A Rhetorical Question: Why Did the Shop Owner Trust the Roma?

Imagine living in one of the areas of Glasgow that constantly receives a bad reputation. It is often in the spotlight for crime, criminality, and has a substantial history of immigration. You’ve guessed it right; I’m referring to Govanhill.

Now imagine you are an entrepreneur and you open up a shop selling a diverse range of food products. It makes sense, doesn’t it? After all, Govanhill is home to a large number of immigrants, including a substantial Roma community. In fact, of all places in the UK, this neighbourhood hosts the greatest number of Roma.

I need you now to stop imagining and start using your common sense. Ask yourself honestly, what is the reputation of Roma people? You may start listing all the negatives we have all heard: bad, untrustworthy, swindlers, cheats, liars, magicians, thieves... and we could go on completing that strikingly negative list. But wait, did we say cheats, thieves, swindlers? Yes, we did.

Now let’s return to the entrepreneurial shop owner. Imagine you are that person, running your business in Govanhill, and a hungry and humble Roma comes to you not as a regular customer, but as a person asking for food items from the shop for which they cannot pay at the moment. They ask for food, saying they have no money to pay. What would you do? Would you trust them? Or would you trust your rational mind and what society wants you to believe – that you should never trust a ‘Gypsy’ because they cannot be trusted?

This is in fact a true story, and one that happens fairly often in a real shop in that very place. The shop owner chooses to trust these Roma and lends them the food they ask for with a humane response: “Pay me when you can.”

I heard this story on a fairly cold, unpleasant and rainy morning while roaming the streets with my Roma hosts – my family. That story not only made my day and changed my perception of the day, it filled my heart with love.

From left to right: Sasho Marinov, Diana Ferar, Constatin Iacovita, Florin Covaci, Delia Spatareanu, Francisc Tarcsa, Andreea Nedelea, Adriana Lakatos

My Roma friends told me, “Come, come, we want to show you,” with that excitement you feel from children when they are bursting with the desire to share their latest artwork or toy – something that brings them real joy. As soon as we entered the shop, my Roma friends began speaking to the shop owner in their own language, Romanes, and he understood everything. I immediately felt the urge to embrace this man, who seemed slightly taken aback by the sudden and unexpected attention from a group of us entering his shop. I wanted to shake his hand and thank him – not only on behalf of us Roma, but on behalf of humanity.

From left to right: Prof. Ryan Woolrych, Nicu Roman, shop-owner, Elena Roman

Indeed, in the past, the practice of going to the local shop to get food products and pay later, when people get the means to pay, was common, at least in Eastern European countries like Romania and Bulgaria. But that applied at a time when people knew each other, lived in communities where trust between people was much more commonplace, and there was less emphasis on money and capitalism and more on egalitarian and communal relations.

This real story and the act of kindness from the shop owner reminded me that humanity is still here. That we can all benefit – not through interest or by exploiting the vulnerabilities of poor people – but simply by being human. By going against the grain and recognising that not everything society wants to teach or frighten us with is necessarily true.

This story is true. The shop owner is still running his business and not at a loss, but likely wealthier. Not only because of the love, respect, and friendship he receives, but also thanks to the Roma in Govanhill who continue to frequent his shop for that very reason: to pay for their food.