#fun fact! currency and minimum wage here are in fact different! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

phoenixfire-thewizardgoddess · 3 years

Text

Aussie Currency Guide [Part 1 - Coins]

Have an aussie character, or sending your character downunder for a fic? Are you coming for a holiday and our weird monopoly money and coins are confusing?

If you want some currency continuity, then here's a little info on our money system. It's pretty self-explanatory, but the bills have been changed recently to include a new design, but the amounts are similar.

------------

Coins

Aussie currency is half coins, half notes. Which is why watching cartoon characters pay for $1/$2 items with a note was so confusing as a child. WTF M8

We have 5 cents, 10 cents, 20 cents, 50 cents, 1 dollar and 2 dollar coins. There was, in the past, 1 and 2 cent coins, before inflation. They are a curiosity now, and cannot be used.

ALL coins have a small portrait of Queen Elizabeth (or the reigning monarch of the time) on the back of them. It will have the year of minting as well. As there has been no musical thrones while I've been alive, I've not come across a different backed coin; but when Elizabeth II passes, new coins will be minted with the next ruler on them.

Now that I think about it, it's a bit weird. But if we had to update the coins everytime we got a new Prime Minister, the minters would flatout quit from exhaustion.

The 2 cent coin has a frill neck lizard on it, they use their frills as a way to threaten potential predators, a real 'stay away or i'll get you' thing. They can technically bite, but of all aus's lizards... I'd prefer to 1v1 this guy than the goana.

The 1 cent coin has a brush-tailed possum on it, google them. 10/10 cute.

Sizes and Shapes

-------------------

The smallest coin is 5 cents (as above):

The base coin has a little echidna on it. Some of the coins you see today also have special editions, depending on the year or an event.

5 cents does not buy much, but you can get a small lolly like a ghost drop or heartbeat candy or a single red frog, etc. You can get items that are like, 25cents or 45 cents, etc, but usualy they'e lollies or super 2 x 5 = 10 cents, 4 x 5 = 20 cents, 10 x 5 = 50cents, 20 x 5 = $1, and so on.

---------------------

10 cents

Our ten cent coins feature the lyrebird, a beautiful, clever little asshole that has mimicry down to an ARTFORM. It can mimic car alarms, large animal growls, etc.

Used, but not for much as an individual purchase. Lolies or a really cheap op shop item, perhaps. Again, mostly used in conjunction with other small silver coins. 2 x 10 = 20 cents, 5 x 10 cents = 50 cents, 10 x 10 = $1, 20 x 10 = $2, 100 x 10 cents = A good reason for the checkout chick to murder you. Fun fact: most people slip 5 and 10 cent coins into donation boxes for charities or rescues, and you should too. Each small amount helps to build to something bigger.

-------------------

20 cents

Our 20 cent coins feature the iconic platypus taking a dip. I used to like tracing the water wirls when I was little. Like, they put effort into making these coin designs.

You can occasionally get the odd little thing for 20 cents, like a lucky dip at an op shop or local markets, etc. If you need 40 cents, 60 cents or 80 cents, this is the coin you prefer, or it gets messy with smaller coins. Also you can see the rage building in a cashier if you hand them $2 in 5 cent coins, etc.

5 x 20 = $1, 10 x 20 = $2, 25 x 20 = $5 (not recommended unless no other choice, your purse will weigh a ton).

-----------------

50 cents

Featured is the australian emblem and shield. Featuring the two main animals on our emblem, the kangaroo and the emu. Both creatures that are beautiful and would remove you from the census immediately if possible. Please do not try to pet our wildlife.

This is the most used of the 'silver' coins.

50 cents can buy you a few low tier items, such as a small lolly, a lucky dip, a cheap toy (like out of a cheap vending machine thing), or something small from a cheap store.

2 x 50 = $1, 4 x 50 = $2, 10 x 50 = $5, 20 x 50 = $10, etc.

The 50cent, $1 and $2 are the most often used and changed coins - eg. more likely to have a commemorative design minting.

eg:

------------------

1 dollar

The 1 dollar coin is the lesser but larger of the two 'gold' coins. Technically I believe it depicts a single kangaroo at different stages of jumping, but I also like to imagine it's a whole mob of them all together. They even defined the musculature, noice.

