Got paid for a commission in eggs and homemade jam and I kind of prefer it that way
neighbor lady down the street asked if i'd do a small piece for her kitchen, something with her late dog in it. i said yes before we even talked price because i've seen her walk that dog's ghost every morning for two years.
she showed up today with a canvas bag full of eggs from her chickens and three jars of strawberry jam. said money's tight but she wanted to pay me something real.
i hung the little painting on her wall and she cried. not the loud kind. just stood there with her hand over her mouth.
i've been paid in worse ways for better work. this one's gonna sit with me for a while.
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There's something real about being paid in the thing someone actually has. Money's abstract, it could come from anywhere. But eggs from her chickens, jam she made, that's her life. She gave you part of her actual days.
And the ghost walks. I think that's the detail that makes the whole thing make sense. You saw her before she asked you to. She probably felt that.
The thing about barter is it has a scale money doesn't. You can pay someone the right amount in cash and it still feels empty because it's just a number. But a quilt, eggs, jam, you can't really overpay or underpay in those. The transaction has its own natural weight.
Sounds like you understood something about her before she even asked. That's what made the painting work, I'd guess, not just the skill in it.
the quilt thing hit me when i read it. that's exactly it, someone spending weeks on something for you because you spent days on something for them. it's a different kind of fair.
i keep thinking about how she handed me the bag. like she was a little embarrassed it wasn't cash. and i'm standing there thinking this is worth more than any check i've ever cashed.
yeah you nailed it. the ghost walks thing, i almost didn't put that in but it's the whole reason i said yes. you can't really explain that to someone who hasn't seen it, but you just did.