Fishy

Every other month or so, I stop by Kimia pharmacy to buy a couple strips of methylprednisolone, a steroid that treats inflammation in MS. The price is 18,000 Rupiah per strip—for those who know. There’s no telling what it might be for those who don’t. 

So, I stop by the new Kimia on Jl Buyon this morning, taking an empty strip with me. I want these, I say. The woman brings out an unfamiliar looking box and takes out a strip.

"How much is that?” I ask.

“Seratus ribu.”

“Hah? One hundred thousand? It’s 18 thousand for the one I just showed you. How can this be?”

“I don’t know,” she says. Then she brings out a second box, pulls out a second strip.

“How much for this one? I ask.

“Eighteen thousand.”

Sheesh.

I noted this incident on a Facebook post, and soon received a reply from an Indonesian friend. 

Ha-ha. Be patient Om (uncle). Maybe she make very expensive coz of you are bule.

Bingo! 

Of course. It happens all the time. I was once walking with my wife up near sunrise beach, from which a  lot of the tour boats launch for the outlying islands. She asked a guide for the price of a particular tour. 

"For you or for him?' the man wanted to know. 

"Well, what's the difference?" 

"For you one price, for him more."

Just imagine this scenario in a western country. The price? Oh, well, the white price is the usual, the brown, black or yellow price is more. 

Right?

Well, the locals excuse this 'inequality' on the grounds of two considerations: 1) You are on their turf and they are providing what you came here to enjoy, therefore they determine the price, and 2) All westerners are loaded with money anyway and it really makes no matter to them how much they spend. 

It is true as well that many short-stay tourists are fairly foggy on the value of Rupiah as opposed to whatever currency they typically use, and so it concluded that 3) What they don't know, won't hurt 'em. 

It is well known also that westerners, and Australians in particular, will pay any price whatsoever for beer. And it is believed that the beer in an upscale establishment, as opposed to the beer in a bar, although the same beer, is far more delicious, and therefore far more valuable and deserving of an inflated price. 

In general, this pattern of local cupidity is mitigated according to the extent to which the foreigner is able to speak Indonesian. But in the case of the Kimia employee, who is perhaps striving for a management position, it appears it was felt that there was nothing to lose in trying.