Please do not try to pet a kangaroo or the smaller cousin the wallaby, they will end you.

The dollar coin is easy to understand, 1 x 2 = $2, 1 x 5 = $5, 1 x 10 = $10, etc. Very versatile, more than a few stores that let you have small things like little packs of lollies, cheap toiletries, a can of softdrink, small breakable toys, etc. for $1.

-----------------

2 dollars

This is the 2 dollar coin, it features, "the archetype of an Aboriginal Tribal Elder, by Horst Hahne". You can also see the Southern Cross above the Elder, and some native plants in the background.

You can get a surprising amount of items for $2, not a huge amount, but most cheap stores have a lot for $2 - including toys, toiletries, small homeware items, cups, art items, lollies, drinks, etc.

5 x 2 = $10, 10 x 2 = $20, 25 x $2 = $50, 50 x $2 = $100 / immediate murder by a justified minimum-wage employee

------------------

[Part 2 - Notes]

31 notes · View notes

ckret2 · 4 years

Text

Anonymous said: If you’re not burnt out by IZ right now, how about a prompt about Zim in food service? could be during his banishment, could be on earth, could utilize that new FOODCOURTIA/SOLAR SYSTEM MALL info, or could just be anything else you come up with where he’s being his usual self, but also working with food. Hope this sounds fun!

As it happens, today I was writing a scene about Zim in food service for ISS, and it's low enough on spoilers that I can post it in full like a oneshot.

A few notes: 1. If you're not reading ISS, all you need to know to understand this scene is that Zim is working at Bloaty's because he keeps being absent from school. "That doesn't make any sense?" Yes. 2. If you're not reading ISS, feel free to assume that Zim is lying about every single thing he says, because within the context of a oneshot he might as well be. 3. All violently injured characters will recover from all their injuries with no complications, never fear.

This scene is hot off the presses, which here is a euphemism for "totally unproofed and probably riddled with autocorrect errors."

###

"What do you mean I can't pay by card?!"

"I mean you can't pay by card, sir," Zim said flatly.

The human pounded his fist on the counter. "Why won't you let me pay by card, huh?! WHY?!"

Zim gestured dramatically at the melted cash register and card reader between them.

"I've been a loyal customer for forty years!" He pounded on the counter another couple of times. "FORTY YEARS!"

Zim glanced at the wall calendar and then the wall plaque listing the date the business had been established. He was not surprised to learn that the building was, in fact, still twenty-two years old.

"Is this how you treat your loyal customers?! Huh? Huh? Huh? HUH?!"

Zim snapped on his best customer service smile. "My deepest and sincerest apologies, Valued Customer. I am but a poor foolish child laborer and did not realize you'd been a patron for longer than I've been alive. I would never have been so discourteous had I realized."

The human scoffed, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. "Typical. Kids these days."

Zim gestured again at the melted equipment. "To make up for my grievous error, I humbly invite you to scan your own card on our fine Bloaty's Pizza Hog® currency-consumption equipment."

"Finally!" The human pulled out his card and leaned in. "Now, let's see here..."

While the customer was distracted, Zim ducked back into the kitchen. "Hey. Pizzasmith."

Weird Name looked up from his work—converting the now-broken electric pizza oven into a wood-fired oven with a pile of newspaper and lighter fluid—and pushed his headphones off one ear.

"That large pepperoni and bacon I just gave you the order for?"

Weird Name nodded and held up the paper with the order.

"Burn the pizza."

Weird Name gave Zim a thumbs up and put his headphones back on. Zim wondered what machine the headphones were plugged into that hadn't melted when every other machine in a ten block radius had. Maybe Weird Name just liked wearing dead headphones.

Zim returned to his post just in time for the customer to snap, "HEY! What's the big idea?"

Zim blinked innocently. "What do you mean, Valued Customer? I am but a minimum wage laborer and therefore incapable of big ideas."

The customer waved his card threateningly. "You made me pay by card, but your card machine's broken!"

"Oh dear. It seems I've made another inexcusable error. Surely I will be rightfully fired for this," said Zim, the most powerful employee in the building. "I am terribly sorry, Valued Customer. I should never have asked you to pay by card instead of cash."

"Hmph!" The customer thrust over a wad of dollar bills. Zim pried open the warped drawer on the melted cash register with a crowbar, deposited the cash, and offered the customer his change.

