A Humbling Experience

Another really humbling experience with the Balinese today.

Before we had even left my driveway, my Grab driver asked me if he could get my opinion.

“Sure”, I replied.

“Well my previous job asked me to come back after this job and take her on a long (ish) trip. It’s a good job - 100k but i forgot to get her number”.

“What if, after I drop you off, I go all the way back and she’s not there”

He had a huge dilemma as he told me that it could take him 3 hours to earn 100k ($10 nzd), so this was a lucrative job. But if he drove 10 minutes back and she wasn’t there he could have lost out on a smaller job, which he needed.

As i sat there, I grappled with the temptation to just give him the 100k but it’s not always appropriate to hand out notes like some saviour.

Instead i just listened to his never ending trail of thought all the way to the post office.

As we arrived it dawned on me that he needed to go back to my street to pick up the girl.

“Why don’t you wait for me and just take me back home.” I said. “I’ll tip you to wait and pay you to take me home and you won’t lose time or money going back.”

He looked at me with the most humble appreciation and said,

“As long as you’re not just doing that because you feel sorry for me.” (😭)

“No, i need to get home so it works perfectly”.

He got a good payment for the job because if i had logged a return trip in the Grab app he’d have been paid much less than if I just paid him double to take me home again.

“You will get good karma for this deed miss” he said. “I will give you a 5 star rating AND a comment on how good you are.”

He expressed his appreciation all the way home. As we pulled back up up to the villa, I knew that I had done nothing special and wished him good luck. “I hope you get the job”.

“Thank you …. Denise is it?”

“Ya, dan siapa nama?” (what is your name) - he smiled at my use of Indonesian.

“Vincentius”, he told me.

“Sampai jumpa Vincentius!”, I said

“Sampai jumpa lagi!”,, he sang as he zoomed away.

My trip to the post office and back cost me $4, but if left a huge mark on my heart.

Vincentius, I really hope you got your good job.