Thirsty injured innocence
We were travelling in the land which is considered to be not a poor one by all possible statistical data, for instance, human development index.
Yet, statistical data differs from common sense. The country, as a human, could be rich in all its sense and yet stay poor, because the richness is built on the poverty, be it real or metaphorical.
Being poor would not only mean not to have money or shelter. It could mean not to have information or knowledge. We all were poor at a certain moment. We are still poor. I feel it is important not to be afraid of that and admit: we are not the same, but equal in missing out on something, what could be intuitively felt. It could be even perceived if honestly admitted.
Short story, drinking the water
We drink water, some of us drink it clean on a regular basis. Some of us not. Some of us forget or prefer to forget that we have to drink fresh water.
In the land of Western Europe, to narrow down, the Benelux countries, there is no real shortage of water. Moreover, people have all the possibilities to create alternatives for the water to become a drinking one. There is even a map of free drinking water in Brussels, I believe it is not the only place in Benelux.
The story about drinking water for free
I am physically present on the Earth for about 30 years. I travelled over 30 countries. And only my last three years in the land of Benelux my thirsty innocence of free drinking water was continuously injured. One story touches a place, namely a restaurant, where I was a client. After making an order, I asked for a glass of tap water, on what I received a reply: “No, we don’t serve tap water”. It seemed to me a legitimate and still absurd situation, because they served for free a digestif, which costs more than a drinking bottled water. After a small discussion with a waiter, he could not carry on and invited a … manager. The manager explained: if you want to drink free water, go to the toilet and drink your water from the tap.
-What if I were just a bypasser, could I use your toilet?
-No.
-What if I were just a bypasser, asked for a glass of tap water, would I get it?
-Yes, it is a law here.
-So, if I am your client, I can not have a glass of tap water?
-It is a service, for that you have to pay.
We did not reach a common conclusion, however, I got a free glass of tap water instead of limoncello or any other offered free digestif.
Since then it became a game for me. I would sometimes play by entering cafes and asking for tap water, sometimes with reusable bottle. This game became a continuous failure here, in Benelux. I never got a free tap water unlike other countries I travelled through and people in service I met.
The end of this game has recently come into place. In the land, where the innovations of living with water is a high-notch level. It was really hot and we had no water for about 3 hours, we were walking a lot, there was no any drinking tap nearby and well, it was Sunday and shops in this particular place did not work. I dropped by one cafe, where seemingly the owner was talking to the client, he had a look at me with a question-mark eyebrow. I asked, showing an empty bottle of about 500 ml:
-Could I have some tap water, please?
-If you buy a coffee, yes.
My whole being got immediately triggered, in front of my eyes I saw people just dying of no clean accessible water and people who so easily afford throwing phrases like that blossoming on the sufferings of the dead.
-Is that a law in here?
-No.
I turned away with a sigh, empty bottle and anger. Since then I do not play this game of asking for a free tap water when I need it. Something got broken, I have no power to discuss or object. But I acquired something else, much more precious than a desire to educate is to see beyond.
Injured innocence story
I held the feeling of anger while walking away. I observed this outrage. I still do. There is nothing else but us to see beyond and understand why the person wanted me to buy a coffee. Why does this person so much need us to exchange, me, giving him some money and him giving me some coffee? Maybe, it is about keeping his business belief alive, maybe, is about standing by his grounds of not letting the strangers to misuse his own space, be it physical or metaphorical, maybe …
The realisation so far is I can not involve each met experience in this game. Every experience got the story. Maybe it be not exclusively somebody’s OWN story, we still do have shared experiences yet not alike.
Perhaps, there is still something wrong that the basics is not accessible to everyone and the basics definition may differ, but should definitely include fresh water.
Something what seemed to me so much a matter of life turned out to be a matter of absurd death, from my metaphorical self, at the very least, relative.
Photo by Akira Hojo on Unsplash
