They are stealing the soap. I'm not sure who "they" are, but "they" are certainly stealing soap. It's sitting by the sink when I come into the ward and gone when rounds are finished. I don't like it disappearing right under my nose like that. It's like teaching high school sometimes. Nobody is talking, but everybody knows who's doing it.
Why soap? Of all the things in the world that could be considered a commodity, I'd never placed soap among them. Food, yes. Water, yes. Clothing, yes. Ahh. Now I see. You have to have the soap to wash the pots and pans to make the food. And the clothing gets washed with the soap, too. I'm starting to understand. But the hands? Do you wash the hands with the soap? No? Okay. I must have been confused by my first world priorities. I apologize.
Now I see why the soap is disappearing at the beginning of the day. Laundry gets done in the morning so it can hang to dry in the sun. A bar of soap costs about 5 SSP (South Sudanese Pounds) in the market, that's around $1.50 for people who make very little. Our nurses make about $200 a month. Imagine what less educated day laborers make. That's not even considering that most working people have at least a few dependents to support in addition to themselves. That's a lot of soap!
I'm slowly starting to understand things from a different viewpoint. Yes. They are stealing the soap, but I can see why. Actually, I'm surprised that they aren't stealing anything that isn't nailed down. Instead, soap is the prize.
I'm okay with that. As long as they wash their hands, too.
Why soap? Of all the things in the world that could be considered a commodity, I'd never placed soap among them. Food, yes. Water, yes. Clothing, yes. Ahh. Now I see. You have to have the soap to wash the pots and pans to make the food. And the clothing gets washed with the soap, too. I'm starting to understand. But the hands? Do you wash the hands with the soap? No? Okay. I must have been confused by my first world priorities. I apologize.
Now I see why the soap is disappearing at the beginning of the day. Laundry gets done in the morning so it can hang to dry in the sun. A bar of soap costs about 5 SSP (South Sudanese Pounds) in the market, that's around $1.50 for people who make very little. Our nurses make about $200 a month. Imagine what less educated day laborers make. That's not even considering that most working people have at least a few dependents to support in addition to themselves. That's a lot of soap!
I'm slowly starting to understand things from a different viewpoint. Yes. They are stealing the soap, but I can see why. Actually, I'm surprised that they aren't stealing anything that isn't nailed down. Instead, soap is the prize.
I'm okay with that. As long as they wash their hands, too.
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