As the customer moved off to a table to wait for his pizza, the bell over the door rang. Zim looked over wearily, hoping it wasn't a family with kids, and held back a sigh when he saw something worse. Oh, Dib. At least his oversized cranium held enough brain cells to understand what "the card reader isn't working" meant, but Zim probably wouldn't be able to get rid of him for hours. Dib probably planned to camp out at the booth nearest the front counter, do his homework, and yell taunts at Zim. At least his sister was with him, she should keep him from starting a full-blown battle while Zim was on shift.

"Hey," he said flatly. "Card reader's down, cash only. If anyone else comes in and you're holding up the line to throw stupid dissection threats at me, I will destroy you."

Gaz leaned over the counter, seized Zim by the collar, and yanked him to her. He helped as he suddenly found himself suspended in mid air between Gaz's fist in his shirt and the edge of the counter digging into his hips. Zim quickly said, "It's just for tonight! I'm sure corporate will send a new card reader soon!" He was lying. He'd probably have to break into some corporate warehouse and steal a new card reader himself.

Gaz pointed at the melted cash register. "Is this your fault?"

"Eh?" Zim tried to turn around to look. "Oh, the melted machines! Oh yeah, heh. Yep. Another evil plot."

"So." Dib snacked a baseball bar in his hand. "You sent Dad to the hospital."

Zim stared blankly between Dib and Gaz. "Did I?"

Gaz jerked him the rest of the way off the counter. "His robot arms exploded because of you!"

With a shriek, Zim crashed to his knees at her feet, only held upright by her grip on his clothes. "I didn't mean to! It was an accident! The prototype was supposed to do something completely different, I wasn't trying to make every electronic in this part of town blow up!"

"But you did, Zim. You did." Gaz held out her hand. Dib smacked the handle of the bat into her palm.

"Wait! No! You can't hurt me!" He mentally groped around for a reason why. "I'm... I am... prrregnant? Yes! Ha!" He pointed at his abdomen. "Zim is incubating innocent life! That means you can't touch me!"

Gaz's wrathful glower deepened. "Is your face full of eggs?"

What did face eggs have to do with anything? "Ehhh... I don't think so, why?"

Gaz raised the bat.

She and Dib left twenty minutes later, eating a cheese pizza out of the box.

The other customer plodded up to where Zim was collapsed on the floor. "Hey." He knelt and gently shook Zim's shoulder. "Are you still alive, kid?"

Zim let out an affirmative moan.

"Good," the customer said. "My pizza's burned! I've never been so insulted! I've been a loyal customer for fifty years! I want a refund! I want to complain to your manager! I want a year of free pizzas!"

Zim burbled.

#invader zim #fanfic #my writing #in short supply #anonymous #ask

35 notes · View notes

ladyoutlier · 5 years

Text

Whispering Fruits Coffee Bar

[Read on AO3] | [Read My Other Fics]

Week 1: Heaven and Hell hold a board meeting at a coffee shop very much ran by normal humans on Earth.

Bureaucracy was most certainly not born on Earth, but whether it came into existence in Heaven or Hell first was a hot topic for debate. Heaven had existed longer but there was little need to organize when they had no opponents, so it was only after the Fall that they began to systematically structure. By the time Hell abandoned their radio silence, they had structured very similarly as well. So whether the demons or angels thought up bureaucracy first was a part of history left unknown.

Honestly, whichever group originally started the chain of command system hardly mattered. What did was the fact that they both used it, and as such communication between Heaven and Hell became mandatory. They were enemies, but negotiations were still a must have, even if the purpose was only to find out what the other side was doing.

Thus, once per century, Heaven and Hell would meet to discuss the upcoming events for the next hundred years, and form the boundaries as to who was able to interfere in what. These centennial meetings would flip from one’s home side to the other. The fourteenth century’s took place in Hell, and as such, they gained the advantage with the bubonic plague. The following century was in Heaven, and the Renaissance reached its height.

But as the twenty-first century began and Armgeddon was mere years away, neither Heaven or Hell wanted to enter the other’s home turf. Tensions were high, and the War to End All Wars might have just kick started early if one side found themselves with such an advantage. So a compromise was formed and instead of holding their meeting in either Heaven or Hell, they would hold it on Earth. It was quite fitting considering it was the last meeting to ever occur and the last century the planet would exist. The End Times would ensure that much.

