I remember they are doing the best they can with what they can. I would never want to have to hock or sell goods to anyone. The hundreds of rejection a day, the annoyed looks, the diverted eyes, and the hands constantly brushing you away.

Now, I know there are some that are out to cheat and swindle you. Even those that lie and wish you ill. Yet more than not-there are those just out to make the best deal that they can for themselves and their families. It is my responsibility to check to make sure that what I am buying is the quality I am expecting. It is up to me to be just as smart and savvy as the sellers.

It took me a long time, but it seems within the last 6 weeks I have somehow gained acceptance for the hawkers. I have found that 4 out of five times, if I look the person in my eyes, smile politely yet with compassion and say, “No thank you” that I am left alone. It is amazing! It gives me a sense of mutual respect. I am able to continue walking on with an open heart and a growing love for the people of different cultures in our world.

We are all trying to carve out our place in the world. Some of us have been given butter knives to do the job, while others of us have been provided with powerful diamond tipped stone cutters. In the end, we all hope to create something of value.