Three Things I'll Never Understand (A rant from my market experience)
What I expect every marketplace to look like
Traders who frown at the local market. Isn't a smile such a free and enticing tool to get a customer?
About an hour ago, I took a short trip to the local market. It's Monday and I assume everyone should be up with a new spirit to work harder, achieve new goals, try new things, stay focused and just be warm. Well, I'm more of a mind-your-business kind of person so I hardly smile but I'm never frowning either. I do not sell at the market as a regular trader but I know a few etiquettes for selling. One of which is that a trader should wear a smile and try to be nice.
It's quite unfortunate that I walk up to a certain woman's stall and greet her and she was just sitted there watching me with so much anger? or was it hatred I read from her expression? A lot of people are selling the same thing you're selling but someone chooses to come to you and you put up quite an unwelcoming attitude? Well, my money, my choice on what to use it for and where to buy from. I simply walked away.
A heap of refuse that has been here for ages
The refuse of ages
This is the first thing that welcomed me when I arrived at the market - a heap of refuse. I would call it the refuse of ages, you know just as we have the rock of ages. It's been over four months since this particular refuse has been heaped yet the environmental cleaners are not doing anything about it.
Everyday I witness the commotion caused by the market touts who according to them are government workers. They go about getting commission from every trader including those who are sitted or even standing by the roadside just trying to earn a living from the tiny things they sell. It makes me sad to see the little penny they work for being snatched away in the name of market ticket dues.
Well, my main concern is if all the traders in the market are paying their dues which I know for sure that they all do because if they don't, a fight usually breaks out and commodities are seized or destroyed in the moment. Since these dues are paid, why are the environmental cleaners not doing their work to make the market environment comfortable for the traders to sell their wares?
The most baffling part is that there are other spots where the refuse dump are usually kept and the environmental cleaners take out those ones daily but this particular one is being ignored, why? Are different people responsible for taking out different market trash?
It's quite insane that they are traders who sit on the refuse to sell. Who buys from a dirty and smelly environment?
Crazy things are indeed happening. I have mentioned that some traders do not have a stall so they sit by the roadside to sell their wares. Now this refuse of ages has eaten up their spaces because the marketers keep dumping there not minding that it won't get taken out. This refuse keeps spreading and occupying more space. Traders then spread nylons on the refuse and put out their wares to sell. I've never seen anything this crazy. It's funny how some people keep going there to buy without feeling any form of discomfort. I just don't understand these three things.
Here's what I wanted from the market
It's Monday and everywhere should be clean. Traders should be warm and their wares should be good looking as well in order to attract customers. Well, I found a place to get my groundnut. Fresh looking and neat, warm trader with good smile. I took myself back home just thinking of all the weird observations I made earlier.
Market view from the top
All images used in this post are mine.
It’s annoying when people don’t clean things up like that. Looking at that giant pile there, it’s a shame because there looks like there’s so much compost there! That stuff can be turned into black gold for farms and animals like pigs. It’s crazy that it’s being left there when it could be doing so many other things. I bet the supervisor of the clean group is mad about something stupid so they are refusing to do the work.
I bet so too but I really hope they get to sort out the issue. The sight of that refuse and the stench coming from it is terrible.😔