Perhaps if either Heaven’s or Hell’s figureheads would of had a briefing call with their only Earth operatives, they would have been aware that there were many better places to hold a board meeting than a coffee shop. The two of them had been on the retching planet since the beginning and had the experience to back up the time. But no, all Aziraphale and Crowley had received was the standard company emails from their individual offices listing the date and location of the upcoming meeting.

The location was one Whispering Fruits Coffee Bar which sat at the corner of two busy streets and as such had an entrance for both. At precisely noon on the dot, both doors swung open and two very different crowds walked in from each one. Two crowds that looked much like the antonyms of one another.

From the right door, Archangel Gabriel with Micheal, Uriel, and Sandalphon followed by quite a few more angels that, in the others’ minds, didn’t deserve the same level of recognition. One of them being a particular Principality.

From the left, Lord Beezlebub with Dagon, Hastur, and Ligur as well as many clones of a certain demon that wasn’t important enough to have a name. Unlike Heaven, their Earth operative was not amongst them.

Both groups stood rather awkwardly in the entrance, looking at the register, seating, and human employees as if they were twelve-headed dog/lion hybrids (which, in actuality, both sides would be more familiar with that this earthly setting).

“Ah, yes. A shop selling wares for monetary value. We humans do love money,” Gabriel called out to the employees that already looked rather done with all this. “Aziraphale, you’re the Earth expert. What’s the point of this place?”

“Oh, um, people buy drinks as well as pastries and tarts—”

“Ah, of course,” Gabriel replied, leaving Aziraphale behind as he walked to the counter. “I would like to purchase some of your ingestibles.”

Beezlebub, as the figurehead for Hell, joined Gabriel at the counter. Gabriel was an idiot and incapable of keeping up a disguise. Deception was always a trait better left to those down Below, and they were going to show him why. Making a fool of an Archangel was just too much fun.

Aziraphale turned to the others still gathered in the entrance. “We could, well, arrange the tables while they’re preoccupied. Such a large gathering of people isn’t usually expected for an establishment like this.”

“You,” Hastur growled so suddenly that it made Aziraphale jump, although he wasn’t talking to him but rather the group of cloned demons. “Fix the tables.”

The demons scurried to move furniture as the shop’s employees watched on with the thoughts regarding their minimum wage paychecks keeping them from lending a hand. Heaven and Hell spread into the cafe in their individual cliques.

Beezlebub mentally facepalmed as Gabriel attempted to buy anything on the menu. If his incompetency kept up, it would turn into a physical facepalm as well, and it would not be the Lord of Flies’s forehead that they would be hitting.

“Yes,” Gabriel replied as the cashier explained that they were a coffee shop that sold coffee for the hundredth time. “And we consume this for what reason? To gain energy? Fascinating.”

To the cashier’s credit, he was holding himself together better than Beezlebub, but perhaps retail makes one used to such interactions. He even held it together as they moved onto the payment process and Gabriel brought out a sack of coins.

“And what are you folks using for currency these days? Last I checked, it was angels and half-angels. Very cute if you ask me. Micheal loved them.”

It was as the tables were pushed together and everyone not caught up at the register sat down that Hell’s own Earth operative walked in, fashionably late just as he liked to be.

“Hey! Looks like the party’s all here. Didn’t miss anything too exciting I hope.” Crowley swung himself into a chair on Hell’s side of the table. It was no accident that it happened to be the one across from Aziraphale’s. “Eh, who am I kidding? Nothing fun ever happens at these things.”

Under different circumstances, Aziraphale would be quick to respond to him, but considering their friendly relations were less than known to either of their bosses, they had a ruse to keep up. A ruse Crowley liked to push to the limits as his smirk-filled look he had locked on to Aziraphale more than proved. The angel didn’t return the look. One of them had to play it safe although, considering the repercussions Crowley would face if found out, both of them probably should have been.

Gabriel returned to the table, looking rather confused by the paper money he had been handed. A very stoic Beezlebub followed him and took a seat at one end of the table. Gabriel didn’t sit. Instead, he now looked at the receipt for his order.

“£5.73 for a coffee. What a rip-off.”

