I notice with apprehension that the most basic items in the shopping basket at #venezuela , apart from vegetables and a handful of other little things, are costing Bs. 1000.00 or Bs. 1200.00.
I ask a barber on the Boulevard de Sabana Grande how much he charges for a street haircut, and he tells me Bs.7900.00. So I ask him if that was ~8$ , and he curtly replies that he isn’t charging in foreign currency, he’s charging in sovereign bolivars. For a moment, I thought he was going to pull out his PSUV membership card and stick it to my forehead.
I tell him, “That’s fine, sir. It’s just that I happen to have 8$ in small bills”—I take them out and show him—“but if you only take bolivars, I’d better go to another barber who’ll accept my $8.” His expression underwent a poetic transformation when he saw me leave.
I mention this because bank fees on checking accounts are adding up to a significant financial cost—not something marginal when you add it up month after month—and we really need to look for P2P payment alternatives that don’t use bolivars as a bridge.
I ask a barber on the Boulevard de Sabana Grande how much he charges for a street haircut, and he tells me Bs.7900.00. So I ask him if that was ~8$ , and he curtly replies that he isn’t charging in foreign currency, he’s charging in sovereign bolivars. For a moment, I thought he was going to pull out his PSUV membership card and stick it to my forehead.
I tell him, “That’s fine, sir. It’s just that I happen to have 8$ in small bills”—I take them out and show him—“but if you only take bolivars, I’d better go to another barber who’ll accept my $8.” His expression underwent a poetic transformation when he saw me leave.
I mention this because bank fees on checking accounts are adding up to a significant financial cost—not something marginal when you add it up month after month—and we really need to look for P2P payment alternatives that don’t use bolivars as a bridge.