Freaking out the store clerk

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
#1

I get a kick out of this everytime…I walk into a convienence store and there’s a couple of young clerks running the shop. They spot me and you can see the panic in their eyes. They start asking each other “who speaks English”–yet no one does. I grab my snack and take it to the counter. The girl behind the counter is now in total panic and she dosen’t dare say a word. Then, you break out some Chinese and all of a sudden you see a collective sigh of relief amongst all the clerks…followed by suprise.

Just seeing how tense they get is pretty funny, but it brings up a point. They get so tense because they’re afraid they’ll be forced to speak English or will have English spoken to them and they won’t understand…which might lead to an embarassing situation for them. But anyways, it’s still kinda fun. Anyone else notice this?

#2

To bring this topic somewhat back to lighthearted tone Geng started it out on:

I go to the same convenience store every morning before work to buy a can of Oolong tea and a container of Kiwi juice (yes the same two items every morning). A few weeks ago a new clerk started. One day after seeing me come in to the store every day for a week, he screwed up hi scourage to ask me (in Chinese) if I was an English teacher. I said no, I worked in a publishing company. Well, he seemed positively tickled pick over, exclaimed a thousand “haos” and gave me a little bow. I smiled and realized I just didn’t have the heart to tell him I’d only recently stopped teaching English.

Anyways, this morning he asked me if I had a Chinese name. I said yes, and told him. Again, squeals of delight, and another little bow.

Now what the hell is going on here?

#3

True Story:

I walked into a small shop in a very small town about 50 Km north of the nasty industrial town of Changchun (Between Shengyang and Harbin) in northern China.

The tempreture was about -20 C, and I needed some warm clothing. Having experienced the usual fuss in shops before, I choose not to speak Chinese, until the last minute.

This was about 1990, and I had the Seattle look (Long hair and goatee).

The Conversation was thus,

Girl 1 “Hey look a Laowai”
Girl 2 “I’m Frightend, ignore him , he will go away”
Girl 1 “My god, She’s got a beard”
Girl 2 “That’s disgusting”
Girl 1 “And she’s got no breasts”
Girl 2 “Maybe it’s a man”
Girl 1 “A Man with hair that long, impossible”
Girl 2 “it’s a man”
Girl 1 “he’s looking at me”
ME (In English) " How much is this"
Girl 1 to Girl 2 " Can you speak Russian"
Girl 2 “thats not Russian”
ME (In Chinese) “I want some warm Clothes, do you have anything in my Size”
Girl 1 to Girl 2 “Did he speak in Chinese”
ME (In Chinese) “I’m English, but I can speak a little Chinese, do you have any warm clothes in my size”

Girl 2 - Walks away very quickly.

Girl 1 " Why have you got long hair"
ME “I like it that way”
Girl 1 looks at the freckles on my arms
GIrl 1 “Whats the matter with your skin”
ME “It’s just the sunshine, it’s a family thing”
Girl 1 " How much money do you make every month"
ME “Not enough”
ME " any clothes in my size"

I had questions for about 5 more minutes before I finally found some clothes.

This used to happen all the time but in China but(Because of the Tourist’s) it’s not common in Cities.

#4

subway52- that is priceless, a great story! “she has no breasts” ha ha ha ha ha!

Thanks for attempting to right this thread…

#5

In answer to Geng’s original posting: Yes, it has happened to me a gazillion times and I find it tedious and annoying, rather than cute or ‘funny’, as you put it.

#6

subway-- LOL! I got freckles on my arms too and every once and a while get asked what kind of ‘pifu bing’ I got.

Also, Alien, something I do find annoying is when ur speaking Chinese to them…but it dosen’t register. They keep thinking it’s English and keep saying ‘sorry, I no English.’ It’s like they’re not listening and automically assume whatever I’m saying is English (could be a bad accent too )

#7

Anyway Geng, keep up the stimulating openers.
I find what you bring up quite interesting. Do these clerks react like this because they perceive that English speakers will demand service in English rather than Chinese? I was thinking about my own situation here in the States. In the last couple of years, it seems Spanish-speakers are becoming more demanding about receiving services in their own language. I feel under no obligation to accommodate them even though I know some Spanish. The US is an English-speaking country and the sooner they learn English the faster they will increase their academic and economic possibilities. My ancestors learned English when they got here, so why coddle future generations of non-English speakers?
Why do these clerks in Taiwan seem to have this fear you described? I certainly wouldn’t expect them to serve me in English if I didn’t know the Chinese. Body language goes a long way…

#8

My biggest problem is the clerks thing I might be speaking English when I speak Chinese

#9

I guess it goes back to their sterotypical view of forigners—that they ONLY speak English. Whereas here in America, the general feeling is that you gotta use English–but more places are adopting Spanish services (like what Tai xiaojie said). Since races are so mixed here, we typically don’t assume that when someone Hispanic walks into a store, that they’re can’t speak English.
The other issue is ‘face’. Again, it may create an embarassing situation for the store clerk if he/she can’t understand the English spoken to him/her.

#10

When I lived in Taiwan I lived next to a university with a lot of foreign students. Seems like I never had that problem. I just gave the clerks what I wanted to buy, they would scan the items, and then say the how much I needed to pay.

The ONLY time a 7-11 clerk spoke English to me was all the way out in Penghu. He went out of his way to ask me if he could help me find something. Kind of odd to receive that kind of service at a 7-11, but the kid seemed very happy to be able to practice his English.

