Risky Business

My first interview took place in a room without windows at the top of a dark wooden stairway.  One section of the interview focuses on the risks of being a moneylender, including possible loss of personal money and the potential likelihood of being robbed, and it was at this point that things got interesting.

“No,” the subject said from across his desk, “No one has ever tried to steal my money.”

“Ok,” I said, ready to move on to the next section, which deals with the less exciting subject of ‘Business Cycles.’

“But I was once stabbed.”

“What!” I said, forgetting my solemn pledge as a researcher to be impartial.  I learned the lender was once attacked in a public marketplace by a delinquent borrower.  At first all he felt was a numb pain in his shoulder; then, when he felt blood dripping on his feet and heard people screaming around him, he realized he had been stabbed.  The next thing he remembers is waking up in the hospital.  The only reason he survived and didn’t bleed to death, according to the doctors, is that the assailant left the six-inch blade in his back.

"Lending is a good business," he summarized.  "But a risky one."

Hopefully all of my research subjects are this awesome!  No pictures from yesterday because it was raining and I was nervous to take my camera.