Off to the supermarket at lunch time, for another aimless wander around the aisles, desperately searching for something that I haven't eaten a hundred times before. What's this? A sale on all "foreign" cheeses? Fantastic! Deen has a very good cheese buyer, so this is good. However -- and you knew there was going to be a however, didn't you? -- the pricing is a little confusing. Piles of individually wrapped cheeses, and one price sign that says "€0.99 per stuk of per 100 gm." Which means they're either 99 euro cents per cheese or per 100 gms, but gives no clue as to which cheeses cost what. I figure I'll risk it and stick three in my basket. After I've been through the checkout, paid up, and then gone to get some stamps, I remember to check the receipt. Two cheeses were priced at €0.99 each, as expected; one cost €2.49. Wait a minute! It doesn't even weigh 250 gms, the only way it could have cost that under Deen's bizarre pricing policy! It weighs 150 gms, so somebody somewhere in the pricing control room has clearly fucked up. I briefly consider going back to complain, but then dismiss the thought: There are long queues, a couple of poorly trained checkout staff, and I simply don't have the linguistic ability or patience to explain why I've been overcharged by €1.50.
And that, dear readers, is why I'm moving back to the UK.
4 comments:
It's enough, isn't it? There I go using those infamous British-style question tages which I've had no success in teaching largely because I'm American.
Yes, I miss the small talk. I mean I miss being able to make it, to engage in it without considerable premeditation. I too miss being able to conduct oneself with dignity in a public exchange. It is enough to make one move home, isn't it? There is indeed a language barrier here and I run into it headlong almost every day.
that was question tags
Everything becomes a question of weighing up effort versus reward. Yes, I could try to make my point but it will take a long time, be very frustrating, and ultimately isn't worth 1.50 euros. And after 5 years, it's enough.
I'm glad I'm not the only one, though.
You think things are better in the UK? Believe me they're not. Being ripped off is normal for UK, let alone Norfolk. The Chief Exec has to get his bonus.
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