It’s early morning in Robinsons division retailer in Bangkok. Ten o’clock, early? Successfully, positive, in a country the place retailers are open from 7 a.m. until not lower than 11 p.m. with no change in employees. It’s moreover Monday morning and your complete weekend with all its frantic weekend acquirers, every native and worldwide, is to date and one factor to be chittered and chattered about among the many many employees. There’s moreover all that personal stuff that merely can’t wait until the tea break… what tea break? Or throughout the loos… nope, that obtained’t work… males go to 1, ladies to the alternative…
Dressed impeccably in white shirts and navy nethers, nevertheless making an attempt decidedly sleep-deprived and jaded for such a youthful bunch, your complete crowd—and so they’re a crowd of some 20—working throughout the shoe division which ought to cowl about 100 sq. metres, is huddled proper right into a patch small enough for a basket of eggs. They seem as fragile as eggs too. Whereas some are talking, others are merely standing limply leaning in opposition to the present cupboards of merchandise, others are talking with their fingers hooked as much as their telephones.
The consumers? The consumers be damned! Some are wandering aimlessly between the cupboards, choosing up this, checking the worth on that. There are a purposeful few which may be in quest of one factor specific and would really, really like some assist, nevertheless there’s none… besides they’ve the temerity to interrupt into the closed-group of underpaid, overworked exhaustion.
After which. “EXCUSE me”… or was that “excuse ME”? She’s huge, haphazardly dressed, groomed regardless of, offended and bristling. She EXPECTS! She most likely will get to in whichever First World nation she lauds from. There they research that the consumer is king, all of the items for the consumer, the consumer is always correct… even when she’s fallacious, she’s correct. And if she doesn’t get fast, properly mannered assist, you will lose your job.
Nevertheless that’s Asia, and whereas the consumer may be correct, there are far more important points to debate. Life, the universe, family, dates, analysis, the following meal, latest digital units, movie stars and all of the items. Africa? Comparable an identical.
So she is ignored. Positive, the eyes briefly elevate up from wherever they’d been focused, take of their worst nightmare then return to the place they’d been. Not a flicker of acknowledgement, not a muscle flex of understandingnot a nerve twitch of concern. Their fallback? Language disadvantage, merely don’t understand a phrase of regardless of it is.
In a funk she throws the shoe down and huffs her method out muttering expletives. The employees watch expressionlessly until her once more is turned then titter and “farang” (foreigner) and giggle.
“Excuse me… I would really like some help” a smiling, bobbing woman walks up, shoe in hand. Immediately the skein begins to unravel and one in all many coils strikes with an answering smile and “Positive, how I would enable you to,” in recognizable English.
Two phrases. That’s all it takes to be rejected, ignored and laughed at; or acknowledged, assisted and laughed with. Open doorways or slam them firmly shut. It’s not what you say, it’s the best way you say it. Humorous how points work.
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