another thing I love about this country...

Anything can be fixed or repaired.
I really do mean anything. As an American, when something breaks, my first response is to throw it away and buy a new one. My motivation isn't because I like being wasteful, but because there isn't an option to repair most things and if there is, it's often more expensive than getting a new one.
Yesterday I had the blinds in my bedroom repaired. For less than $5. One of the strings broke at the top so they were all hanging crooked and couldn't be pulled up or down. I called Tracy to go with me to buy some new ones. On the way there she asked me why I don't just get them fixed. I really didn't think it would be possible to replace that string so we went to a few places. I realized quickly buying new ones was more than I thought....all of them have to be custom measured and installed. But the lady at the shop asked what was wrong with mine and after I told her....she gave me the phone number to a repairman. It saved me about $40.
As we were on our way home I was trying to explain to Tracy about this cultural difference...we as American being affluent and at times, wasteful, so our first response is to buy a new whatever and how we don't typically even think if something can be fixed. I tried to affirm how much I appreciate that they re-use things here, but she said they only have to fix things all the time because the quality of everything here is so poor. This factor is definitely part of it. The highest quality items are shipped to countries like ours and those that don't make the "export quality" cut stay here. But even still, there are things here that can be repaired for so little and I really think all the repairmen here are very skilled individuals.

Some other examples...
Bikes. You rarely replace bike tires or tubes or brakes or anything really. The old men who sit on the side of the road and repair bikes can almost always repair the tube or tire or rim or whatever isn't at its optimum performance. If you want a new one you have to do some pretty serious convincing.

Jeans. There are some ladies who sit outside on the main strip who must be the most skilled menders in the world. When your jeans get a hole, you take them to the ladies. When you get them back, it looks like the hole was never there. They don't just sew up the hole, they actually re-stitch the tread of the clothing so that you can't even see where the hole. It's amazing. And even more amazing when they sit there and do it without gloves on in the winter when it's -20.
digital cameras. I had two fixed. That guy actually made me angry because he charged me the foreigner price and not what the price should have been, but still, it was way less expensive to repair two cameras than to buy a new one.

Shoes. There are also old men who set up shoe shine/repair shops on the side of the road. My "shop" I mean they have a trunk with their supplies, a stool for themselves and a stool and a pair of slippers for the customer. I think one pair of shoes could almost last the rest of your life here. They can just keep repairing the sole over and over. These guys can also sew up your luggage when the airlines in Vietnam rip it up. I need to visit one of these guys today to sew a couple of straps back on a bag for me. (The one I was wearing when I got hit by the bus still hasn't been fixed).

I was riding my bike to work yesterday looking for a shoe guy but because it was still nap time no one was out. But, I saw a guy with a sign that said "Furniture Repair." I'm just trying to reiterate my point that ANYTHING can me fixed. It's a great thing.
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