Did the Credit Ledger Burn?

As many years have passed since the unfortunate fire of 1985, only its more humorous moments are remembered today. Mehmet recounts two of these short stories back to back: “After the fire, we received messages of sympathy for a long time. There were those—from fellow tradespeople, from the state, from local authorities—who wanted to lend a hand and offer support. Alongside all these well-intentioned people, there were also some rather strange characters. One day, for instance, a man came up to my father and asked, ‘Did the ledger burn?’ That was the moment my father grasped the situation. ‘The place burned to the ground,’ he said, ‘but the steel safe inside didn’t. Your debt is still sitting right there.’”

“In the early 1980s, Antalya faced a shortage of coffee. Turkish coffee couldn’t be found anywhere. Around that time, a very important guest came and asked for coffee. Not wanting to be embarrassed, my father asked our neighbor from the nomad settlements in Konyaaltı, Uncle Kenan (the owner of Hayırlı Kuyumculuk), for just enough coffee for two brews. He served the coffee and saved face with his guest, but in doing so, he felt as though he owed Uncle Kenan. For the next five years, Uncle Kenan would regularly tease my father at the restaurant, jokingly saying, ‘Come on Hakkı, give us some of that coffee so we can drink it,’ making him buy coffee each time. After the 1985 fire, when Uncle Kenan once again asked my father for coffee, my father replied, ‘The place burned down—your coffee burned too, Kenan!’ thus declaring the debt settled. They laughed it off and came to terms.”