Yesterday afternoon, in the shop downstairs, a customer was yattering away on her telephone. The woman behind the counter glared at the customer and said, 'I don't like people talking on the telephone in here. This is a shop.'
There was no further discussion. The customer went out and finished her conversation on the pavement and then she came back in and bought what she wanted. Meanwhile, I thought I must have slipped through into an alternative reality.
Chastising people who use mobile phones does seem potentially a bit bad for business. But I think - indeed, hope - that gruffness at the expense of profit margin will make a comeback. I've got nothing against mobile phones; but I've generally found shop assistants who pursue you 'helpfully' to be more annoying than those who just sit morosely behing the cash till.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree on all counts, Gadjo - and, to really enjoy Hungary, you have to be fond of quite a lot of day-to-day morosity.
ReplyDeleteI admire the way you persevere with your fitness campaign, Barbara, in the face of your religion's restrictive advice on clothing.
I am trying to guess exactly who that might be, Smiler.
As I read Smiler's comment, I was reminded of a "head-up" story. When I played baseball as a boy, I remember watching as a scorchingly hard-hit ball flew toward the outfield on a line. The coach yelled "Head-up, Brian" to the boy in center field. The boy looked up. The ball hit him in the breast bone and he collapsed like a bunch of broccoli. If there was ever a case against that phrase . . . (Brian survived.)
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