"
Do you have a flashlight?" some friends asked when leaving my apartment one night last year (I live on the third floor, with no lift and a stairwell that, back then, had no lights.) Not having a flashlight in Yangon is like a Burmese man not owning a longyi. Everyone has one (I have two but one has no bulb.) So.... "
Yes" I replied. "
Just take it and leave it downstairs.
I'll get it tomorrow" But they had a better idea. They would attach it to '
the rope' so that I could pull it up from my balcony. And so that was the first (and last) time I used my
rope-pull-up-thing!!! Actually, it's not mine, it's someone else's and people often ask me why I don't get one. But why would I when I can just use the neighbours'? In fact, my neighbours use it several times a day, as do many other Yangon residents I'm sure. After all, why would you walk down four flights of stairs, and back up again, with a 100m walk to the market or shops in between, when someone (anyone) can come to the ground floor, attach your shopping to the clip or the tube, holler (or ring the bell. Yes, some ropes have bells attached) and.......... Oh, here's the hard part; you'll need to get off the sofa and pull the rope up to receive your goods. But let's face it, this method of shopping takes a lot less effort than actually going out to buy the stuff yourself. It's almost like an online delivery service, without having to go online. Maybe there are actual jobs for people who bring things to '
the ropes'. One minor problem, only relevant if you live in a dodgy area (do these exist in Yangon?): If your neighbours below are evil enough, they may swipe your goods as you pull them up (or they may pull them up themselves before you see them arrive)...... But we all know that honesty is such here that this is almost guaranteed to never happen.
Here's a selection of things I've seen
going up.....
 |
| Milk. Sometimes it hangs there in the sun for an hour before.... |
 |
.... it gets pulled up. Warm milk straight to your balcony.
|
 |
| Watermelon and..... |
 |
| BREAD!! This was hanging there all night . It was for the taking...... |
 |
| A newspaper. Must be a free one as I never see money going down. |
The other day, I saw one banana going up. Not one
bunch, one
banana!!! Most things go up in the mornings when the sellers roam the streets. Beans, samosas, flowers, vegetables, books, you name it.... I've often considered using
the rope as a fire escape as I have no keys for my actual emergency exit. But the two thin pieces of rope simply knotted together don't fill me with confidence. In a real emergency, it would be my only option and I would possibly be the first thing to be seen going
down the rope. Or more likely, breaking
the rope and falling to my death on the concrete below! But I think stronger ropes do need to be introduced so that things like gas bottles and the 20 litre water bottles can also be sent up. Only problem is, you might need three or four people to pull it up then.
So next time you need some watermelon or some bread, just shout to a passer-by from your balcony and ask them to pick it up for you. You may never have to leave your apartment again!!!
