Dust Masks


So, our friend Eddie was doing some work on his apartment back in the summer and headed to a hardware store to buy some dust masks. Eddie asked the owner how many he had, and after the owner had pulled out all of his stock, Eddie said he would buy the whole lot, which was about 20.

"You want to buy all of them?" asked the owner.

"Yes, all of them," said Eddie.

So Eddie bought all of the dust masks, but the owner was very annoyed, put out and upset that Eddie was cleaning out his supply. When Eddie told us the story this week we all had a good laugh - when you own a store, don't you WANT people to buy your stuff?? I really thought this would be universal - didn't think there'd be a cultural difference in this!

Then Eddie told us another story of a friend of his who went into a store looking for a particular item. He couldn't find it and asked the owner where they would be. And his response?

"Oh, I don't carry those anymore. They sell too fast."

Ummm...WHAT? Isn't selling your stuff the POINT of having a store?

Just goes to show you that living here two years doesn't mean we still aren't surprised sometimes!!

Somewhat confused in Penang,

Karin






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