To Barter or Not to Barter

[Highlander]

We have been bartering up here for years and years,... when you live in a place where the nearest descent shops are 100 miles round trip, or where there is only three fuel points within hundreds of miles bartering almost becomes a way of life,...only we don't really call it bartering

When someone needs something they don't have, they ring around,..I bet one of us has it,... so the needy gets what he wants,.. he doesn't have to give anything in return,... but when I/we want something he is the first person I call..... if someone is short on fuel they are sure to get a jerry can off someone,... they will get us something from the main town the next time they go in saving us the trip,...my neighbor dog sits for us when we go to Fife, we house sit for him when he goes on holiday,... the range of `services` is almost unlimited

The nearest thing to real bartering is skills, for instance I paint someone gate, they cut my lawn,.. this is not quiet so common as the above though