Beer deal and free dried mangoes during American chaos

Last Updated on June 7, 2023 by Ellen

Dear readers,

I don’t feel like writing much today.

Events back home blare at me. Donald Trump’s team encourages violence. His followers hear ‘patriots’ and ‘freedom’ and other nonsense.

Newsflash: it’s not about right or left.

It’s about the haves protecting their phony status from disappearing into a more equitable, systemic distribution of wealth and health to the have nots.

The question is not whether you are Democrat or Republican.

The question is: who controls the wealth?

The answer is: follow the money – and natural resources.

Beer deal and free dried mangoes

Time for a content swing. Like a mood swing. Because I feel a bit moody.

Some photos show what it’s like to be an early retired budget traveler on a mini-vacation visit to Boracay Island in the Philippines during a pandemic, with a soul who tries to make the best of it: my husband, Tedly.

Beer deal

We went to a grocery store to pick up supplies for our visit. Tedly found a good deal on cans of beer.

Since we are in a pandemic, and things sometimes are not restocked, he decided to buy all 10 cans on the shelf: 500 mililiters (16.9 ounces) for 68 pesos ($1.40 at today’s exchange rate).

That’s a good deal in these parts.

But Tedly couldn’t reach the top-shelf beer deal. So he removed the barrier and gently took them down on his tippy-toes.

Then he used the barrier to slide the back row cans to the front.

And then, the staff came to assist him – to reattach what he had disassembled to get what he wanted.

We kept shopping. If you really know Tedly, you know he loves a good deal. So JACKPOT when he saw this sign:

The store offered 100 grams of free dried mangoes with a 1,000 peso purchase ($20.62).

Well, with all of that beer and our other needed supplies for our mini-vacation visit, we would easily pass that mark.

We finished shopping and got to checkout. We thought we were approaching 2,000 pesos for a larger back of free mangoes – 200 grams. Would we make it?

So close! We were 11 pesos short, and so Tedly disappeared to pick a packet of gum that put us over the 2,000 mark. Yes!

We could get a free 200-gram back of sweet, locally produced, chewy, delicious dried mangoes.

Groceries put away, we wandered down to the beach, and talked, and swam, and had front row seats to what, for me, was one of the best sunsets of 2020.