We are getting a puppy soon as I've mentioned. He will grow into, among other things, a guard dog. So we need to have a fence installed. The most affordable way to install a fence is to use firewood logs, coat the bottom foot in used engine oil (to avoid rotting) and then put them in the ground and run wire between them. It isn't a picket fence, but it's also not entirely ugly.
If I were to do the work myself, the fence would not come out very good, and since labor is very inexpensive here, I looked up a man with a good reputation and hired him to do the work.
Hiring a Papua New Guinean is always a tricky ordeal because in their culture the boss man, has certain responsibilities. If his children get hurt during the course of the work, regardless of where they get hurt, or why, he will come to me for help. I am his caretaker, I look after him. This is true to a certain extent.
So employing is a responsibility, but then there is the "what price is fair?" and "am I getting suckered?" question that makes you wonder.
I explained the fence to him, bought all the materials and asked him to quote me a price. He quoted me a REALLY REALLY high price.
I was surprised, in my head I had a number I wasn't willing to go passed, and this price was double that.
Knowing that in this culture you do NOT haggle. They say a price, you can ask for a number two price, and that's it. AT least not over FOOD. You can slightly haggle over other things.
So I asked him to come down a bit, and he did no problem, still way more than I thought was fair.
I went to a trusted friend and asked "what is fair" and he gave me a price that was more what I was thinking. So today I had to speak with this man and offered him the lower price and he took it without grumbling or even frowning.
And it struck me as odd, that this man started at 800 Kina and wound up with 300kina and is perfectly happy.
So it was then that I learned a valuable cultural lesson.
Someone told me today.
"Papua New Guineans are not good at estimating work cost. You need to tell them what you will pay them and let them accept or refuse."
AHA!
So he wasn't trying to gauge me, everyone who recommended him said it didn't sound like him. He was simply not capable of doing the math in his head that would figure out what the labor cost him.
Also because of this inability to estimate well, it is often wise to draw up a contract because jobs can drag on and on and on if you are paying by the hour, not because they are trying to bilk you, like we might view it, but because in their culture, pace is slower, and there is no motivation to finish a job until there is another job lined up.
So I got a contract for 300kina.
And in the process I learned a lot and will be getting a fence.
