I am being followed by weirdness. Actually, I’m in the midst of weirdness, and wondering whether it has always been there and I’ve just never noticed it before. I’ve been meaning to write about the strange incidents for the last few weeks, and have now accrued so many that I’m going to have to write 2 posts, and summarize the incidents somewhat. Here goes…
It started a few weeks ago, when I realized that I needed a new cellphone (I’ve had the same Nokia for the last 5 years, which bears testament to both how long-lasting the phone is and how unwilling I am to update technology in my life. I’m slightly techno-phobic). So, in the midst of Christmas shopping madness, I wandered into Woolworths and investigated their MTN counter and was pleasantly surprised to discover that I was not going to have to fork out R5000 for a decent phone. I left Woolworths, having decided to think about my options (all Nokia, as this is the only brand I’m capable of using) for a while before buying the phone. On the way out of the shopping mall, however, I saw the MTN shop and thought that they would at least have a larger range of options, so I went in, and had a look at their phones, until a sales guy pounced on me. He asked me what I was looking for, and I said that I wanted to buy a phone (I was under the impression that this was why people went into cellphone stores, after all!). It was at this point that it all went a bit weird. He asked if I wanted the phone for cash, and I said yes. “Sorry. We can’t sell you a phone”, he said. “But, why not?” I asked. “MTN are network service providers, and so we only deal with contracts, so unless you buy a contract, you can’t buy a phone” he explained. I couldn’t stifle my disbelief at this system – in fact, I actually told the salesman that I thought that their system was pretty silly (this in itself is weird – I normally remain silent and get ripped off by salesmen!)! Looking back, I now see the benefit of their system, which is pretty sneaky, but a rather effective way to sell contracts. I still haven’t bought a phone though – I’m still contemplating my options, although the process is being accelerated by the slow demise of the “6” and “9” keys on my current phone’s keypad.
The next incident happened the very next day, when my mom asked me to buy some stamps so that she could post our Christmas cards. It was a Saturday and I really was not in the mood to stand in a queue at the post office, so I said that I would go to the Postnet, since I was going to the Exclusive Books in Eastgate anyway. I wandered into the shop, and asked the cashier for the aforementioned postage stamps. He then informed me that they didn’t sell stamps – I could give him the letters and they would put them in Postnet envelopes and mail them for me. He was met with a look of incredulity on my part – I had to ask him if he was serious about the fact that a shop called POSTnet didn’t sell stamps. Admittedly, he also seemed to think it was a bit odd.
The weirdness wouldn’t seem quite as amazing were it not for the fact that the 2 incidents happened on consecutive days. However, I had another weird moment last week Friday in Sandton. I had arranged to have coffee with Kirstan and Chris, and while Kirstan and I waited for Chris to arrive, we went into the “Temptations” store to look for a white camisole for Kirstan. For those of you who don’t know, “Temptations” is pretty much like “Victoria’s Secret” – it’s a lingerie store, filled with little lacy, racy numbers. Having been unsuccessful in our search for said camisole, we headed towards the exit, where we stopped by a young man (about 25, light blue golf shirt, pristine mini-mohawk gelled into place), who wanted to know what we thought of the lingerie which was on the mannequin nearest us. It was at this point that it all became clear to me why I never enter lingerie stores! Nonetheless, the items in question were a bra and panty set, which were black and embroidered with red floral detail. Kirstan immediately said that she didn’t like it, but I said that I liked the detail and colour combination. “Well, you do have my girlfriend’s skin tone”, he said thoughtfully. “So, if your boyfriend bought that for you, you’d like it?” he asked. It was at this point that I started giggling. I’m showing both my age and level of innocence here, but the idea of a guy buying me lingerie was just so outrageous that I went bright red. Luckily, Kirstan stepped in and explained that I was the “prudish” one who would die of embarrassment if a guy bought me lingerie, but that she, as the less innocent one, who quite like to receive such a gift. With that, he made his decision, and told the saleswoman that he would take the set, while Kirstan and I left, giggling and wondering what the chances were that he had actually got both her size and taste correct!
The common theme is definitely the retail setting – as well as the sneaky sales policies of some stores (although I didn’t stick around in “Temptations” long enough to find out if anything similar applied)! Has anyone else had any similar experiences, or am I just the scapegoat of weirdness? Luckily, installment 2 is retail-free, although it fits rather nicely with the post I wrote last month about the hitchhiker (who was NOT a prostitute, Luke!) I accidentally picked up, but that’s another story….
