55.0 Warning! Stop Wasting Food! We Can End Hunger.

How To Save Money! It was another big deal I had on our journeys. Though I mentioned as "I" in here, it was a common issue for most of us.  When we were leaving our country, we decided not to exchange all the money we have. We plan to exchange the rest of the money whenever we need it. We thought that it would be a good practice in financial management. So, we allocated a certain amount for shopping and food expenses. As per the discussions we had before, we strictly decided not to go beyond the allocated thresholds. Therefore, as per our ground rules, I exchanged some portion of the rupee amount into the dollars.

Once we reached there, I planned to exchange the rest of the dollars according to my needs. However, I kept some amount in rupees as well. I wanted to keep some rupee amount. Lol... On the very first day, everybody was very keen on their expenses. All of us had good discipline. So, we thought twice before having a meal as well. Always we did not forget to compare it with our Rupee value by converting the price of everything.

However, I could say that our currency conversion job did not have a long life. We thought that we would go back to our country to buy goods as per our desired money value. So, from the second day onwards, we started to eat things we loved, and buy whatever we wanted. Once we went to one shopping complex, we could not think about what to buy. According to the availability of varieties, it was not easy to make a decision. So, we decided to visit a few shopping complexes to check the goods with prices and identify our needs. We identified our needs after that analysis. Lol...

However, before we went there, one of our friends contacted us to check our status. He lived in that country. So, he asked us to visit an area before buying goods from those Shopping Malls. That place was like "Pettah" in Sri Lanka. As per his advice, we all decided to go there first on the next day. Once we went there, we got to know that there are also many varieties of goods. There were lots of shops.

The prices were almost the same as the goods in those shopping complexes. The main advantage was there were "Sales.. !" And they agreed in price negotiations. So, it was an ideal place for us. Lol... As we now had an idea about the availability of the goods in the shopping complexes, we decided to buy some goods from these shops, and complete the shopping the next day by visiting shopping complexes.

Therefore, went to a few shops and analyzed the price. We could observe that there were some small price gaps in the shops here. Sometimes we have seen that they communicated different prices for us and other customers. As we visited many shops, as usual, we could identify some shops that have quality goods. But we did not agree with the price they told. We bargained up to the maximum. Lol... 

So, when we were working on our bargaining and buying process, one shop owner asked about our country. As that bargaining power was a shame to our country, I told the name of another country. Sorry... <Country>... Somehow, we could cover most of our shopping needs via that shopping area thanking them.

Sometimes, we could not identify the shops we already visited as we covered lots of shops for a very short time. Therefore, some of my cousins look like their regular customers. The other thing is they revisited the shop even after identifying it as a visited one. That was a major issue for others, as all of us had to wait for each one. Huh... It was a pain that kills the shopping thrill. Sometimes, we got angry with them. Still, they had many things to visit and buy. It was an exceptional case. I think we did not bring shame to our motherland as we hid its name. Instead of that, we told them that "we are from <country>". Sorry... Sorry... If you are living in that country, you will kill me. I know.

In one instance, I could not identify the sales girl in a shop. There were a few customers, and I asked the price of shoes from a lady and she was not a salesgirl. So, she got angry with me and said: “asked someone”. Her face got reddish and it was a big shame for her. As it happened to many customers, including me in our country, I did not think that it was a big issue. I also did not feel shame when it happened to me. However, I quickly left the shop. Lol... There were nice phone cases that I could not buy.

Finally, I bought many items from that place, and a reasonable portion of money gone away. So, I exchanged my remaining dollars and thought to do the next round of shopping in the shopping complexes. When we were moving there, we got to know that most of us have spent money. It was our last day of the journey, and the next day was our departure day. So, we decided to buy small things from here, and keep another portion to buy something from our Sri Lanka duty-free. God's Plan For Your Money! 

As there was much stuff that we could not afford, all of us felt sad. We watched and came with our weeping hearts. As we could not manage our expenses on the other days, we had to do window shopping in that complex. So, we could not buy at least 50% of the stuff we planned, before going to that shopping area.

