Mel and I were hanging at a local outdoor bar on the river tonight. The bartender, Fluke, started talking to us a bit. Fluke and I became friends last week and had a few good conversations. He started giving us some bartender philosophy that made a great deal of sense. He asked “Where are you two going after Pai?” We told him we were heading south to a place called the Sanctuary that has meditation and yoga as part of the resort. Fluke responded, “If you can touch your toes you don’t need yoga, and I grew up Buddhist, I have been doing mediation since I was a kid, you don’t need to meditate if you are happy. Meditation is just clearing your mind, if you are happy, no mediation needed”. He went on to tell us he used to work in Bangkok making 35,000 Baht ($1060 bucks roughly) a month and now he works in Pai earning 6,000 Baht ($200) a month. “My friends all asked me why do I give up my job because they all wanted to make that much money. I would drive an hour to work, an hour home, then I would come home, eat dinner, watch TV, and start it all over again, every day. Now I open the bar when I wake up, I close the bar when I get tired, and my friends who told me I was crazy to leave my job, and now they come visit, and after they leave they ask me if there are any jobs for them.”
This video is at the Riverside Tiki Bar with Fluke and a few travelers. I loved this night.. I’m still learning…….& searching…..for truth.