Aziraphale became rather slack-jawed at that comment. Not only because the Archangel had no understanding of currency and therefore shouldn’t have known what was and wasn’t overpriced, but also because almost £6 was indeed a rip-off!

“Anyways,” Gabriel continued, finally taking a seat. “Let’s get on with it.”

If a person was to listen to another read the iTunes terms and conditions in a voice fitting for NPR, whilst in the cafeteria of a nursing home, they would find themselves more entertained than they would at one of Heaven and Hell’s meetings. By all means, one of these meetings should be very entertaining. Seeing two groups with so much history and despisement for one another have to interact should be quite the drama. But unfortunately, both sides have far too much paperwork for any of this to be any fun at all.

So as both groups talked about what was to come in the next century, Crowley found himself rather exhausted by it all. Something about a market crash and a horrible American presidential candidate and something with a rather stupid name called Brexit. All things he really couldn’t care less about.

It was a miracle, not a literal one but a metaphoric one, when the server came by with the coffees ordered. As the server left the table and the aroma of Archangel Gabriel’s and Lord Beezlebub’s cups of joe took over the table, Crowley stood up.

“Hate to miss anything important, but I think I’ll get myself a drink too. Really, don’t feel the need to pause the meeting for me.”

Aziraphale watched him walk away from the corner of his eye. Crowley never liked to be bored. Absolutely hated it. And board meetings were the most boring of all (there was a pun somewhere in there, but now wasn’t the time for one of those). Aziraphale didn’t care much for them either.

Nothing planned at these meetings ever really mattered anyway. He and Crowley knew that. The humans controlled their own fate as much as Heaven and Hell did. They could hardly plan a whole century in advance. There would always be too many variables that showed up and threw everything off course. Crowley had the right idea finding an excuse to get away from the dreary jargon.

“Ah, you know, I think I’ll purchase something as well,” Aziraphale said to no one in particular. “Those muffins they have on display look absolutely scrumptious.”

And so both Crowley and Aziraphale had left the table just as the conversation turned towards Armageddon and the Antichrist, leaving both of them out of this critical conversation and completely in the dark.

“Making it a bit obvious, aren’t you?” Crowley asked as Aziraphale caught up to him. “Trailing me right after I left. They’re just across the room. Even as dumb as they are, I think their eyes still work.”

“I wanted to order something. Has nothing to do with you.”

“Has everything to do with me,” Crowley replied with a smile.

“Yes, but they don’t know that. I wanted a muffin.”

The employee returned from the back and took his place at the register and forced a too cheerful grin on his face. “Welcome to Whispering Fruits Coffee Bar. What can I get you?”

“Torture, isn’t it?” Crowley nodded to Aziraphale before turning to the cashier. “Yeah, one of those muffins whatever they are and a coffee. Black.”

“Now, isn’t that a bit obvious?” Aziraphale asked. “You ordering for me?”

“Please. Like they understand the nuances of ordering food. It’s going to the same table anyway.”

“Alrighty,” the cashier replied with his unwavering grin. “That’ll be £8.18. Will you be paying in gold coins too?”

“Ha, no. I got a card.” Crowley handed the worker his credit card. “Look, sorry for our coworkers. They don’t get out much. Really, they’re worse than a grandmother on her deathbed at keeping up with the times.”

“Why that’s a rather bleak comparison,” Aziraphale replied.

“True though, isn’t it?”

“I suppose so although I wish you would use brighter analogies.”

“You know that’s not going to happen, angel.”

“No harm in putting it out there.”

The cashier finished finalizing the payment and handed Crowley back his card and receipt. “Oh, they’re not so bad. Would have the guy that pays in ancient gold coins over the old guy that shows up on Mondays with a tub of pennies. Here’s your muffin, sir. The coffee will be right out.”

The cashier slipped away to the back, and Aziraphale peeled the wrapper off the muffin. Both he and Crowley should probably be returning to the table now that there was no reason for them to be standing up here together, but neither of them could bring themselves to leave.

“Black coffee, really?” Aziraphale asked through a mouthful of muffin.

“What else would you think I’d get?”

“I don’t know. It just seems a bit tacky.”

“If it does your heart in any favors, I don’t plan on drinking it.”

“Then why’d you get it?”

“So I didn’t have to sit over there and listen to spiels about the greater good and the rise of evil.”