One of our cousin sisters blamed our government, pointing out the low value of our currency. It made all of us laugh, though her argument was the correct one. She released her pressure in that way. I think it would be a relief for her. At least she had a valid reason to leave that Shopping Mall without a few bags. Lol...

On the last day, most of them were fed up because of that matter. Therefore, only me and one of my cousins wanted to visit a bird park. So, we went there, and others did not come. Even though we wanted to take professional photographs with birds, money did not allow us. Our poor financial management did not allow us. If we had a proper plan, we could cover all without any worry. So, we did not eat an extra thing except a drink, even though we wanted to eat something. When the others were enjoying the birds' visit with snacks, we had a soft drink.

During my entire lifetime, it was the day, that I could not eat anything when I wanted to eat something. Lol... So, we wished everybody in the world get rid of starving. I remembered the faces of some beggars who met in our country. Their unhealthy and tired look gave me another tension at that moment, and at that time, I could truly feel the value of food.  

Therefore, Don't Waste Food. Adhere with Zero Waste Lifestyle. When you are worrying about your meal, many people cannot afford that meal even. All of us should respect food. We should donate to others who cannot afford food. If you can fill that poverty gap on a small scale, it also would be a merit to you all. Therefore, do not let anybody you know to starve, friends. Please help them!

Sometimes, a beggar will ask for money to eat something, and you will feel that he/she is lying. Sometimes, it will be a lie. I know. But, please don't ignore that request. It is an investment for your ego. It was a great lesson I learned.

 

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22.0 The Guide For How to Enjoy Shopping And Return Home As Zombies.

It was not an easy thing to shopping with that cousin's sister. Even she bought a small thing, she compared its price with all the other aspects. So, one day I went to about ten shops to buy shoes for her and, I think we covered the whole shoe area. As my legs were painful and, tired like nothing we had our lunch for more than an hour. There was a young boy in a shop we went to and, he was very supportive. 

He brought various shoes from the stock as well when my cousin was asking for different sizes and colors. However, in the end, he was very tired and, at that time he wanted us to leave the shop. Finally, she did not have good things to buy though she looked for many shoes. There were several shoe shops there. So, we went to each and every shop and, again, we came to that same shop using another door. The best thing was, he told us 'You all already came here' by looking at our next visit. At that time, we were laughing, but that boy did not even laugh a bit. I think we ended up his entire day and, it was enough for him. He might think that he did not want any more customers like us. Especially my cousin's sister.

In the other incident, sometimes we could have been beaten and, it also happened when I was shopping with that cousin's sister. However, we were lucky to save our lives and return home. On that day, we went to a shopping complex and, bought some clothes. As we wanted to wear and see, we went to fit-on rooms. There were a few chairs to sit and, a boy was sitting over there. He was waiting for his girlfriend and, at that time she was in the fit-on room. So, both of us also sat and waited as all the rooms occupied. Shortly that girl came out with a tight blouse and, asked comments from his boyfriend. However, that boy loved her outfit, and he said that 'Wowww baby, it's really nice for you. Meanwhile, we thought that she won't be able to breathe even. She adjusted her blouse a few times and, looked at the mirror. I thought she did not like that choice. So, she asked for his feedback again. But his response was the same. He said that it should be the selection. We hardly managed their drama at that time, and we could not stop our laugh with his last comment. Then that girl went to the fit-on-room again and, we two kept on laughing like nothing. It made that boy angry and, he looked at us like a devil. We could not look at him and, then we moved out without checking our clothes also. If we waited there for another few minutes, he would blame or hit us. 