Geng, the topics you start are interesting. Keep em coming…

CrazyBoy

#11
quote:
Originally posted by tai xiaojie: In the last couple of years, it seems Spanish-speakers are becoming more demanding about receiving services in their own language. I feel under no obligation to accommodate them even though I know some Spanish. The US is an English-speaking country and the sooner they learn English the faster they will increase their academic and economic possibilities.

I haven’t notice this (I live in Los Angeles and speak some Spanish ). Probably because I don’t work in the service industry. I have the opposite experience. While working in a small central-California town, we went to a local restaurant for lunch. Unfamiliar with the meaning of the restaurant’s name, I asked the waitress what it meant. She had no idea what I was asking.

Talking with the people I was working with there, I found out that this township was consisted of Mexican agriculture workers. In Los Angeles, all Latino speak English even if it is very rudimentry. However, there is really no need for someone who work at a farm in an all Latino township to speak English. In any case, I am happy to practice my rusty Spanish.

#12
quote:
Originally posted by amos: Origionally posted by Mucha man Couldn't agree more, but when a Chinese guy talks to me, he generally doesn't giggle, unless he thinks I'm "ke ai".

I admit that I do get a bit uncomfortable when someone giggles at me. However, I also realize that people here may have a different motivation behind these body/facial language. The trite example is that of smiling as a way of easing an uncomfortable situation.

I never really thought about what giggling could be saying since I hardly ever “giggled”. But, I’m sure some of the part-time sociologist here have a few theories. I’d like to hear.

#13

Strangely I cannot agree to any of your experiences: I never get any strange looks or giggling though I do have fracles on my arms, too (but I have also seen some locals with fracles in their face) and definetly look like a Westerner. I rather feel being ignored.

Damnd, even the girls ignore me …

#14
quote:
Originally posted by wolf_reinhold: Oh please! The moderator bleeped out every letter of the word "***** "? Are you out of your mind? That is the adult, not slang term for the a man's ************ *****. Are you so **** that you can't allow **** to be posted by and for adults?

[b]Wolf,

In reference to your post on May 1st where you say I edited your posted message. Please note that ORIENTED has an Autocensor and the word you used to describe a male body part is in the list. If you have further question regarding this please contact with Gus, gus@oriented.org. Also Wolf please provide ORIENTED with a way to contact you, this goes for the rest of you as well. You have turned off your private message feature and you have no email address listed. In the event, such as now, that a moderator needs to contact with you this is the only way to do so.

Thanks for your attention.

Jeff
jeff@oriented.org[/b]

#15

I have cleaned up this thread, please keep it that way. Anything regarding religion or homosexuality was removed. Please stick to the topic discussion. I have warned the appropriate people of there behavior on ORIENTED.

Thanks,

Jeff
jeff@oriented.org

#16

Wolf’s got a good point. The auto-censor is really ridiculous. It censors a lot of words that are not offensive and I presume that we’re all adults here and have heard these words before. It’s perfectly easy to be offensive without using ‘bad words’ and you can still write words like ‘fu(k’ by being creative, so really the auto-censor achieves absolutely nothing.

I guess Wolf said '***** ’ (pen1s), which is not an offensive word at all.

Bri

#17

I’m going to have to ask again, please stick the the thread topic posted by Geng. Bu Lai En your point is taken and we at ORIETNED have discussed this topic before, I will bring it up again with the rest of the team. In the mean time if you want to compain, suggest, or whatever about ORIENTED and/or Moderating, at least for this forum, please post them in the new thread I just opened called ORIENTED AND MODERATING or email I or gus directly. Thanks!

Jeff
jeff@oriented.org

#18

Yeah Bri, you even hear that word used regularly on the Discovery Channel…
But remember, the following 9 words will automatically be bowdlerized from your posts:

#19

Years ago, an Irish friend and I walk into a tea house in Kaohsiung. We stand at the door and see about 5 waitresses about 10 m away from us. The one with the menus immediately turns her back on us and the engage in conversations – probably about how strange we are or whatever.

We wait, and wait and wait. Finally she comes to us and shows us a table. We talk to her in Chinese and try and tell her

“We know you weren’t trying to be rude, but do you realize that it was very rude? Please, next time a foreigner comes here – don’t assume that they don’t speak Chinese. Even if they only speak English, smile at them and try to serve them as best you can.”

a few days ago, I walk into a net cafe. I say to the girl at the counter in Chinese “I’d like to pay for two hours, green tea no sugar and…” She interrupted me to say “Wo ting bu dong ingwen”

I was shocked. “Didn’t you hear me speak to you in Chinese?”

We managed to work things out in the end.

#20

[quote=“Geng”]I get a kick out of this everytime…I walk into a convienence store and there’s a couple of young clerks running the shop. They spot me and you can see the panic in their eyes. They start asking each other “who speaks English”–yet no one does. I grab my snack and take it to the counter. The girl behind the counter is now in total panic and she dosen’t dare say a word. Then, you break out some Chinese and all of a sudden you see a collective sigh of relief amongst all the clerks…followed by suprise.

Just seeing how tense they get is pretty funny, but it brings up a point. They get so tense because they’re afraid they’ll be forced to speak English or will have English spoken to them and they won’t understand…which might lead to an embarassing situation for them. But anyways, it’s still kinda fun. Anyone else notice this?[/quote]

Every friggin’ day!

After 4 years I find it less than adorable having to chase someone day to pay or listen to them rip me to shreds in front of my face. However, what I do is frequent the stores and or people that treat me like a human being rather than like a monkey in a cage to gawk at and ridicule. If I have to give my money to someone I choose to reward professional or amiable behavior rather than wankers.