http://www.the9to5alternative.com/blog/my-first-bribe renaissance living, one micro-goal at a time Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:34:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.the9to5alternative.com/blog/my-first-bribe/comment-page-1#comment-1332 February Survey Assignment: U.S. and North Africa | the 9 to 5 alternative Wed, 20 Jan 2010 05:17:25 +0000 http://www.the9to5alternative.com/?p=316#comment-1332 [...] I’ll be traveling back to survey-land. Back to a world of bribes and border crossings, Embassy escapades and interesting transits. A world of pseudo-espionage, where [...] [...] I’ll be traveling back to survey-land. Back to a world of bribes and border crossings, Embassy escapades and interesting transits. A world of pseudo-espionage, where [...]

]]> http://www.the9to5alternative.com/blog/my-first-bribe/comment-page-1#comment-1301 2009 Quarter 4 Update: A Year In Review | the 9 to 5 alternative Tue, 12 Jan 2010 03:57:44 +0000 http://www.the9to5alternative.com/?p=316#comment-1301 [...] My first bribe in Ibadan, Nigeria – Pringles, Red Bull and yogurt [...] [...] My first bribe in Ibadan, Nigeria – Pringles, Red Bull and yogurt [...]

]]> http://www.the9to5alternative.com/blog/my-first-bribe/comment-page-1#comment-800 Astana, Kazakhstan: First Snow, Bayterek, and an Embassy Escapade | the 9 to 5 alternative Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:26:23 +0000 http://www.the9to5alternative.com/?p=316#comment-800 [...] Wrong. To make a long story short, the bureaucratic-blackhole-process took most of the day. The Embassy visa official, or Mr. Stick-In-The-Butt as I’d like to call him, was not the most gregarious of characters. Not only did he (purposefully?) withhold information from us, but somehow the price of the visa went from 8,000 KTZ (around $50) before lunch to 48,000 KZT ($320) after lunch. At one point I thought about a bribe, but the translator didn’t think it would have been a good idea. Hey, it worked in Nigeria! [...] [...] Wrong. To make a long story short, the bureaucratic-blackhole-process took most of the day. The Embassy visa official, or Mr. Stick-In-The-Butt as I’d like to call him, was not the most gregarious of characters. Not only did he (purposefully?) withhold information from us, but somehow the price of the visa went from 8,000 KTZ (around $50) before lunch to 48,000 KZT ($320) after lunch. At one point I thought about a bribe, but the translator didn’t think it would have been a good idea. Hey, it worked in Nigeria! [...]

]]> http://www.the9to5alternative.com/blog/my-first-bribe/comment-page-1#comment-76 Zack Thu, 19 Feb 2009 04:12:06 +0000 http://www.the9to5alternative.com/?p=316#comment-76 Okay, I hate to be that guy, especially since I was that guy about your iced latte in Abuja, but I would not consider that a bribe. I think it is a tip. I am not trying to be funny, but we don't say that we bribed our taxi driver for getting us to the airport on time. The way I see it, you wanted to walk around a small grocery store for a long time and write down prices without any intention of contributing to the owner's bottom line. You were asking him to open himself to you without recompense: you were asking him to perform a service for you. It might seem like I'm stretching the line, but I don't think that's true; you asked him to do something before you above and beyond the normal duty of a store owner, and he did. In America, we tip for all sorts of (shitty) service. Now, the owner/employees may have gone about their tip asking in a pretty obnoxious, non-subtle way. Their method may have been obtuse, but I see it more as a market transaction than anything else. Think of it more like your lunch with that "rebel fighter" in Kenya and not as "African corruption." Also, how much is vodka there? In Cameroon, I literally bought vodka in slurpable packets, and there was plenty of the cheap stuff too. Okay, I hate to be that guy, especially since I was that guy about your iced latte in Abuja, but I would not consider that a bribe. I think it is a tip.
I am not trying to be funny, but we don’t say that we bribed our taxi driver for getting us to the airport on time. The way I see it, you wanted to walk around a small grocery store for a long time and write down prices without any intention of contributing to the owner’s bottom line. You were asking him to open himself to you without recompense: you were asking him to perform a service for you. It might seem like I’m stretching the line, but I don’t think that’s true; you asked him to do something before you above and beyond the normal duty of a store owner, and he did. In America, we tip for all sorts of (shitty) service.
Now, the owner/employees may have gone about their tip asking in a pretty obnoxious, non-subtle way. Their method may have been obtuse, but I see it more as a market transaction than anything else. Think of it more like your lunch with that “rebel fighter” in Kenya and not as “African corruption.”
Also, how much is vodka there? In Cameroon, I literally bought vodka in slurpable packets, and there was plenty of the cheap stuff too.

]]> http://www.the9to5alternative.com/blog/my-first-bribe/comment-page-1#comment-74 M. Chazin Wed, 18 Feb 2009 20:36:44 +0000 http://www.the9to5alternative.com/?p=316#comment-74 My first bribe was $20 to a cop in Vegas...I'm not going to say for what. My first bribe was $20 to a cop in Vegas…I’m not going to say for what.

]]>