maesot

cost of a bunch of bananas in maesot: 20 baht
cost of an xtc tablet in maesot: 20 baht
number of baht in an aussie dollar: 30 baht

so what do you do when the street kids ask you for money?

my mind flies into a whirl wind of motion with this issue. searching...searching for a train of thought which will give me cognitive equilibrium.

options...

option 1. don't look them in the eye, focus on how annoying they are and walk right on past.
PROBLEM - i can't live with myself. i can't deny that they are human beings. the divinty in me dies if i do not respect the divinity in them.

option 2. give them a few spare change to appease my conscience.
PROBLEM - they might by xtc, and i've just made their life worse, but probably a kinder option than option 1.

option 3. sell everything we have, move to maesot and take them all in.
PROBLEM - maesot is 100's km away from the nearest beach, and (as corny, hippy, selfish as this is) it is effecting our spirits. also as far as we know these kids might have good mums already. remember we share not one word of common language with them.

option 4. while we're here carry a bag of bananas with us and hand them out to anyone who asks.
PROBLEM - it doesn't save the world and feels hopelessly inadequate. what happens when we leave? but maybe that's not a problem? i don't know?

whilst option 4 does not exactly strike me as a solution it does bring some small cognitive equilibrum to my mind. at least i can live with myself and sleep soundly at night.

charlie