As we could not stay there for a long time, we went to another shop in the same shopping complex. Actually, I do not know why we could not manage our laugh. We laughed like crazy fellows. After a few minutes, they also came there. At that time, I did not look at my cousin's face and, we went to two different sections as well to manage the situation. However, we could not stop it at all and, that boy gave his devil look. He was very angry with us, and it increased more when he was looking at our fun and smiley faces. Also at that point, we moved to another section, as his look scared both of us. Unfortunately, we met them in another few shops and, they came to the food court as well once we went there. The same thing happened every time and, he gave his devil look when we were laughing. After that, we thought to leave that shopping complex and, came out to take a taxi. So, there was a higher probability of a murder case or a fight. The thing was we did not forget to laugh and, he did not forget to give that devil look every time we met each other. 


However, his girlfriend was expressionless, and she did not take any action. I think she was intelligent and, she might think that all of us were crazy fellows including his boyfriend also. However, we did the wrong thing and, we should not laugh for other's matters. It is none of our business at all. If it's good for them, why do we worry? However, we had a severe problem of laughing even for serious matters and, those days some of our elders warned us several times. 

Another similar incident happened when I went out with my friend after class. We wanted to buy a printer cartridge and, after that, we did window shopping. Those days it was one of our lovely hobbies. So, we looked at many shops all over the directions. We tried to look at shops on other floors as well. 

Suddenly I knocked over a girl and, the ice-cream she eats was falling down. I did not see her and, there was ice-cream in my shoes as well. It was a very messy incident. Her boyfriend was also there. Though I begged for her excuse, she was very angry with me. So, I said sorry for a few times. But it did not work, and she stares at me like a witch. Her boyfriend also asked her to move. But she did not listen to him. So, we left them without her response. After going a few miles, I looked back again. At that time also, she was staring at us. Then my friend said that they might afford a lot for their ice-cream as foods in that food court were expensive.

There are many shopping memories with my cousin sister. One day we went to a book exhibition and, it was an annual exhibition. Most of the people would like to buy books from this exhibition. You can see the crowd with the youngest to the eldest age ranges. There were many and, most of the time it got more crowded in the last few days of the exhibition. So, we two went to many shops and, bought a few books at that moment. When we were going over there, we saw a shop which sells books for a fifty percent discount. That place was crowded like nothing and, all of them tried to buy books from that shop. So, my cousin's sister also wanted to go there even though I did not want to. 


You know that I do not like crowded places because of that bus incident that happened in my school days. But she held my hand and, dragged me to that shop. However, I could not handle her hand among the crowd and, we separated. At that time, she held the hand of another boy without looking at him and, she thought that it's me. I was laughing like an idiot, and I saw that the boy was trying to get rid of my sister. He was a small fellow and shorter than my sister. After a few minutes, she noticed that the hand she was holding was dragged back in the other direction. Then she looked back and, realized that it's not my hand. It was a shame for her and, she did not want to go to that shop anymore.

When I was coming back home from Colombo, I used to go to at least two shops. I had to take two buses and, once I reached the first part of the destination, I went to a few shops. Most of the time, I had some needs to buy something. Therefore, I took more time to return home as well. The other main problem I had was forgetting the things I wanted after entering into the shopping complex. If I could not bring the list, it happened to me and, I always came with something else that I did not think to buy. 

One day I went shopping alone and, it was not a planned journey. I just wanted to go there by seeing some clothes displayed in the outside dummies. However, finally, I was in the bag section and, there was a nice collection of various types of bags. There were so many beautiful items that I could not imagine what to pick. At that time, that section was not crowded. A foreign couple also was in that section and, that lady was selecting a handbag. After a few minutes, I heard a sound like 'Takas' and, I just figured out something broke. But I did not look back and, continued my selection. So, after a few minutes, that foreign lady came to me and, asked me to open the bag which kept in her hand. According to the way she held the bag and, that 'Takas' sound did not allow me to do that. I thought that she was going to transfer the fault she did when she was trying to open that bag. I assumed that its lock has broken. So, I rejected her request kindly and, asked her to go to a sales-girl who was over there. But she did not go to her. So, it confirmed my assumption. After that, they left that section by keeping that bag there. I did not touch it even.

