Rise and Shine

While walking down Dong Khoi in search of some new reading material I was approached by a small boy carrying a brush and a bottle of bootblack.

"Shoe shine, mister?"

Usually I just ignore them, but my one good pair of shoes was looking rather scuffed so I sat down on a bench and had him get to work. His English was pretty good.

"I shine shoes very well - and cheap."

I was skeptical "Really?"

"Oh yeah, five dollars American. In Caravelle Hotel, cost ten dollars".

No shit. Hard to imagine that a shoeshine on the pavement only costs half as much as in the country's most expensive hotel. Needless to say, I wasn't going to pay him five dollars.

At this point two little girls carrying packets of postcards appeared out of the mist. Once again I usually give such types the cold shoulder, but again I was held captive and I did need some postcards, so I got one. The other little girl was put off. "You buy from her and not me? That's not fair!"

You have to admire someone selling postcards on the street at the age of 8 who still has a sense of justice.