Of Supermarkets and Super-Service

I went to the Supermarket yesterday. Usually is a dull affair- veggies, milk, juice, then check-out, cart, load, unload, store.. that kind of thing. Yesterday was funny though. I decided to be all mod, and asked for paper bags(I had seen in other stores ones with handles on them), and I got the "What's-wrong-with-plastic-stare". Rose (the woman I take shopping) had warned me that they don't like parting with paper bags cos they're more expensive, and so I stared right back. All was going on well, till the woman who was packing my groceries just left mid way, as I was waiting, wondering if she had run out of paper bags or something. She then returned, and asked the cashier to leave for lunch, and took over the register. Leaving my groceries lying there.
Now, I'm the sort of person who rants and raves in private, and swears at my friends, but who hates to make a scene. So I meekly packed my groceries, wondering why this felt so insulting. The girl finally helped me put the last item in my bag, and gave the usual grocery-store-young-cashier "Have a nice day" that sounds more like,"I couldn't care less, you creep."

I saw that it was probably time for the cashier girl to go to lunch, but in a country that boasts of such customer service, and consumerism, why could the employees not be trained to be more polite? Even if it meant just informing the customer where she was going, or even that she would be right back. I understand that for young people, this is not their dream job, it is something they are probably taking up out of necessity. That does not justify their avoiding eye contact in the aisles, turning their back when they see a confused shopper, that goes against the very grain of the nature of their job.

Now Rose always goes to the same store, in fact, she has her regular cashiers and all of them are older. And the service she gets is exceptional. They always smile, and she "likes" her grocery store, she said. I thought then, "What does she mean, she likes the store? Just have to get the stuff for the cheapest, right?"
I know better now. Wrong.

Epilogue: Of course, these paper bags had no handles, and so half of them tore on the way to the car trunk, and other half on the way up to the apartment...

March 22, 2004

I'm just screaming for warmer weather!!! waaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh! That out of my system, I think that people in cold places are a testimony of man's stubbornnes and entrepreunership(you know what I mean).
I think that cold places were not meant to be habited by men(or women, of course), and human beings were meant to live in warmer climates. Well, anyways, probably if a Martian were to be writing on us, they would write that the people of the Northern part of the planet are active most of the summer, but mini-hibernate during the winter months, moving only in insulated shells most of the winter!!
And India won a thriller against Pakistan on Sunday(score). All the matches so far have been terribly exciting, and well worth the loss of sleep. Though watching it with a bunch of guys making orgasmic sounds every time a good ball beats the batsman and misses the sticks is not!
Understanding LBW was a big challenge to me, and now that I know what it means, trying to call an LBW seems like a very difficult job to me! I have a new found respect for umpires after watching the two series- yeah, that's right- the Aussie and Paki tours.
And I still need help with soccer's offside rule ;)
Till the next time!!

Well, this is my first post to the site. Today has been a good day, Rose days usually are. I take this cute old woman grocery shopping, and listen to her oft-repeated stories once again, and look for any changes in phrasing. Amazingly, it's like an audiotape, hardly ever does she even change a word! She told me about this Indian boarder that she had, JJ (she admits she doesn't know his name, neither does she know mine, she's decided it's Mary!!), and his stew.
I mentioned that my husband was a vegetarian, and so I don't cook or eat meat at home, and she goes, "But how do you make it tasty?" Well, there was a time when almost all the people I knew were vegetarians, and I would go, "How can they EAT that?!!" Evolution, thy friend is perspective.....