The Way Things Work

There are some systems here that are so different that they have to make you laugh. Of course, there are lots of weird systems, bureaucracy and inefficiency in the U.S., too, but...we're used to them.

Anyway: The way things work at most department stores is that you tell one salesperson what you want to buy (let's say, some soap). He or she prepares a receipt, based on whether you want to pay all at once or in installments (very common here). Next you go to the cashier to pay. In a nicer store this is just a different counter, but in one Sears-type department store it's literally a bank-type room with windows protecting the cashiers, through which you talk via a little round hole. You'd think there were hold-ups every day given the security, but really there seems to be very little such crime here.

Next you go to the packing station, where another worker puts your purchase (in this case, the soap) into a bag and secures it with security tape printed with the store's name before stamping your receipt and letting you leave the store. Since this whole process can take a long time, and sometimes there's no one manning one or more of the stations (and since everything is harder as a foreigner with only a limited mastery of the language) we've considered leaving with the product after paying and skipping the packing stage. Haven't had the courage yet...We'll let you know when we do and whether we get away with it. Please bail us out if we don't.

The upside of this system is that instead of being forced to leave your belongings in big lockers when you enter the store -- invariably under a huge sign saying "Management cannot be responsible for your valuables -- you just get store security tape places around your shopping bags from other stores and go about your business.