Les told me this morning that Summer is declared as summer when the temperature hits 22 degrees celcius 5 consecutive days. 2007 has seen the earliest summer in history. No its not time to get all lecturie about the effects of global warming...
The arrival of an early summer was signaled by the rising mercury, literally and metaphorically....
I've picked a couple of good fights recently. Brains get fried in the heat, and so does good temper.
Fight #1 took place at an internationally renown boutique.
I tried on a gorgeous white dress, but the shoulder straps were far too long. Its an odd occurence cos i know that God has given me a gorgeous extraordinarily long sternum, so usually dresses strap are too short rather than too long. I then noticed that there was a weird piece of extra cloth hanging at the seams of the shoulder strap, then it occured to me that the dress was meant to be worn as a cross back. I went back into the changing room, wore the dress cross back and it fit perfectly...I walked out of the dressing room triumphantly to show the sales girls tht i figured it all out. To my dismay, they told me that i got it wrong, that the models wore it non-cross back (maybe implying tht i don't have a modeleque figure to carry off a dress!)... i insisted back tht it was cross back and they should tell their customers, if not nobody would buy such a ridiculously LONG strapped dress right? But they were so set to believe that i was wrong and disagreed to the point where I got so tired of quarreling with 5 salesgirls (managers included), so i relented. Before i paid for the dress, i asked for a new piece.
Drum roll... the new piece came out hung CROSS BACK on the hanger, wrapped in plastic, straight from factory. So again, i triumphantly pointed out tht i was right. The salegirls didn't even apologise. Anyway, when i asked for the fapiao, the girl pulled a long face at me. Thts when i snapped.
Stella: What's your name?
Salesgirl: XXX
Stella: How do you write it?
Salegirl: Why?
Stella: You pulled a long face at me. U're attitude sucks. (in a deadpan tone)
Silence.... i took my receipt and walked off.
What would u have done?
How can a country who wants to leapfrog into the future harbour such third class mentality? they couldn't even bring themselves to entertain the thought for a moment that the CUSTOMER MAY BE RIGHT. I wasn't at some night market... I was in a renown boutique in a shopping mall. Some pple think my reaction was a little ill-mannered. But i feel like to dismiss their actions as being "typical chinese" is even more condescending... I'm sure the chinese are capable of eventually understanding how service works. Its not about me getting my way, it's about every other consumer out there as well. Revolutions begin with dissent.
Fight #2 happened at the fabric market.
Okay so this tailor made me 2 tops. both are oversized. The neckline is like twice around my neck... she insists tht its meant to be worn loose. But i insist back tht she alters it. so she told me to collect it on weds, i went on friday, and she still hasn't altered it. So i wasted 50yuan (the top only cost 90 each)cab ride, and wasted my lunch time. I was incredibly mad.... i told her not to waste other's time and another taiwanese customer in the shop agreed with me when he said "time is of no essence to the chinese, they are very free".
On the bright side...
Well, the chinese makes me fume sometimes. But they also make me laugh...After my trip back from the fabric market, i decided to treat myself to a cup of starbucks... the ever cheeeerrriiiee on permanent prosac starbucks cashier repeated a customer's order,"web beeng fwappucino cleeng", and her colleague echoed "web beeng fwappucino cleeng"... Curious to know what drink it is? Red Bean Frappucino with cream.
1 comment:
Were the fights in Mandarin or English?
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