ok, it isn't politically correct to rail against foreigners in this country. land of the free, home of the brave, we all got here on a boat somehow, etc. however, sometimes it can get a little frustrating dealing with people who are "half-cultured" americans (or not, as the case may be).
last night i dropped austin and amy off at applebees for amy's birthday dinner, and i went to walmart. i was casually drifting through the store shopping when they called, unexpectedly early, for me to pick them up.
i still had to check out, and mistakenly picked a line with three hindu women. they were not dressed in traditional garb, but did have the cast marks in the middle of the forehead. while they spoke in their language, they were doing american things, like using a credit card. however, they put a new twist on shopping by checking out, and then UNCHECKING out.
sometimes you don't have enough money to pay for items, so you put them back. i can see that if you only have x amount of cash. but with a credit card? the first woman was finishing up when i dragged up. i should have suspected something was up by the growing mound of clothing that was gathering around the cashier.
the second woman unloaded her stuff (she has plenty of time since the first woman was lolly gagging along). then she decided when the total was flashed that it was too much. so then comes the slow process of digging through the several bags of items pulling out one, checking it back in, and then pulling a sub total. for some reason she just finally landed on a price and that should have been it. however, she had a pair of black socks that were apparently without a price code. this now involved snagging another employee to go back to sock world for a price check. while i was leaning on my cart with every growing exasperation, austin calls and wants to know where i am. i can't explain to him that i am in the middle of the mumbai bazaar, and there is no verbal explanation i can give him given my current "company" that would explain what was going on. finally, hindu chick #2 is done, although she doesn't do much moving away.
then i watch in amazement as hindu chick #3 unloads her cart, which includes 12 WRISTWATCHES. twelve. i counted them, thinking that everyone in india must be getting a watch. then, incredibly, the scene from chick #2 duplicates itself. Hindu chick #3 begins to dig through the bags and pull out various and sundry things, including 3 of the watches (oh well, someone won't be able to tell what time to move the elephants.) and we once again go through the arduous task of picking and choosing what to keep, what to pay for, again, with a credit card (which she didn't know how to use.)
it took me 20 minutes to check out. when i left, in a lather, the three were still standing there at the end of the counter jabbering and apparently in no hurry to go anywhere. at this point i have had my coat off three times because i am in such a sweat. it is raining outside, and the kids are waiting for me at kohls.
i wondered how it is that you could do something like that three times in a row. is that what they do in pakistan or india or where ever? did they think they were going to get to barter about things when the bill rang up? all i know was that if they couldn't pay for it, they shouldn't have rung it up. i also figure that if you don't know about money, and you are from another country and can't speak the language, how in hell do you get a credit card?
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