It was dinner time and the Wife informed me that she needed some ingredient for dinner which we didn’t have.  I checked my wallet and noticed that the customary wad of cash had been depleted (If I skip a day of hitting the ATM for the max, cash flow can become a real problem since no one here will take a check and most places don’t take plastic), to the point that the only thing left was 5Q.  I didn’t really feel like going into town to hit the ATM just to buy one ingredient so I asked if we could do without.

The answer was apparently ‘no’ as she left the room in a hurry and the door slammed behind her (no doubt it was a cross wind through the house).  A few minutes later I noticed that the teenager had left the property and returned a few minutes later with the item.  Did the Wife dig into a coin jar somewhere and come up with the funds?

No, she sent the kid to the tienda to buy the item on credit.  You see, the kid makes daily trips to the tienda, so we can spread the bodegona/PriceSmart trips out a bit.  He’s a veteran of the tienda and knows all the operators nearby, when the mothers work the tienda and when the daughters work it, who is more likely to gouge him because of his skin color and who gives fresh bread vs. day old ‘gringo’ bread.

So the kid knew that on previous occasions he had been short a few Q and certain tienda owners had let him buy the items anyway, always returning the next day with the balance.  So in this case he merely had to walk to the tienda, tell them what he needed and explain that he didn’t have the money, and they handed the item over.  Pretty neat, right?

Can you imagine walking into a convenience store in the US and asking to buy something that day and pay the next?  I guess if you live way out in the country and you’re in the store as often as we’re at the tienda, maybe, just maybe that might happen.

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