Later on, I got to know the way we are building up our next ego according to the way we react to the things we see, hear and feel after listening for a "Maha Sinha Nada" Dhamma sermon of Venerable 'Thiththagalle Anandasiri Thero. Actually, I do not know specific Dhamma words to describe it further with you. Basically, if we could see a particular thing and, give up further thoughts we have on that object, then it is a merit. The same logic applies to the things we hear and feel as well. Our next ego builds up according to the thoughts we have now. Now we are also building our next ego by capturing the things via our eyes, ears, tongue, body, and mind. However, this sermon describes the deep concepts of 'Nibbana' in Buddha Dhamma. Dhamma Sermon.

So, I'm trying to keep the mind in a middle position which avoids attractions or sorrows for whatever matter. However, it is not an easy thing to do and, it is kind of a war between you and your thoughts. Sometimes, you may not agree with this concept. However, you can see the relief or relaxation of your mind when giving up your thoughts without thinking further on any object or matter. It would be food, clothes, your spouse, car or anything. It is the concept of living in the current moment without thinking about the past or future. It helps you to concentrate on the things you are working in the present moment.

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21.0 Let's Discuss Horrible Shopping Experiences

Even though I could not imagine how many times I went shopping during my lifetime, several memorable incidents are there to share with you. Out of all most of them are funny and, tired memories. Though we started the journey happily, most of the time it ended up with a severe headache. 

It was that much-tired journey in the end as we spent many hours for shopping. At the start, we thought not to spend more time in one shop if they did not have our wish list. But it never worked. Therefore, once we returned home, we could not speak loudly and, we did not want to move a little bit.

Though it seemed nice at the time we bought, there were certain items that looked ugly once we rechecked those at home. There were at least two such items. So, it brought more pain for the head and legs when I was thinking of exchange even. It requires another effort to go there and, find out other replacements. Sometimes I went to exchange and, it was an additional cost. In all those times, I had to pay more for the exchanged item as always, its price was higher than the previous one. It was a miserable thing I ever had. Therefore, I did not happy about all the bought items, though they were my choices. The same thing happened to my cousins and friends as well. They also faced the same situation. Later on, I wore all the bought clothes and shoes, though I did not like them. Once I told this to one of the friends, he said that it's common for every female including his wife. Furthermore, he pointed out it as a universal issue. Lol... 

Early days, I went shopping with my mother and sister. My father did not join us, though he came to drop us. He stayed in the vehicle and let us spend any time. Because he knew that it was a punishment for him. Every time my mother fed up with us by spending a few hours and, said that it was her last shopping journey with us. However, she came for next time as well. Later on, she sat on a chair in the shop and, let us select whatever we liked once she finished her shopping. However, we could go for a maximum of three to four shops once we went with my mother. Though we did not buy our desired things, she did not want to spend any single minute after exceeding that threshold. As well as she could not tolerate when we were checking the same stuff again and again. So, she noticed it as an unnecessary time we spent on the same things and, said that there's no point in checking the same stuff. We said that we wanted to make sure that we did not miss anything good for us. However, she did not accept those as excuses and asked us to leave the shop if there were no things to buy without idling. 

Later on, we two went alone without my mother. We asked her to stay at home and, she also loved our suggestion. Sometimes she gave her list and asked us to bring those things for her. So, we went to any number of shops we wished and stayed there for long hours without looking at our watches even. 

We went to ten to twelve shops sometimes and, bought what we want. My sister was a good shopping partner, and we two have the same limits. Once it exceeded, we decided to stop shopping. However, both of us came back home like zombies and, we were tired like nothing. As the first thing, we showed the new items to my mother. After that, we two shared the bill, according to the money we spent on each other. As usual, we got various responses from our mother, and she did not like some of the things we bought. There was an era where I wore different varieties of blue color. Those days most of my clothes were a blue color. So, my mother did not like it at all and, she said that she will throw away if I bought anymore blue color clothes. She gave that warning every time when we were going outside. Our grandmother also agreed on the same by expanding it for 'Black color as well. As her eyesight was weak those days, she saw all the other dark colors like black color. Apart from that color issue, both of them asked us to return home quickly without spending unnecessary time in the shops. So, once we returned, they said that 'Oh no. Did you spend the whole day to buy these few items? What did you do for the entire day men? If I spent that time, I would buy clothes for the rest of my lifetime.

