Trust on side of the country road

Darren Wright

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My wife and I decided to take a drive in the country today and go check out some areas south of us. Driving down one back road we came across this road side veggie stand.

veggie_stand.jpg veggie_stand2.jpg

I actually haven't seen that kind of trust in a long time. The dairy we used to use growing up did similar. They had a cooler in a small shed where you stopped and grabbed your milk from and a small bucket to drop your change into ($.50), could even make your own change if there was coins in the bucket. Years later I saw an article about the dairy. They asked him about if he ever got robbed. The farmer had said "Probably, but they probably needed the money or milk more than he did".
 
Quite common around here as well.

Doors usually unlocked all the time and keys are always in our cars.

We got a real good chuckle a while back. When we go to the village market for a coffee or a newspaper we always leave the car running. especially in the winter. We parked next to a fellow who before got out of his car put that locking bar on his steering wheel rolled up the windows and locked the doors. My wife and I looked at each other and said "gotta be from New York" We were wrong, he was from New Jersey :rofl:
 
We had a stand here in town like that... they guy would open up and leave... once I went in and there was a note, "gone to Florida, be back Tuesday" he had his prices marked and a box with change for his customers... hated to see him have to close down... they built an office building on his site.
 
a simpler time

When I moved to the city I couldn't even find a key to the door of the home I was leaving. Had to tote spare truck keys for months too, I learned to lock my doors long before I learned to take a key out of the ignition!

Back in the "good ol' days" A friend about ten miles up the road called me at two in the morning, his wife was in labor and he had a flat tire. Proof Murphy was at play, I had a flat tire too! I walked about a mile to a friend's house, banged on the front bedroom window that belonged to his younger sister and said I was taking Man's van. "OK Baby" a very sleepy voice said. The key was in the van as always and I made the trip further out in the country and then off to the city in plenty of time, D's first baby. That evening or the next day I brought the van back. Nobody knew where it had been or who took it since an older married sister had been spending the night and she was the one I woke up and she promptly forgot I had been there. Never even remembered being woke up. No problem though, they hadn't called the law. They figured whoever took the van would bring it back eventually!

Hu
 
I have come across this type of stand twice in my life. Once was in SA back in early 80's took a road trip on my bike with a buddy on his. Way up north of Johannesburg in the country we come across this sign..

"Iets vir die oog iets vir die maag help U self asseblief"

hope my Afrikaans spelling is still up to scratch :)

Translated it says .....Something for the eyes and something for the stomach, help yourself please.
There was a box for money and loads of fresh produce...especially really good oranges which the area was known for.

Then few years back we leaving Prince Edward Island out east and it was potatoe harvest time...(boy if u aint had a PEI tatoe fresh no cold storage nonsense yoi aint lived :) ) .
So i ate as many as i could while there but leaving i said to Linda...I am loading up. But i wanted to buy off a farm.....kept on passing stalls but some or other traffic situation did not allow for stopping in a hurry with a luggage trailer behind.
So i am getting antsy and not too far before the huge confederation bridge we see this stand and pull over and its a honesty stand. Price for these tatoes was so darn cheap you felt guilty paying the asking price. He made a point of the fact that they were fresh out the ground each day. Loaded up.:)

Its would be interesting to see results of a survey of these stalls as to how they perform on cash in box versus asking and stock missing.
My bet is better than we might think. I like to believe we humans aint as bad as we get led to believe if we were this world would be uninhabitable.:)

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When I started teaching there was a stand like that on the way home. We would stop and usually not make change, just throw in say $3.00 and try to get as close to that as possible in veggies. Saw the man once and asked him about being robbed, don't remember that part of the answer but he did say, "as a rule, I make more than I charge based on what I set out, what is missing and what is in the til". So others must have been like me, just get as close without going over the money given.
 
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