Regleman pa gate zanmi

In English, it would be : " Asking for account does not break friendship."

Friendship is something valuable in Haitian society and other parts of the world. Trust, respect, love, appreciation and lots of great values are involved. Part of people’s happiness depends on that.

Many people like to associate their means (money, and other resources) to create companies and do businesses. Some people have their friend as partner; some do not. And giving account (explanation, clarifications...) is part of business life. There is a time we should put everything out of the basket so that partners can see, count, touch, or observe them.

Haitians discuss prices at the market. The seller asks for a price, and the buyer gives a price. When they come into an agreement, the buyer pays, and the seller receives the money and gives back change if it is needed. The buyer is asked to count the change to see if the amount is accurate even though the seller is his/her friend.

Some sellers leave their products under the care of another seller that is a friend. When they come back, they are reported of all the transactions regardless of the trust they have on their friends.

People say this proverb to express the fact that to double check a number with a friend that is our partner, asking for clarifications or question a fact about a transaction does mean we do not trust our friend, but this will strengthen the friendship.

So anytime you do business with a friend, when you open a box of product he/she hands you, when you open the envelope to check the accuracy of the sum written on it..., remember to say : " Regleman pa gate zanmi" just to avoid any further disagreement but not because you do not trust him/her.