It started a few weeks ago, when I realized that I needed a new cellphone (I’ve had the same Nokia for the last 5 years, which bears testament to both how long-lasting the phone is and how unwilling I am to update technology in my life. I’m slightly techno-phobic). So, in the midst of Christmas shopping madness, I wandered into Woolworths and investigated their MTN counter and was pleasantly surprised to discover that I was not going to have to fork out R5000 for a decent phone. I left Woolworths, having decided to think about my options (all Nokia, as this is the only brand I’m capable of using) for a while before buying the phone. On the way out of the shopping mall, however, I saw the MTN shop and thought that they would at least have a larger range of options, so I went in, and had a look at their phones, until a sales guy pounced on me. He asked me what I was looking for, and I said that I wanted to buy a phone (I was under the impression that this was why people went into cellphone stores, after all!). It was at this point that it all went a bit weird. He asked if I wanted the phone for cash, and I said yes. “Sorry. We can’t sell you a phone”, he said. “But, why not?” I asked. “MTN are network service providers, and so we only deal with contracts, so unless you buy a contract, you can’t buy a phone” he explained. I couldn’t stifle my disbelief at this system – in fact, I actually told the salesman that I thought that their system was pretty silly (this in itself is weird – I normally remain silent and get ripped off by salesmen!)! Looking back, I now see the benefit of their system, which is pretty sneaky, but a rather effective way to sell contracts. I still haven’t bought a phone though – I’m still contemplating my options, although the process is being accelerated by the slow demise of the “6” and “9” keys on my current phone’s keypad.
The next incident happened the very next day, when my mom asked me to buy some stamps so that she could post our Christmas cards. It was a Saturday and I really was not in the mood to stand in a queue at the post office, so I said that I would go to the Postnet, since I was going to the Exclusive Books in Eastgate anyway. I wandered into the shop, and asked the cashier for the aforementioned postage stamps. He then informed me that they didn’t sell stamps – I could give him the letters and they would put them in Postnet envelopes and mail them for me. He was met with a look of incredulity on my part – I had to ask him if he was serious about the fact that a shop called POSTnet didn’t sell stamps. Admittedly, he also seemed to think it was a bit odd.
The weirdness wouldn’t seem quite as amazing were it not for the fact that the 2 incidents happened on consecutive days. However, I had another weird moment last week Friday in Sandton. I had arranged to have coffee with Kirstan and Chris, and while Kirstan and I waited for Chris to arrive, we went into the “Temptations” store to look for a white camisole for Kirstan. For those of you who don’t know, “Temptations” is pretty much like “Victoria’s Secret” – it’s a lingerie store, filled with little lacy, racy numbers. Having been unsuccessful in our search for said camisole, we headed towards the exit, where we stopped by a young man (about 25, light blue golf shirt, pristine mini-mohawk gelled into place), who wanted to know what we thought of the lingerie which was on the mannequin nearest us. It was at this point that it all became clear to me why I never enter lingerie stores! Nonetheless, the items in question were a bra and panty set, which were black and embroidered with red floral detail. Kirstan immediately said that she didn’t like it, but I said that I liked the detail and colour combination. “Well, you do have my girlfriend’s skin tone”, he said thoughtfully. “So, if your boyfriend bought that for you, you’d like it?” he asked. It was at this point that I started giggling. I’m showing both my age and level of innocence here, but the idea of a guy buying me lingerie was just so outrageous that I went bright red. Luckily, Kirstan stepped in and explained that I was the “prudish” one who would die of embarrassment if a guy bought me lingerie, but that she, as the less innocent one, who quite like to receive such a gift. With that, he made his decision, and told the saleswoman that he would take the set, while Kirstan and I left, giggling and wondering what the chances were that he had actually got both her size and taste correct!
The common theme is definitely the retail setting – as well as the sneaky sales policies of some stores (although I didn’t stick around in “Temptations” long enough to find out if anything similar applied)! Has anyone else had any similar experiences, or am I just the scapegoat of weirdness? Luckily, installment 2 is retail-free, although it fits rather nicely with the post I wrote last month about the hitchhiker (who was NOT a prostitute, Luke!) I accidentally picked up, but that’s another story….
2 comments:
call me prudish, but I think lingerie as a gift always has the possibility to be a complete disaster!
The thing with Post-net is taht they compete with the regular postal service, so it's unlikely they would want to sell stamps so that you could support SA postal services rather than them. Can't you buy stamps at exclusive books? I seem to remember that you could...
Lingerie as a gift is a bad idea - he either bought too small a size and his girlfriend will sulk, or he bought too big a size and she'll be insulted. If this guy was hoping to get any action, I fear he may have ended up sleeping on the couch! Lingerie gift vouchers would probably be a safer bet...
No idea about the stamps. I think I was just baffled by walking into stores and being told that I couldn't buy things!
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