Anyway, I was there after lunch and the crowd was unbelievable. Trust me when I say that. I've been to all the book fairs Popular had held for the past few years and I think the crowd was the largest this time around. And of course, large crowd = HUGE problem.
We spent more than one and a half hours merely lining up to pay for the book. Yes. One and a half ++. Just to freaking pay. You see, there were only 6 counters open and out of which, one was an express lane. And at each counter, I can safely say that there were about at least 25 people lining up with baskets filled to the brim (some with even two to three baskets, mind you).
So, what exactly is the cause of this problem? The infamous Malaysian mentality of course.
When prices are slashed to unbelievable rates, what do you do? Correction, what do Malaysians do? Buy everything they can get their hands on, of course! Take what they can before anyone else does.
For example, I was looking through some books at a 90% discount table and there were two guys talking obnoxiously loud.
Guy 1: OMG! Look at this book (picks up a book and flipping through it). This kind of book, so good, also can put here ar. (turns the book behind to check for the price). Waa! This book is 100++ dollars and now 90%...(turns to his friend)
Guy 2: 10 dollars nia!
Guy 1: (picks up another book) Look! Look! This one only 30 something dollars. 90% means 3 dollars!
Guy 2: Yea, so cheap. Buy la.
Guy 1: Hmm, yeala. Dunno how to read also just buy. So cheap.
Example number 2, two different guys, same table.
Guy 1: (picks up a book and checks the price) Wow, these books are ridiculously cheap.
Guy 2: -agrees with his friend-
Guy 1: (proceeds to picking up a whole pile of books) Never know when you need them. Anyway, so cheap only what.
See what I mean? We don't need them; they're just ridiculously cheap so we buy them in case we need them. And this is why everyone lining up at the counters have an average of 30-40 books in their basket; jamming up the counters.
And then of course, there's the cashiers, working at their sweet own pace while everyone had been lining up for at least an hour to pay. They take 5 minutes per customer - s l o w . . .
Malaysians, for a fact, can't seem to read signs. Or at least they choose to ignore them. The sign above the express lane clearly stated that:
CASH
10 ITEMS
EXPRESS LANE
10 ITEMS
EXPRESS LANE
But there are people with clearly more than 10 items in their basket, and it's not only 11 or 12 but some had 20-30 books. And the thing is, after they realise that they're in the wrong lane, they're blissfully ignorant and continue to jam up the lane.
Sigh. Well, that's us Malaysians. I know not all of us are like that, but a majority of us are. A sad fact, huh?
Quoting the soon-to-be ex-Prime Minister, Pak Lah: "Apa gunanya jika negara kita mempunyai infrastruktur kelas pertama, jika rakyatnya mempunyai mentaliti kelas ketiga?"
Haha. Ok, that had nothing much to do with anything I just said but it kinda just sprung into my mind. Totally random.
4 insights:
Oh my gosh, I know! I went there too, because I, like you, never fail to go to those bookfairs. :D And of course, there had to be a 'caterpillar' queue because of people who want to buy the books because they're cheap. Even if they're going to be left in the dark corner of the shelf, never to see the day.
And those people in the express lane, they probably know what they're doing. Because of the third class mentality, they don't quite care. :S
p/s - Sorry to spam your blog with comments, but lol, I'm backtracking and reading all your entries I've missed. :D
LOL at 'caterpillar' queue. Though I think caterpillars don't seem to be long enough to describe the line. And don't worry about spamming my blog with comments. They always make my day. So spam away! Haha.
thank GOD, I din go 2 d bookfair today, I was planning 2 go, but end up in GP MPH and bought a book there...lol will find time 2 go nxt wk.
haha by next week all the good books will be gone
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