Payday in Sri Lanka

This is a sad story, but unfortunately, a very common one. Wages are very low in Sri Lanka. Jobs are of the low income variety with much of the economy based on farming. In this particular area it was farming of tea leaves. But this story is common throughout the world regardless of the profession. It just seems more predominant in the lower income areas where there is little hope.

I was on a Sri Lanka adventure. I hired a driver to take me into the heart of the country. At the time you could hire a driver and a car for the entire day in the $40 range. The driver would take you to a hotel where you could stay in the hotel, and the driver was given separate complimentary accommodations by the hotel to share with other drivers. It was a good deal for the hotel as well because the drivers brought them business they wouldn’t otherwise have. So the drivers had free basic accommodations that they shared with other drivers.

But their daily wages had to be extremely small. Because out of that $40 per day, they paid for the gas and the maintenance of the vehicles. I really have no idea how they could possibly be any money left over after that.

Regardless onto the story at hand:

During the drive through one of the villages I encountered this scene:

Masses of Sri Lankan men lined up at a kiosk. Curious, I asked the driver to stop as I wanted to photograph this odd event. I exited the car and began taking pictures.

I asked the driver what they were doing and he said (in his broken English way) they had just received their pay for working in the tea fields and they were there to buy some liquor. This seemed quite astonishing to me.

But then the driver escorted me through the crowd to the front. I didn’t know what he was doing it for, but I assumed he was trying to get me in position for a better photo op. I followed him as he yelled to the crowd that an American was coming through. For whatever reason, they parted and the vendor motioned me forward, I found the whole event quite embarrassing, but I followed his lead.

I then realized the driver and vendor thought I was there to buy liquor. I think they waved me through because it was assumed I might spend some bigger money on their top end booze (if that even existed there). I shook my head no and the vendor politely dismissed me and returned to the chaos.

And it was chaos! All these workers shouting and holding their money as if they were on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange! It was pure madness! I never saw so many people so eager to get drunk.

Unfortunately, this is the life of many in these areas of the world where little hope exists for improved lives. It’s pretty much booze, smoke, and lottery tickets as a means of temporary escape. So much of their small earnings wasted on a moment’s relief.

I left them to their devices, but that moment always stuck with me. Another travel story I would just as soon forget

A Capital Moment

I have flown into Washington DC’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) countless times. It is a common route for my Florida to Maine journeys to visit my 92 year old mother. I usually fly American Airlines and this, along with Charlotte, are my most common layover airports.

But as many times as I have flown near the White House, I still look like a tourist to all who see me. I have that window open (if I have a window seat), and I’m just a clicking away. Others who see me must think it is my first time doing a flyover. But I don’t care. Let me look like a rookie flyer. I always get a special feeling seeing our Capital building from the sky and looking down upon the Washington Memorial.

I’ve only actually visited the city one time as a tourist and I did all the usual sites. Perhaps the Holocaust museum had the deepest impact. But, you can’t visit this great city without leaving with a sense of national pride. Especially after a visit to Arlington Cemetery.

I’ve never flown into Ronald Reagan airport without a great view of the White House. It seems I’m always on the right side of the plane every time. And I always feel that same sense of national pride knowing we live in the greatest country on earth, despite what the haters say. But you know the haters don’t want to live anywhere else either. They just want to complain. Hating is what haters do!

The airport is located 5 miles from downtown. It first opened in 1941 under the name Washington National Airport. But, in 1988 congress approved the Ronald Reagan name (a Republican) and was signed into effect by Bill Clinton (a Democrat!). Ah…back when politics was not as partisan as today!

DCA is not one of my favorite airports. It seems to always be heavily congested with airline traffic and delays seem commonplace. From the delay data I saw from one report, they have delayed flight’s slightly more than 20% of the time. That’s a little higher than the average for major airports in the USA but much better than Newark’s 30%!

Regardless of the delays, I still enjoy flying through Washington just for the view of our Capital city each time. I’m not sure if others on the flight enjoy that moment of patriotism or not, but I judge they don’t as I seem to be the only one snapping all the shots!

Progress Vs Traditions

Years ago I used to like to travel to Carthage, Maine and join in the festivities at the Skye Theater. This was just a renovated building in the mountainous woods in the country. It was first opened in 2004 but closed just ten years later.

Countryside of the theater.

As you can see, the theater is nothing to look at, it's just an old country building that many locals poured their sweat into to renovate into a theater to accommodate Celtic and folk music talent from the broad area.

The inside of the theater looked much better than the outside with the wooden walls and the acoustic design. Really great Maine workmanship at its best!

The chairs were quite basic but padded. They were comfortable enough. Expectations shouldn't be too great at ticket prices being contained in the $15 -$20 range. A range accommodating for lower income families who may attend these events.

What was really cool about these events is that many local wannabe talents would gather before the show and just jam together in a special room to the side. This made for a great community event, and added to the overall mystique of the place.

The stage was of a decent size and even had elevated areas where they could put on their shows. You can see the well-placed speakers, which made it easy to hear everything that was going on.

I attended the events here may be a half a dozen times or more. I always enjoyed the talent they brought there, even though I had never heard of most of the bands that frequented this place. I just enjoyed the energy and enthusiasm of the crowd that synergized with the performers

Really this place was unique to Maine. It was owned and operated by a man named Phill McIntyre.

I remember attending the last couple of events there in 2014. Phill had announced before each performance that he was closing that year but he didn't say why. It was quite mysterious to me anyway why he'd be closing this after just 10 years when it seemed to be doing so well. Obviously, he was very enthusiastic about the program.

He said that he would be continuing to bring this talent in, but they would be performing in local venues like church buildings and such, rather than at the Skye theater.

It wasn't until a year or so later that I realize what was happening. He had sold or leased that mountainous land to developers who would install these large wind turbines to generate electricity. These things are giant eyesores in Maine in my opinion.

This is what replaced Skye Theater on that mountain.

I know now why he didn't say why he was closing it down because it certainly seemed like a sellout to many. Cashing in on the profit of his land at the partial expense of the community who helped him build that theater. But that's just a personal opinion on my part.

Obviously people can do whatever they want with their land. Selling it or leasing it for a profit is capitalism at its best and I certainly don't discourage it. It just makes me a bit disappointed to see progress at the expense of traditions such as local folk talent.

This may seem like a knock on Phill McIntyre, and those associated with the decision to close it down to profit from renewable energy, but I really have no right to take that position. There's really no one to blame here, it's just the natural progression of things I guess.