Just a few mental snapshots for you today:
--I was shopping in Walmart, and there was a woman with her little girl in the aisle with me. I didn't hear what the little girl said, but her mother immediately ran to her and pulled down her pants and picked her up, butt side down. I knew what she was planning to do. Many chinese let their little kids pee in trash cans inside stores. She grabbed her little girl and ran to the end of the aisle, but couldn't see a trash can. She started to run another direction, but evidently couldn't see any trash can that direction either. Finally she said, "Suan le", which roughly translated means "Forget it", and she brought her little girl back to the middle of the aisle and squatted down with her. I was standing there, so I think that made the friend who was with her feel a little awkward, so she told her to take her somewhere else. I don't know if she ever found a trash can....
--I went over by the meat department and saw another woman who had a toddler sitting in the front part of the grocery cart. Just then, the woman saw something she wanted to grab, so told her child to wait a second. She quickly ran over to the item she wanted. I looked over and saw that in the process of hurrying, the cart never fully stopped. It was still sailing along with the toddler in it. I started to run grab it, but just then it came to a stop. Hmmmm.
--As I went up to the checkout, I noticed that the checker didn't seem to be ethnically chinese. I wondered if she was Mongolian, or some other ethnicity. I kept wondering if I was imagining it, but as I neared the checkout, I heard her speak, and could tell that mandarin wasn't her native language. She is a beautiful girl. Anyway, the people in front of me handed her a 100 yuan bill. She said, "Don't you have any smaller bills? I can't make change for this." The woman said, "Um...can't you ask another checker for change?" The girl looked around, and then pressed the button for help from her supervisor. Pretty soon, here came the supervisor with a fanny pack FULL of change. It appeared that a main part of her job is to make change. I kind of wondered why the girl didn't just call her in the first place. Hmmm....
--I could write a dozen things about the traffic here, but instead of going "Hmmm." I usually go "AGGHHH!!"
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6 comments:
Well, you cannot say your shopping visits are boring! ;)
Clearly I have missed a lot by not going to mainland China.
Well, you'll never be bored in China!
:0)
All these observations will come handy when you become the next Pear S Buck.
Don't the Walmart stores in China have restrooms, D? It's beyond hmmm that they pee in trash cans, to me that's gross.
You could probably write a book about your experiences there.
Many Blessings ~ Maxi
Maxi, there is a restroom upstairs (squat toilets), but it is quite a walk from where we were. You have to go up the escalator, then walk from the back of the store to the front. I doubt the little girl would have made it.
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