A vegetable vendor was looking to sell-off his blighted cauliflowers on the pronto .He offered a price-cut and threatened to top-off the deal with his crooked smile. I was neither tempted, nor amused. I did feel a pang of vague sympathy for the poor,unlucky man, but it did not pinch me enough  to offer him a handout  by buying  his rotting veggies. I have never believed in raw vegetable deals.

My concern for the unlucky ones  never quite becomes strong enough to goad me into action .It never reaches  its critical mass.No affirmative action is thus ever performed .Goodness just creates ripples in my heart, before  material concerns take over, and that happens sooner than veggies starting to rot .No one ends up getting  any relief in this bargain .No one, but myself.And mine is a  very petty one at that .It is usually restricted to saving a few cheap bucks . Not that my bailout would not have helped much ,is how I console myself. It would not have changed his life after all. I might  have  offended his dignity by offering him a an undeserving exchange .There is no way this transaction would have been considered as fair by either of us . I would have bought his cauliflowers out of charity and he would have understood  . His pride would have been hurt. My vanity would have soared.

A proud ,honest man selling his goods is not on the lookout for anyone’s  sympathy.All he needs is  free and fair market , and the opportunity to ply his trade .Some consumer will consider the bargain fair and buy it.That is all there is to commerce and charity. Satisfied ,fortified I wished the thought of unrequited charity away  and  bade him a silent goodbye.

He flashed his crooked smile and walked past me. Perhaps he took me for a miser.More likely, he appreciated my judgement on his cauliflowers.