Promised Shore of Ass Kicking

[Vung Tau, 2/25/25]

This week, I visited two laptop repair shops about ten times altogether, so much time wasted. I lost photos. That’s what I get for buying used machines, I suppose, but the two cars I bought in the US were also “gently owned.” One was stolen in less than a year. The other I drove for about five months. Count me among the billions who flinch at pricey purchases.

Going to the second shop forced me to linger in that neighborhood. In an alley cafe, a middle aged woman went on about people being kidnapped for their organs. Girls are taken to Cambodia to become prostitutes. Children are sold. Similar tales have been circulating on FaceBook for at least a decade. The woman warned me against men jumping out of a white van to knock me out with a chemical soaked rag.

“Why would they want my old organs?” I replied.