Yesterday I went into my usual potraviny,* which is a block north of my building. I gathered my groceries, stood in line, and had my things rung up. 99% of the time I use cash and foodstamps at the store, but yesterday I didn't have enough of either, so I planned to use my (Slovak) debit card. But when I tried to hand it to the cashier, she said, "Nefunguje"--the card reader wasn't working. Just now, as I'm writing this, I realized that my first stroke of luck was that I actually understood what the problem was to begin with. As usual, I couldn't quite find the words to express what I wanted to say, which was something along the lines of, "Well, I haven't got enough money to pay for it without the card, so I guess you'd better put it all back." Instead I stood there, gaping a bit helplessly, as I tried to think in English and Slovak at the same time. After a minute, the woman simply said, "Zajtra" (tomorrow), and wrote down my name and how much I owed. I thanked her sincerely and left with my purchases. This afternoon I have to go by and pay the €7.91 that I owe.
So you know you live in a small town when 1. you're able to buy something on credit, which I thought went out with the 20th century, and 2. you realize that number 1 is possible because you know it would be really easy to track you down if you didn't pay up. Even so, it's nice to live in a world where people will trust you, even if only for a little while. "I'll pay you tomorrow" just wouldn't fly at Albertson's.
*A small grocery store. Bigger than a New York bodega, but smaller than an IGA or Kroger.
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