Fable newspaper or not? – part 18 (readers submission)

Although Piet was very anxious, he decided to stay in his own region after several visits to the coast, sand, sea and beach during the end of the year festivities.

His relationship with the tattoo man, who was very helpful to him with the return on the loan, has ended. They would have preferred a long-term agreement, but the supply has gradually become thinner with foreigners wanting to be 'helpful'. Piet also got the strong impression that this kind of 'helpfulness' has been taken over by people who are less concerned about what happens as long as it generates money. Well, Piet was able to profit from this lucrative service and the 'gentlemen' he had the appointment with paid him properly and removed him from the file. End of exercise.

I have received several invitations for this end of year festivities week during the beer in the region, which of course also resulted in some nice places to have a chat and have fun. Worse still, several ladies still see Piet as a 'handsome man', although he has already indicated several times in the evening circuit where 'ninety-nine times out of a hundred' is without Noy in most locations, that there is little room. Some ladies have figured out that game and switch from the one-time fun to a long-term 'contract' appointment, on offer of course. Call it a test, weekend or day to start, not too far away but just enough not to give the neighborhood any strange ideas.

Although Piet becomes very restless from these types of offers, he also understands that it is asking for trouble. The idea itself is very attractive, but with ladies who immediately know how to put you against the wall, it seems less fun. In addition, these types of offers are not really a labor of love, waste paper, no, it is of course about the money, and if possible, quite a few. No, Piet remains 'handsome men' at the special massage locations. Not that you can regularly draw the wrong number there, those ladies often have their moods with measured interest. But they can't do much with the name Piet and since Piet also lived close to the 'three-country point', well, you're actually Mister Nobody.

He once asked a massage lady why she took a photo of herself and Piet, to which an incomprehensible answer was given and Piet was of course a bit angry. No, half-truths and complete lies, Piet had also learned that trick, something that bothered many Thais, according to Piet. Whether you ask for directions, receive an explanation that raises your eyebrows after 15 seconds or whether you want to know life-threatening matters, it is difficult for a Thai to say, so it is in one or two one-liners. Piet regularly got a limp seed stalk from this, figuratively speaking, to put it bluntly. They called it ' Draaikonten ' in their home country.

Literally something that Piet regularly suffered from at nice times, a weak seed stalk. With Noy it was regularly a problem and the massage ladies were 'strange' so that worked out fine, but sometimes not. But it became increasingly clear what kind of twist he should put on it when a doubter emerged. Not that it was the biggest drama for the ladies, although Noy's suspicions rose vertically, and then you had to have your talk ready if you wanted to sleep peacefully with both your eyes closed. The massage ladies didn't really care, a bit of drama back and forth and terrified that the payment would go wrong, but it did. Piet was an honest man in that respect, it was agreed, and by the way you had to push through a handful of excited ladies and who knows what else in the way of help, he didn't see it as a solution for some change. The whole game of shower, massage could also be very pleasant, and must also be paid for.

He had once heard his Belgian neighbor say something about sidegra after a few beers on Friday. It was not a panacea, but the Belgian could live with it, he felt like a young god again, was the story. Here too, the many pharmacies were easy to find, something that Piet continued to be amazed by, the number of small middle-market shops in the same industry. First I made a list for purchasing various items that had run out or had already been played before. We ran out of antibacterial pills and some other things for aches and pains. ORS bags for much-needed additions on hot days. Various ointments. In that respect, Thailand was a paradise, something for which in the Netherlands you had to get on your knees at the doctor's office and was regularly publicly ridiculed in the pharmacy, but here people dismissed it as, yes, of course, sir. Your neighbors and girlfriend were a different story if they heard it.

So a day or so later, I looked for a pharmacy where they could not immediately pin him down on location and bought a package for the pleasant work, and a large bag of pills, powder and cream for the often trivial dissatisfaction of life and limb. As we get older, the ins and outs of wear and tear and aches and pains become more and more common. It is actually 'just' the product that is sold together with the idiotic many other products. The range is huge and the dubious businesses that were there regularly also offer many products from the bottom drawers of the counter.

Tina, was the expense of Kondome, which was humorous, when he was already an older man, but a clear hint that the neighborhood was listening had stayed with him.

To be continued.

Submitted by William Korat