So, it was pathetic to hear their comments. After that, we did not disclose some items with them. However, we had to listen to their comments as we could not hide those when we were going outside. Then they said that 'Hey, I did not see your outfit before. When did you buy this? It's too tied, okayyy. This color is very dark and not suitable for you. Those were some comments they gave.

My father's younger brother was a good companion for us to do shopping. He supported us and, did not have a hurry to go back. He did not get tired and, visited any number of shops without a limit. One day I think we visited nearly twenty shops to buy sarees, some costumes and shoes for a wedding. As all of our selections were different, we had to go to that many shops to specially buy sarees. At that time, I could not wear saree properly. So, one sales guy in the shop helped me to wear and select. He understood that I could not wear it by myself according to the way I followed up. So, he helped me a lot. Meantime, he asked me to get ready from the early morning as I might take a couple of hours to wear the saree. On that day also, our uncle ("Bappa") was there with us and, supported all of us to select our sarees including costumes. So, when we had a family event, my father and father's elder brother sent him with us. I think it was a great relief for them as they did not want to bear up that pain when he was there with us. They did not even worry about the number of hours we spent shopping. So, our uncle spent more time when he was buying anything for himself as well. He went to all the possible shops until he found the desired thing. It applied for everything and, he visited many girls to find out his bride as well. 

Because of this habit, when he was a school student, he had a nickname called 'Town guy' ('Town Banda'). My father always said that it was the most suitable nickname for him, though he called him 'Professor Calculus'. He used that name to save his contact details as well. So, when two brothers are going outside, my father never let him go to a shop as he knew his selection procedure. One day, when we were going on a trip, there was an area which was a well-known place for the fish market. At that time, my father asked him to buy some fish and meantime, asked him to come soon. We waited for nearly an hour, but he did not come back. Then my father went to find him and, at that time also he did not buy anything. He blamed and dragged him back to the vehicle.

A few days I went shopping with my cousin and my father's elder brother. It was for a family wedding. Though we had a big list to buy, our uncle ("Loku Thaththa") wanted to buy all the stuff from the first place. It needed to be done very fast too. So, he asked us to come back soon. Meanwhile, he shouted and reminded the list of other work he needs to be done within the rest of the day. However, we wanted to select our wish list somehow. Later on, we ignored him and, moved to some other areas of the shop when he was trying to contact us. It increased his anger and blamed us when returning back. Like the others, he also warned that it was his last shopping journey with us.

One day I went to an office to take some support materials for my degree certificate. At that time, they asked me to wait for a few minutes. Additionally, they said that they need their chief's approval. At that time, that lady was not there. So, I thought to go to a nearby shop during this idle time though I did not have money to buy anything at that time. I just wanted to do window shopping. So, I just checked a few clothes and, noted that the price was very high. All were very expensive. As I wanted to spend time, I just walked over the floors by visiting the items without buying anything. So, one sales guy came to me and, asked, 'Ma'm what did you look for?. At that time, I thought that they do not have party wears. So, as I did not buy anything, I said that I was looking for party wears, but it is not available. Then he said 'No ma'am it is on our next floor and, he asked me to come with him. I felt sorry for my self and, went with him. I checked a few of frocks and, he also supported me to select. They were expensive like nothing. After a few minutes, I said to him that my choice is not available and, left that shop as soon as possible. 

For the moment, I received much feedback from you all for my written blog posts. Thank you very much for your kind responses. It is a great pleasure for me. If you could mention your country, then it would be an amazing feeling for me to know that I have global friends. However, it is up to you, and I respect your choice. 

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