Sunday is life...

The truth is I don't go to the market very often. When we do, I act as a carrier for my wife. I don't understand what to buy, how to choose, how to bargain.

On this visit, I moved away from my wife a little and tried to examine the market, the vendors, and the customers with the curiosity of a journalist.

Let me say at the beginning what I will say at the end, the market is truly life. It is right from life. It contains everything. You should not look at it as just buying what you need and leaving.

I looked at the areas marked with lines where vendors try to squeeze in and asked why. Since they pay a certain fee for each designated square, they do not spread out too much even if there is empty space. Although there are some who come forward, they say, "If the police come, we will pull them back." The aim is not to give the municipality another part of the 3 cents they earn. When you look at the police, on the one hand they are trying to maintain order, on the other hand they are trying to increase the municipality's income.

Very few of the market vendors are local vendors. They will sell the products from their own fields and gardens and continue to live for another week with the income they earn. Most of the market vendors have become professional vendors. They sell every day of the week in the markets they have determined in their provinces or districts. They act as intermediaries. They do not produce much of their own. They bring the goods they buy wholesale to the consumer in the market. This is of course a service, but there are those who compete with the markets in terms of price. I always advocate supporting local vendors. In fact, I am not in favor of bargaining with them. But unfortunately, there are those among them who see the market prices and enter the competition.

It is not as if the clever market vendors will not attract attention. Some try to round off the price by adding a little more product to the requested weight. Some try to sell another product by making it attractive. The main aim of the market vendor is to sell their product as soon as possible and finish it.

The consumer profile is very different. Some, like me, do not understand anything, want to get whatever they want from home and leave the market as soon as possible. Some wander the entire market from top to bottom; learn what is where and how much it costs, and make the purchase in the second round. Some try to bargain hard. Some, like me, carry the products bought by the person they are with. Some see it as socializing.

Some consumers prefer to buy from a marketer they already know. Of course, this is influenced by the fact that they have bought a good product at a good price in their previous purchases.

After all, whatever there is in life is available in the market.