“You could’ve gotten something you liked.”

“Not a coffee person.” Crowley shifted in place. “What are you doing after this?”

“Oh, I was just going to return to the bookshop. Open it for a few hours.”

“Mind if I join you? Could help scare off a few customers.”

“Right after this, Crowley? That would be highly irresponsible.”

“Wouldn’t head there with you, and personally, I find that right after these meetings is when they check up the least. Figure they just talked to you, so they don’t need to check in.”

“If, perchance, you were to show up around four this afternoon, I wouldn’t be able to just turn you away, would I? That would be rude.”

“No, you couldn’t, could you.”

The cashier returned with a paper cup of coffee that was definitely not worth the price Crowley had paid for it. Daylight robbery was what it was, and that was just the thing the demon liked to encourage.

As he and Aziraphale returned to the table, the others began to stand and shuffle towards the door, the meeting adjourned. Shortest one there had been for a while. Usually these things went on for hours, but this one had barely lasted one. It was as if they weren’t planning for the whole century. As if they expected it to be abruptly cut off.

Of course, Aziraphale and Crowley didn’t think much of this. Likely, it was just that neither parties enjoyed spending much time on Earth and were more than eager to return Up and Downstairs. Very strange they had wanted to hold the meeting on the planet in the first place, but when things were run by a bureaucracy, things lacking sense often occurred.

As Heaven and Hell left Whispering Fruits Coffee Bar, their respective Earth operatives walked in opposite directions down the street, going their separate ways. Those ways would meet up again in a few hours under a curtain of secrecy. And then many, many more times after that working up to the End of the World.

***

This work was a part of my discord Weeklies event. If you’d like to learn more, click here

#Good Omens #Gomens #Ineffable Husbands #my writing

15 notes · View notes

amprabeswar · 6 years

Text

Yes, I used to pirate books, and now I write for free #karma’s a bitch?

So e-book piracy is a controversial subject. Some people will be for it, some against it, some are marginally tolerant of it but would probably prefer if it didn’t exist.

Wherever we sit on the spectrum, I’m sure that most, if not all of us, agree that in an ideal world, everyone would have access to books; and those who can’t afford them should at least have the means where they could legally borrow books.

For clarity, I don’t mind e-book piracy -- but that’s easy for me to say, because I’m not a published writer of low-middling success whose entire livelihood depends on book sales.

Of course I would much rather that everyone were willing and able to purchase books legally, but I realise all too well that this -- especially outside the US and other developed nations -- is often impossible to achieve.

My post today isn’t to convince people to be for or against e-book piracy. I just wanted to share a non-US perspective, on why I think e-book piracy isn’t such a black/white issue and why I think it can actually be a positive thing.

But that’s the first key. You need to take yourself out of the developed-nation mindset, and look at it from a less US/First-World-centric view.

THE PRE-EBOOK AGE

My love for reading came from an early age. I come from a developing Southeast Asian country, but my parents were studying abroad and so for the first fifteen or so years of my life, I was raised in a developed, English-speaking country.

Every weekend I would go to the library, and because English was the language I first read and wrote in, it became the primary language I was comfortable with.

So when we returned to my own country, I lost all access to that.

We don’t have public libraries. School libraries (including mine) are small -- I’m not only talking about the physical size of the room, but also in the selection of books. They are almost exclusively dedicated to educational material, and in the local language.

This is also true for university libraries. You want to talk about piracy? You want to know how anyone can afford university books, here? We photocopy it.

You read that right. We would pool our money together with our class, and then the designated person would photocopy the library book for a cheaper, bulk price. You think any of us could be able to afford $100-$500-a-piece textbooks?? Hell nawww ... that’s the whole cost of our school fees! Even the textbooks provided by the university and faculty libraries are photocopies!

So for many people, reading for leisure is a luxury. You have to buy your own books. Back in those days, e-books were not yet a thing. While locally published books tend to be more affordable, buying foreign books is an absolute luxury many can’t afford.

Some people argue that hey, you should buy the translated version of the books because they’re cheaper than the imported, original English version of the books.

There are two arguments I have against that.

First, we should keep in mind that only a very select few number of foreign books are ever translated, and even then, they only tend to be the extremely popular, “mainstream” books. Readers like me, who are into niche speculative fiction and weird fantasy, often have no choice but to import our books, because they aren’t ever translated.

