Just the Way We Get By

I have spent the last however many weeks with mismatched flip flops. It’s not too obvious that I am wearing different shoes, but I can never forget because one shoe is more worn than the other. So my left foot always has a slightly more comfortable walk than the right. I brought them with me because when I was packing for Bali, I couldn’t for the life of me find a matching pair of flip flops in my house, and so far, I haven’t seen a need to buy a new pair since these different flip flops serve the same purpose as matching ones would.

A lot of Bali is mismatched and well worn. Like America, people use what they have, but unlike America, people keep using what they have and work around what they do not have. For example, the Untal Untal orphanage only has 2 cutting boards. One is wooden and about the size of a paperback book. Although it is thick, the wood has warped, but the cutting surface is still usable, and therefore, we use it. The other cutting board is plastic, a pastel mint green. We can only use one side of it though because the other side has been burnt or melted and dirtied. Because this cutting board has been warped as well and doesn’t lay flat on the table, it is important to place the board the right way and cut in the right spot. We use these two cutting boards to feed over 70 people 3 times a day.

In an American household, replacements would have been bought years ago and these items (and items like them) would have been thrown away for the sake of efficiency, quality, and ease. It is true; it is much easier and much more enjoyable to work with quality equipment. But the Balinese are not as spoiled as us Americans, and it seems to me that they work with what they have until it disintegrates. No one complains or talks about replacing the warped cutting boards, dull knives, our single ragged mop, or shortage of spoons. That is just the way life is, and the Balinese work with what they have.

This use-until-disintegrated habit can seem like a less wasteful, more responsible way to use resources, but it is not by choice, and given the opportunity, I think the Balinese would adopt consumerism enthusiastically. I work with what I have here, but my frugality is self-imposed. I could buy a new pair of shoes across the street for $2 if I wanted; I just don’t care enough to do so. The Balinese work with what they have because they cannot afford to have more, and if and when they can afford to do so, the Balinese will explore new found wealth and will adopt American-like consumerism just like they have with cell phones, Valentines Day, and Facebook.

In Bali, I am fine walking around for over two months with mismatched shoes because it’s just the way life is. But in America, I would have bought new shoes months ago, probably even before I realized I had a pair of mismatched sandals, probably before I noticed that the right foot was worn. I prefer to have nice, easily usable things, although I believe that our American consumerism is wasteful and irresponsible. (I am a walking, talking contradiction, but acknowledging I have a problem is the first step to solving it.) I think that it is important to find a balance between Balinese frugality and American consumerism which optimizes comfort and sustainability. I am already excited to embrace quality and flat cutting boards when I return to America, but while I am in Bali, I will work with what I have and continue to favor my right foot.