hyperventilate...eh?

Kinda lazy today but this is one interesting write-up regarding the Ugly Malaysians. So chop chop...cut cut...paste paste...


Hypermarket tension

By PATSY KAM

You can find ugly Malaysians aplenty at hypermarkets.

MOST of us have done our fair share of shopping at hypermarkets. They’re popular because they house everything under one roof, prices are more competitive and heck, it’s a day out for the whole family come the weekends.

But there are certain things you’re just not supposed to do – well, at least not if you’re educated and civic-minded – at the expense of other shoppers. Nobody likes a queue jumper, or shoppers who push and shove their way to get what they want. And it’s certainly never acceptable to hijack another shopper’s trolley!

There have been instances when people tried to take my empty trolley when they thought no one was looking, especially a few years ago when you had to put in a RM1 coin to get one at a certain hypermarket.

Recently, I went to the one near my home to pick up some groceries. In fact, I was feeling quite good about the way things were going as I found most of the items on my shopping list and the staff were helpful.

Then, just about 20 steps from the cashier, I stopped to take a better look at the prices of some items. I left my trolley unattended at the beginning of one of the aisles because I figured it would be more troublesome to push it through the narrow aisle full of people.

When I returned, my trolley was missing! At first I thought I had absent-mindedly gone to the wrong aisle. But after hunting around a good 15 minutes, I concluded the staff must have thought I didn’t want the groceries any more and put back the trolley. What was worse, there were things that I had bought and paid for from outside the hypermarket in the trolley.

Furious, I complained to the manager and the staff on roller skates went around on a trolley hunting mission. The manager explained that the staff do not normally return the items to the shelves so soon. Perhaps some mischievous child had pushed away the trolley for fun, he suggested.

After another fruitless search, I gave up, and took a basket and grabbed a few essential items. I was tired and had already wasted an hour of my life. I was already mapping out the complaint letter in my head.

Then miraculously, the manager told me he’d located my stuff minus the trolley. True enough, there was my packet of fish, detergent, shoe polish and some 20 other items, unceremoniously dumped behind some boxes in an inconspicuous corner.

Either the irresponsible shopper was too lazy to get his own trolley or didn’t want to part with 20 sen to get his own. Of all the inconsiderate things that happen in hypermarkets, this takes the cake!

And surely you’ve seen those flyers promoting specials for one day only? Only to arrive to find the shelves empty ... You wonder how it is possible for a fresh supply of chicken, garlic, Milo or even chilli sauce to disappear so fast when surely the hypermarket would have made sure they had enough stock before advertising.

More often than not, it’s the small grocery shops or food vendors who will fill their carts and sweep the shelves clean.

Once, I asked, no, almost begged this guy who, judging from the conversation with his family, obviously ran a coffeeshop, to spare me a bag of Milo. I didn’t want to go home empty-handed and after all, he had like 20 bags in his trolley. He promptly refused, saying he didn’t have enough for himself.

No wonder hypermarkets sometimes have to limit shoppers to two packets per family. Even then, Malaysians find a way to beat the system as father, mother, uncle, grandmother and three kids, all queue and pay separately at the same counter to take advantage of the discount.

Speaking of separate bills, it is not good manners to split a RM150 shopping bill into five parts (although you have every right to), just because for every RM30 spent you get a lucky draw!

And the situation is made worse when you have a whole line of customers behind you, just waiting for you to get lucky.

And don’t get me started on shoppers who ignore the “10 items only” signboard and insist on paying at the express counter when their shopping cart is filled to the brim!

In the face of the hypermarket wars, the ugly side of shoppers surface to reveal the survival instinct of the typical kiasu (afraid to lose) Malaysian.

During the recent festive season, some shoppers were seen lugging around boxes of arrowroot (nga ku in Cantonese). Shoppers were supposed to either pick and choose from the trays, which offered smaller bulbs, or take their chances with the unopened boxes which apparently contained bigger ones.

But some decided to have the best of both worlds by opening the boxes, taking their pick and discarding the rest in the common pile. What’s even more annoying than trolley hijacking: one shopper had her bag of carefully hand-picked bulbs from the tray stolen from under her nose when she turned away to talk to someone for a short while. Now that’s what you call daylight robbery!

But the epitome of bad hypermarket manners is when the shopper parks herself and her children at the fruit station. While picking the fruits (like grapes, kumquat or longan, for example) for weighing, some people eat their fill while they’re at it.

Then again, one may argue there’s a fine line between testing a fruit and having a picnic. Makes sense why in Europe, they have a “see no touch” policy and items are all prepacked.

No choosing, squeezing or any suspicious behaviour allowed, least of all, tasting the goods before paying!

Shopping at the hypermarket has become a way of life for urban folks. Instead of sabotaging your fellow shopper, won’t it be nicer if we help each other out to make it a pleasant experience?