Second, some people prefer to read in English. Either because that’s the language they’re comfortable with, or because that’s how they learn and master a foreign language.

If you think that speaking English well enough to read it automatically means you are rich enough that you should be able to afford imported books ... then you would be wrong.

My family were not poor. But they weren’t so rich we could afford an imported book a month. Let alone all the books and authors I would have loved to read. The only reason they were able to study overseas? Like so many other people out there -- fully funded government scholarships.

For context, here is the legal minimum wage for my country at that time. Most people don’t earn much from the legal minimum wage. In my province, the minimum wage was IDR 510,000 and for comparison, the cost of an imported book back in those days? around IDR 500,000!!!! So even if you earned double the minimum wage? Triple? An IDR 500,000 book is still out of the bloody question! Especially if you’ve got bills to pay, a mortgage to clear, school fees to cover, and all your other basic necessities. (Fun fact: even now in 2018, the average minimum wage of my country is roughly IDR 2,000,000 -- so congratulations! You can now buy 4 imported books while living off the streets!)

In those days, I bought probably one-two (new) books a year. I relied solely on second-hand bookstores (which isn’t that much different from pirating e-books, to be honest ... since the author earns squat from second-hand sales). Even then, second-hand bookstores were scarce, and the selection obviously isn’t anywhere near complete. I never found any of my favourite writers in second-hand bookstores. The only exception was Robin Hobb, whose books I had been dying to read since 2003, but I only ever managed to find a copy ten years later.

THE DAWN OF E-BOOKS

By the time I was in university, e-books had gained traction, though the cost of it -- especially those with the Big 5 publishers (which conveniently most of us would like to read) -- ranges between $10 - $15.

In local currency? IDR 120,000 - IDR 250,000. Minimum wage? Let’s be generous and use today’s average minimum wage. IDR 2,000,000.

Count into that your bills, food, drink, clothes, studies, etc ...?

E-books are still a luxury. You can buy cheaper e-books now, especially on kindle. But who do you think in Southeast-Asia, would have heard of this unknown author who has an e-book up for $2 with Kindle Direct?

$2 can buy a university student four decent meals in my country. So likely, they would not want to gamble that on a novel that they aren’t at least 85% certain they’re going to like.

Back in those days, I did rely on borrowing books from friends, and then it graduated to borrowing e-books (I did not have a smart phone, let alone a kindle). But that’s how I heard of so many authors whose works I would happily buy until today.

But while I can (now) afford to buy e-books and dead-tree books ... I know for a fact there are so many others still in the same position as I was, ten years ago.

Some may argue that, well, if they can’t afford a book, then they shouldn’t buy it. Eeeeasy. Find another way to spend your time, fools!

I love reading. It really helps when I’m feeling down or lonely, or just when I’m stressed and need to unwind. I don’t know how I would get by if that was taken away from me, and so I don’t want to take that away from other people, too.

I also happen to think that foreign books are important. Especially for a country such as mine, who are still struggling to find a balance between traditional mindsets and a more tolerant world view. A different perspective is necessary, and restricting all access towards it doesn’t help us progress. Reading was one of the things that really opened my mind. Who knows, maybe without all those books, today I would also have turned out into another conservative, close-minded individual -- anti LGBTQ, anti-discourse and open debate, anti-opposing opinions, sucked into identity politics, as are a large percentage of my country.

So that’s why I find free reading platforms such as wattpad a godsend. On one side, it gives people access to free books, and on the other side, it introduces them to our work before they can decide whether or not our books are worth spending four decent meals on.

However, it can’t stop at wattpad. Much as I appreciate the site, it is filled with un-edited, un-proofed, and often irresponsible work. And it’s not about the quantity of free books we should be able to read -- it’s about the quality.

That’s why I’m fine with writing my books for free. Not that some student in Southeast Asia knows me enough to go look for my work. If they come across and read it, it’s solely by chance.

And that’s not to say that I wouldn’t sell my soul for a publishing deal. But if I did (get a publishing deal, that is, not sell my soul), I would still not mind if people sought ways to read my things for free. Whether that’s borrowing a book from a library, or an e-book from a friend.

#e-books #piracy #e-book piracy #free books matter #wattpad

1 note · View note