We used to have two 12 liter tanks of LPG (liquid petroleum gas), one for the on-demand water heater and one for our oven and range top When one ran out, after about a month, I'd call Pak Eka and tell him we needed a full one and he'd bring it over on his motorbike and take the empty one back. We kept one small 4 ltr tank that I'd switch for a big one when the gas ran out if we needed to be using it before a new tank arrived. The small tanks were three times smaller but five times cheaper than the big ones because they're subsidized for home use. The big tanks are thought of as commercial. Then a few years ago the price of the big tanks doubled and that of the small ones remained the same. So we switched to the small ones. They have to be changed about once every ten days. I told Pak Eka we wanted two more small ones so we had backups while waiting for the refills. He said only two per family. So I called Gus who hustles all sorts of stuff and he had a truck drop off two more small tanks for us. For the last half year it's been hard to get the small tank refills at times. We've got a M-W-St housekeeper-Kadek-and a T-Th-Fr houskeeper-Ketut. When we couldn't get a small tank from around here, Ketut would bring refills from the area where she lived. Yesterday it seemed all the shops were out of small tanks. We had three empties. Ketut could only find one small tank and she brought it over. I gave her money to come back with two more on Tuesday when she'll come next - if she can find them. Katrinka said this is too much trouble. Just get the big tanks. I said they cost ten times more for three times more gas and we should only do that if we really can't get the small tanks. Then Kadek apologized for not making more dog food. She said her home has no gas now. All of a sudden I realized that we were being like welfare cheats. Those small tanks are government subsidized for local people. We have resident visas but we can afford the big tanks and leave the small tanks for locals in need. I called Pak Eka and ordered two big tanks. Kadek went home with one small full tank for her home. Ketut will get one and Nyoman, our local driver will get one. We'll keep one to use in transition between empty and full big tanks when needed. Back to where it was. I sent Gus a message saying what we'd done and he sent back a heart emoji. I felt like that emoji meant good for you - you finally did the right thing.
